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?

I have two re-useable ones that I’ve probably washed about twice. The rest of time they’re in my coat pocket, festering. I wear them solely because I’m required to do so. As soon as that ceases to be the case, I’ll be discarding them.

Therefore for pure vanity reasons, I want to live out the prime of my life with good skin, so would never reuse a mask.

I have great skin & mask wearing not caused any issue with spots or breakouts. I just don't get them, didn't as a teen etc & I eat rubbish too (all genetic).

@mswales

I'm confused... Does everyone who washes their mask every day also wash their clothes every day? Any viral particles landing on the mask could just as easily be on your clothes... And anything you were going to breathe in you would have already breathed in before taking the mask off. Genuine question, I'm not clear on how washing the masks a lot makes you safer

I wash my clothes daily and always have, sometimes even changing an outfit mid day if I've been particularly busy rushing around and sweaty! Removing the mask safely , handwashing after removing it and washing it before wearing again prevents me from transferring what could possibly be infectious particles from the mask to other surfaces therefore protects other people as was always the case. The mask does not protect the wearer.

I have to wear a mask for my entire 10hr shift, I choose to wear washable ones. I put on a clean mask every hour, and wash all my masks at the end of the day.

Nope don't wash them and reuse disposable ones a LOT. I only wear them because it is mandatory.

People were freaking out at the start of this about how masks can affect the lungs, breathing in carbon dioxide and all that but yet it seems most people are very content to breathe in God knows what from filthy dirty, musty masks.....I do worry about the lack of common sense at times.

@jumpbounce

People were freaking out at the start of this about how masks can affect the lungs, breathing in carbon dioxide and all that but yet it seems most people are very content to breathe in God knows what from filthy dirty, musty masks.....I do worry about the lack of common sense at times.

It's probably the people who were worried about all that stuff who washes them.

I've washed mine once so far ...

@Archiduchesse

Yes. Treat them like knickers - wear once, do not turn inside out, change if damp or soiled! 😀

And don't let anything hang out!

I can't believe that some people go for considerable lengths of time without washing them. Do you all also wear the same t-shirt for more than a week?

I boil my mask 4 times a day and then dry it under a black light and douse it in hand sanitiser.

Another competitive mumsnet cleanliness thread.

All my masks are black .. how would you know how regularly i wash it?

@Macncheeseballs

I don't wash ours often, no ill effects so far

How would you know? It's not you that would have the ill-effects.

On a separate note, is it not just filthy? Eg from make up etc.

@LimaFoxtrotCharlie

Mine lasts a week, sometimes two. Worn daily at work though quite often just hanging off one ear. Worn at weekends to go shopping etc. Lives in pocket, not in a plastic bag. No baskets of masks in this house!

That's literally appalling.

I'm certainly no clean freak, but I wear clean ones each day. I don't want one that has regularly become damp from my breathing, not least because I'd be concerned about mould.

Treat them like underwear.

Im a nurse - please dont wear a mask more than one day 😭

Its just soul destroying how some people still treat the infection control aspect of the virus so flippantly.

@ProvisionallyAnxious

I recall when I joined Mumsnet a big topic of conversation / debate was how often you should change your bed. I suspect that where a person is on the spectrum of bed changing probably reflects where they are on the spectrum of mask washing. 😅

That's probably true 😂

I change my sheets every 3 days. I change my mask after every wear, broadly speaking, absolutely clean one each day.

Stack in car, and in drawer in house.

I'm also very conscious of how I take off my mask & store it. Clean hands before & after putting on / taking off mask. Never ever wear it on my chin.

I wash my mask when I get around to it, which is about once a month. Stored in a pocket of my handbag. I have a few masks, my most comfortable one is very structured and too big, so it sits away from my face and doesn't actually touch my nose/mouth, so it doesn't get too dirty or smelly. I just use one when it's mandatory, although I go to indoor venues and use public transport a lot so it gets a fair bit of use.

You're supposed to change them whenever they get damp, which means they should then be washed.

But like most people I suspect, I just use the one all day. To be fair, I only have it on for 5-10 mins at a time, then into a bag until the next 5-10 mins that day, so doesn't get much chance to get damp.

Def a new one each day though, and generally a mask wash once a week.

@Countrycode

I've literally never washed one . I have lots but I just pick one up as needed. I also only wear them as I have to and was never too worried about Covid so I just didn't bother. YANBU to follow the "rules" though!

Were you not at all worried about other people?

That was the primary reason for introducing them. To protect others. Not the wearer.

I rarely wash mine. I just have them for the odd occasion I want to pop in a shop. I don't wear it long.

@SnackSizeRaisin

I'm on about my third disposable one since last July. I have been wearing them till they either fall apart or get lost. Only use them for the shops and nursery pick.up though - so only 10-30 mins and not every day. I admit they are pretty grim.

Was the word 'disposable' bit a clue?

I can't believe what I'm reading.

@custardbear

So think it through, masks dont catch the virus alone, they catch water droplets containing live viruses/virion. So touching the outside of the masks = contact with said viruses. They can take a few days to die .... so if you wear it the next day and it happens to have viruses embedded in the material then you could exchange here

Essentially just wash them! I use a disposable mash and get rid of I've been in a supermarket/hospital etc and don't use again that day - best safe than sorry

Exactly. That God custard!

Thank God. That should have been

Because the whole thing is overblown bollocks?

What is? 😡

The pandemic?

Face-mask wearing?

Transmissibility

Social distancing & face-masks have been proven (when done correctly) to be efficacious in reducing transmission.