Wear...wash...repeat! 5 Things You Need to Know About Cleaning Your Face Mask.
Change your mask like you change your underwear?
Well, according to Jade Flinn, that's exactly what's recommended.
Flinn, a nurse educator for the Biocontainment Unit at Johns Hopkins Medicine who specializes in personal protective equipment (PPE), says a good rule of thumb is to treat your mask like you treat your undergarments.
With protective face masks in short supply and high demand, it’s more important than ever to conserve them. But there are so many guidelines out there, it can be difficult to know exactly which measures to follow to ensure you’re using your mask both safely and effectively.
How long can you wear a mask before attempting to disinfect it?
Once you take your mask off, what do you do with it?
A lot can depend on what type of mask you’re wearing. Here are some tips from Flinn for cleaning and sanitizing your cloth face masks.
You can launder cloth masks in the washing machine, but Flinn suggests washing them separate from your other garments. It's easy to gather them and throw them into a mesh bag too. Opt for the hottest setting on both your washer and dryer and use regular laundry detergent according to the instructions—
You can also wash hot and hang to dry.
This helps preserve the elastic and reduces mask shrinkage.
These precautions should be enough to kill germs lurking on your mask.
Remember, it's WEAR, WASH, REPEAT!
If you need to add another to your daily & weekly rotation another, you can grab one here.