Can medical masks be washed?
The coronavirus outbreak has created an unprecedented demand for protective equipment and antiseptics. Due to rising prices and shortages, many are wondering whether a medical mask can be washed. No, if we are talking about a disposable pharmaceutical mask, and yes, if we mean a bandage made of fabric and gauze (bandage).
Why can't you wash pharmaceutical masks?
A modern medical mask is made from non-woven synthetic materials. As a rule, it consists of 3 layers. Spunbond is placed inside and outside, and the third layer is a filter that collects harmful particles, bacteria and viruses. The filter layer cannot be cleaned. And the spandbond itself does not tolerate wet and heat treatment.
After washing, a disposable medical mask simply ceases to perform its functions. Having used it for its intended purpose, it must be carefully removed by the rubber bands and thrown into the trash.
How to wash reusable protective equipment?
Another thing is a mask made from gauze, bandage or fabric. It can and even should be washed and ironed on the inside and outside. How to do this correctly?
- In the washing machine Fabric protective equipment can be washed. Fabric masks are machine washable. Recommendations for care and choice of regimen should be found on the label. Products that were sewn independently are washed depending on the type of material: polyester - at 30-40 degrees, cotton - at 60.
- Hands in a basin wash gauze bandages.Gauze and bandage, unlike fabric, are easily deformed when wet. Therefore, it is better to wash the mask by hand in a warm soapy solution. After washing, the products are not twisted, but only pressed a little to remove excess moisture.
The exception is protective equipment in which the filter is sewn. For example, cotton wool. Such a mask essentially becomes disposable: you either need to remove the filter layer or throw away the entire product.
Give preference to reusable dressings with a replaceable filter. Then you can easily take it out and throw it away, and wash the shell itself by hand or disinfect it in another way.
Detergents
To wash medical masks, you can use standard detergent. If washing is carried out in cold water, give preference to shampoos and gels. Most powders only work in hot water.
Boiling
It is known that most bacteria and viruses can be killed by boiling for 3 minutes. Coronaviruses die at a temperature of +56 degrees, which is even less than the boiling point of water. Therefore, it is not necessary to boil the masks. To disinfect the product, regular washing and ironing on both sides is sufficient.
Drying
It is preferable to dry protective equipment in the sun. The sun's rays are a source of ultraviolet radiation, which has disinfecting properties. If this is not possible, the product is dried on a radiator.
Improper use of a medical mask increases the risk of contracting a viral disease. After a few hours of wearing, it turns into a breeding ground for germs and viruses. For the protection product to work effectively, you need to change it on time. Disposable masks are thrown into the trash, after which they wash their hands with soap. Reusable headbands can be washed in a washing machine or by hand. If the water temperature is less than 60 degrees, the product must be additionally ironed on both sides.
We would wear them if they existed. Golikova broadcasts that factories producing masks operate in three shifts, seven days a week. Logical question: WHERE ARE THE MASKS???!!!
Hypocritical lies about production. It seems that the first and most basic means in the form of a mask were removed and hidden from the population on purpose!!!
If you are sick, you need a mask. If you are healthy, it will not help you. It keeps cough secretions from leaving your body so you don't infect others. And the virus is so small that it will find a way to get to you. In this case, a more advanced mask is needed to avoid infection. But, of course, you are unlikely to find them in pharmacies.
They cannot provide even that with basic means of protection. But we help everyone.
Thanks for the truth
Where are the masks, there are no masks in Ivanovo pharmacies!!!!!! Where to contact?
You won’t find it in St. Petersburg either. I’ve been running around pharmacies for two weeks, but alas...
What are you, crooked? Can’t make a mask out of a bandage or any fabric?
There are thousands of manufacturing options on the internet.
Of course, it’s better to panic and scream: Where should I go??????
Just wondering where the masks are.
Bravo!!! Smart girl!! Exactly, armless!
Why scream? If I can’t sew it, why isn’t it on sale or is it available at that price, and there’s no delivery to our region. And who said that homemade ones are not harmful?
Inna, listen, you Kremlinbot sheep! Nah. Then we need a state that is them. can't provide?! There aren’t even fucking masks or alcohol in pharmacies! Not X.Then extort taxes from the population, so be it. This filthy state will disappear along with such a filthy government!
and together with you
this is an uneducated moron,
Why are you insulting a person? She's telling you the right thing! Pharmacy masks are disposable, they must be thrown away after 2 hours, but sewn fabric and gauze masks are reusable, they can be washed, ironed, and the intermediate layer (cotton wool or something else) can be replaced. Four-layer gauze masks can protect against infection, said Health Minister Mikhail Murashko. Health to you and your family.
Inna is absolutely correct! The mask just needs to be sewn. Yes, it’s bad that there are no masks. But for healthy people this is not a problem! I am very outraged by your rudeness. And as for the government: WHO do you have to be to criticize the country’s leadership, which is doing quite a lot in this situation.
Holy truth!
You are a rotten sheep. Prodozhny kazlishche.
Which states now have masks?
I'm so tired of whining about the rotten state and government. And we ourselves, like a herd of sheep, go to barbecue and booze... We are all cool, the best and smartest, but the authorities are vile.
I AGREE with YOU how the old people will sew these masks themselves
Where did you come from? Learn to restrain yourself. Talk to your bull family like that, if you have one.
From the bandage you need it in Savok, the bandage is for beauty - there is no filter there, hence there is no point in them.
Sew yourself and go... you don’t have to wear lipstick))) save money)))
We tested a technique for turning disposable protective masks into reusable ones. 1. Disposable masks lose quality if they are sterilized in disinfectant solutions.
