It is normal to wash face masks every day, isn’t it?

[Bvop]

Promoted by another thread - but also by a couple of friends who always seem to be wearing the same face mask: what’s normal re washing? I have one mask all day at work but it goes in the laundry basket when I get home, as do the kids’ and if we go out again we get new masks from the basket of clean ones. This is normal, isn’t it, and it’s gross to wear the same mask unwashed for more than one day?

Yes. Definitely wash every day.

I wear a fresh one every day. My skin is a nightmare at the best of times let alone with an old mask worn.

I'm also one of these people who tries to co ordinate their mask with what I'm wearing.

But I think I'm in the minority where I work.

Fwiw I have to wear a mask all day every day. If i worked somewhere where it was a wear it when wondering around the office or just for commute, that would impact on how many wears I'd get out of a mask before washing

Do people really pay that much attention to others out and about?

I couldn't tell you who wears what in the playground or anywhere. I definitely wouldn't know if someone had the same mask on for multiple days.

@peppermintpat

Two a day but they are then thrown away as where I work we have to wear disposable and not 'fashion' masks.

Terrible for the environment though

I would say it's a good idea - but not necessarily "normal". People be lazy.

I think it depends on the person. I'm excempt due to breathing issues and autism but my 8 year old choses to wear them daily he will only wear black cloth ones that match his school uniform or combat style ones so must look as though he is wearing the same one but in fact he isn't they get chucked in laundry basket at end of each day and a fresh one used. A lot of people buy their cloth masks in multiples of the same type so I'd assume this maybe what you are seeing. Then again I suppose it also depends on how much people are wearing them. Id wash them daily if I had to wear them but I avoid as many shops as I can due to my exemption.

I wash mine every day but I have about ten of the same style so you wouldn't know. I just found one I liked and bought loads of them.

There are videos online to show how care and use your mask properly. Most people don’t.

How many daily mask washers also disinfect their earbuds/earphones daily??

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

I sleep in mine (can't be too careful) and then shower in it in the morning. They can get a big soggy after a couple of days and I have had to poke some disintegrated bits down the plug hole with DP's toothbrush. But yes, providing I have a shower, it is washed every day.

You are joking right? Surely you are joking?

It is VITAL to wash them every day. Or change to a new disposable one. I do that several times a day if I am wearing it all day.

@thenovice

It is VITAL to wash them every day. Or change to a new disposable one. I do that several times a day if I am wearing it all day.

Good mask hygiene might be VITAL if you work in a medical or care setting where cross contamination is a possibility. It’s isn’t VITAL if you wear your mask for approximately two minutes a day for the duration of time you’re buying milk at the corner shop.

We have a few ‘disposable’ ones that hang around on countertops or in pockets or bags for weeks, and get used whenever, by either of us, until they get lost.

Only have them on for 10 mins at a time so can’t get too worked up about it.

I only wear a mask because it's compulsory, otherwise I wouldn't bother. I generally get the free blue & white ones which are dispensed at some shops. I only get a new one when the fibres start to become itchy.

Some masks have internal filters, which can be removed & washed separately.
Does make me wonder if there might be a correlation between people who wash everything (cept knickers) after one wear and dry skin conditions..

i have a huge pack of identical plain masks - everyone probably thinks i'm always in the same one but i'm not. All go in the laundry, mine and kids. If i'm going between shops or on transport i have a spray i sanitise it with - dont want the crap all over the mask going in my pocket or bag. So i spray before it goes in my bag so it's clean and not wreaking of alcohol when i need it. Get home and it's in the wash.

It's really bad to just use the same one, not only because of covid but it's got other germs, pollution and heck knows what else growing on it and getting breathed in while it festers unwashed. Easy way to get a nasty chest infection or pneumonia.

Wash mine once I have taken it off. I put it straight in a plastic bag until I get home then it is washed. Always carry spare ones in a separate bag incase I need another one. Once it comes off my face it does not go back on until it is washed. It is no hardship. Each to their own..

I only own one mask and probably wash it once every few months when I remember. It's a bit gross but im really not bothered by it, despite being generally very clean with everything else I do. I've been very healthy for the past year so it's caused no issues. I hate the bloody things.

Is re-using a mask not similar to re-using a lipstick or balm?

You’ll be constanly transferring bacteria and viruses from your lips to the lipstick and back.

Or is sterilising lipsticks a thing?

At the height of the pandemic I washed them more regularly than I do now, however, I also washed our groceries and quarantined our post. I do only wear it for the school run and popping in the shops though, not hours at a time.

Fresh disposable one every time I leave the house!

Yep, clean mask every day for me and my son.

Mine are mostly the same colour and style so it probably looks like I don't wash them, thinking about it. I basically wear the same clothes every day, too. I only wear about 3 (almost matching) outfits, but do a wash every day.

Wash cloth ones by hand after each wear at the end of day. As PP said, would you put on soiled knickers, no!
I also have very many disposable ones, some better quality than the usual ones, the HN ones. These I use for more risky situations. I believe the medical masks are more effective than the cloth ones but all help catch Aerosols that you breathe, sneeze or cough out into the space around you, I will now feel odd not wearing one in a shop, it will take me a while to feel comfortable not wearing a face covering.

My hot water is set at 61 degrees. I come home, go to the sink, and put some washing up liquid on the mask and rub it in and wash under the tap and hang on a hook to dry.