can anyone HONESTLY say they are doing this mask thing properly?

[RaspberryCoulis]

Yes it's another mask one, sorry.

Most people where I live are complying with the compulsory face coverings, in settings where they are mandatory.

But nobody I know is doing it "properly" according to the government guidance.

Disposables - clean hands before putting it on, put it on, don't touch it, clean hands before taking it off, take it off, bin it, wash hands again.

Reusables - clean hands before putting it on, touch only the straps, remove after use and immediately place in sealed plastic bag, wash your hands, launder your mask.

Or do most people do as I do - have a range of paper and fabric masks in the door pocket of the car, coat pocket, handbag, in the boot. Grab whatever's nearest and use that. Chuck it in the wash when you remember. Is there ANYONE really doing the plastic bag thing or chucking out a paper mask after a quick 5 minute scoot round the local corner shop?

No. It depends whether you are trying to achieve clinical sterility or just putting something over your face and nose to stop you coughing/breathing whatever might be lurking in your nose and mouth over people nearby. For the latter you don't need the full song and dance.

I do the plastic bag thing but only because I work in a school and it’s expected of us.

When I’m not at work it’s a free for all

Also I have very small ears and masks just ping off, particularly off my right ear! I have to hold it in place sometimes much to the amusement of my school mam friend.

Also I wear a clean one every day.

@BernieInn

Definitely not doing it correctly. It sits at the bottom of my coat pocket, festering. I put it on so I can enter the shop, remove it as soon as I leave.

Yep, same here. I made one back in June and bought one more in September. I've lost the latter. Think I've washed the former maybe 5 times.

Pretty much, yeah. It's all about routine. I need to wear them every day for work. All reusables laundered after a single use, remove by straps, wash hands after touching it, etc.

No, I basically wear it in shops so that other people don't get cross with me. It's just theatre.

I have loads that I have made so it is easy to use a fresh one each time I go somewhere then stick it in the wash. I try not to fiddle with it when's it's on but my glasses steam up so sometimes I adjust it over my nose a bit. I don't sanitise my hands before putting it on but generally just hold it by the elastic anyway.

In a way. But I'm hardly going anywhere as I'm shielding, so it's pretty much for trips to the doctors.

Mine lives in a washable bag (bought for washable sanpro years ago) in one pocket of my handbag. Sanitise hands, mask on, mask off and into bag, sanitise hands again, into washing machine.

Only touching straps btw

I've been reusing the same disposable mask for weeks!

It's just for show for me. Goes in my handbag, no plastic bag. I use the same one all the time, haven't really washed it. It's also a very thin single layer one with a gappy fit, not close fitting, so it's not much of a protective layer (but I chose it deliberately like that as it's easier to breathe through). I don't sanitise or wash hands before or after, and I take it off as soon as I've left anywhere that I've had to wear it. But I do wear it over my nose and mouth, and that is enough to meet all the legal requirements.

No . Don’t wear one

I have to wear one for 8 hours a day at work in a hot environment. It gets damp and I fiddle with it to stop my glasses steaming up. I do always wash it when I get home and use a fresh one each day.

I will also admit to quite regularly pulling it down in a quiet area of the supermarket to breathe normally when there's nobody around.

No, and I've been known to sneak off to a quiet supermarket aisle to pull it down for a few puffs of air and to try to de-fog my glasses so I don't fall over a small child, again.

Oh great minds think alike OP

You are not going into an operating theatre, you don’t have to be aseptic. Even with mistakes they reduce transmission.

They now think the risk of transmission from surfaces was overstated and people touch there face all the time even without masks.

I keep a reusable one in my pocket for when I need to wear it.

Like others I wear it for appearances only. It gets stuffed in my handbag when not worn. I did wash my favourite one the other day, but only because I bought a pack of 3 from Boden (lol!) and wanted to wear another one from the pack.

It was quite handy to keep my nose warm this morning on the school run (don't get me started on the ridiculousness of masks on the school run).

@BernieInn

Definitely not doing it correctly. It sits at the bottom of my coat pocket, festering. I put it on so I can enter the shop, remove it as soon as I leave.

Exactly this

I agree that I’m just wearing it for show like people upthread have said.

I do exactly that for the weekly shopping trip - if more than one shop is visited (try to minimise/combine errands), mask goes on outside after hand sanitising, and then stays on until I am back at my car with all errands finished. In the bag and then into the machine at home. It is damp after all that anyway. The kitchen towel liner in the 'filter' pocket gets binned.

It sits in the washing machine until the next load goes in, I'm not washing just a mask on its own of course.

but that's the only time I'm going somewhere that a mask is needed, so it is easy for me. If it was an everyday thing I like to think I'd just have made/bought more and would wash them after each use.

the mask is never under my chin or under my nose either. At least now it is winter it is more comfortable to wear.

Yes, I'm doing my very best to do it right. Why wouldn't you?

Yes, I am using masks properly. I'm a medical research student so microbiology/immunology is a huge part of my course. It is disgusting how many people refuse to use masks properly. They are putting themselves, and others at more risk by doing this.