2.But you can sterilize them in the kitchen microwave. To do this, the used bandage must be slightly moistened by sprinkling it with water. Then place in a ceramic cup or saucer and place in the microwave. You also need to put a cup or glass in the oven half filled with water - about 100 milliliters. Turn on the microwave oven for 1.5 - 2 minutes at full power. All microbes, viruses and other living things in the bandage, cup, glass will die as a result of exposure to microwaves. And the mask will again be sterile, retain its shape, and be ready for use.
3. In Russia, this is how milk bottles for babies are sterilized in a microwave oven.
It is also possible to sterilize gloves, kitchen utensils, napkins, towels, and the like.
Very interesting ! Looks like this should actually work.
The microwave should be used in a place where food is not cooked or heated. It is better to spray the mask with a disinfectant solution.
Allah, it makes no difference which microwave you use. Pathogenic flora dies both on the mask and on the inside of the microwave. Moreover, you sterilize your mask there, it contains your own viruses and bacteria)) These are not anthrax tubes)))
I'll survive, I'll call you if you agree
I washed the disposable one, you can wear it normally
You can wear it, but it will no longer trap viruses.
But what if you cut one layer (the one that is adjacent to the face) into a washed disposable mask and put 2-3 layers of bandage? Will the mask be able to trap viruses? I stopped throwing away masks after wearing them for 2 hours (I wear them on the way to and from work), I wash them and simply put them in a bag, having first sprayed alcohol into it from a spray bottle.I also thought about the microwave.
I boiled a disposable mask and it shrunk in size.
I found on YouTube how to sew the masks themselves. I bought fabrics and sewed 5 pieces so far) The result is reusable masks.
Lord, why are you all whining, huh? Is it difficult to sew masks yourself? If you don’t want gauze in several layers, take any cotton fabric with 2-3 layers and sew it to the size of your face! You can also decorate it with applique, but there’s nothing you can do, you’re still sitting at home! and by the way, fabric masks are much more convenient and comfortable to wear and work with. and there is no prohibition from doctors on wearing such masks.
Sew it yourself..don’t wait for masks..washing and ironing is not a problem.
Nevertheless, there should be medical masks for us too! And not just as humanitarian aid to other countries. I was wrong? And I should have a choice - buy or sew. But it’s more convenient and easier for me to buy and change every 2 hours.
how loyal everyone is, damn it... the government is doing everything... What and where is it doing??! Maybe they do it in Moscow... but we don’t even have disposable masks in hospitals!!!! In hospitals!!!!!what kind of disposable suits are there......this is the ultimate dream!
Good afternoon I'm sorry...should there be masks for us???? With such a demand, there will be a shortage in any case, no one will make them for you because they are also in quarantine......you will also ask the state for cereals and toilet paper when we buy them ourselves with cars!!!!!And who doesn’t like Russia and its leadership, go to the fucking place In Europe, for example in Italy or Spain, they will give you masks and at the same time give you medical treatment by the standards of a civilized country
I completely agree with you.If it’s so bad in Russia, why don’t they go to Europe or the USA? Everything is smeared with honey, so go ahead. What have you done for Russia just to demand?
here you are wrong, they didn’t start producing masks yesterday and they weren’t such a hot commodity; they were, as you say, toilet paper and cereal, where are these masks distributed all over RUSSIA? there aren’t any about small villages at all, you don’t even have to talk about analgin there.
Stop silencing people! People have every right to buy a mask at a pharmacy; this is a basic cheap means of protection and should be absolutely available to everyone. Those who have the opportunity left a long time ago, but we are here and have the right to normal medicine. And buying a mask is not a ventilator and they should be available
They should be for pennies, not 500 rubles apiece.
Absolutely correct! Clear and clear!
Our “super government” is ready to help everyone except its own people, yes, I agree, maybe in Moscow they are ready for a large number of patients and Moscow hospitals have everything, but in remote cities there is nothing, there is only one ventilator for the whole city, but then we are like that good guys, we help everyone!!!
I completely agree with you, in our towns there are no normal hospitals, let alone ventilators.
If there were no speculators who bought them in thousands, then we would have enough.
Fine! Let's sew a mask! Do we also have to distill the alcohol ourselves, like moonshine?
and we’ll invent a vaccine in the kitchen.
There are NO masks in pharmacies in Nakhabino near Moscow! NO antiseptics! There are not even ingredients for making antiseptics yourself - miramistin, chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, glycerin.Relevant notices are posted at the entrance to the pharmacy. Where is everything? Flew away?... From speculators? And there are no speculators!
And somehow, by chance, messages began to appear on the Internet and on TV that masks, in general, did not help, and the best antiseptic was ordinary soap...
As always, they gave everything to others, but nothing to their own people. A DISGRACE!
Tula, where are the masks???
Girls, what should you make the filter from?
But America needed our help, did they need it? Let's see, when it comes to us, who will help us?
I have another question. If the virus dies after some time on all surfaces, then why can’t a disposable mask be quarantined somewhere on the balcony or in a plastic bag for a week. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
I’m also surprised: I washed my hands with soap and there is no virus, but I can’t wash my mask with the same soap. At the same time, they write that alcohol does not take it (internally), bleach does not, garlic is useless and much else is useless. On surfaces it dies within two days. Or maybe it's not a virus at all? Maybe something has escaped somewhere and is wandering around the world. Too many inconsistencies. Does anyone around you have any illnesses?
Personally, LEOMAH will send me masks for 192 rubles. a piece.
my dears, several years ago we had no idea about disposable ones, all medicine used gauze and surgery too, everyone who can hold a needle in their hands can calmly solve the problem, stay healthy and worry less
Previously, it was possible to sew from the old gauze, but not from the current one, this is a sieve through which not only a virus, but an elephant can crawl
It doesn’t matter whether you can wash it or not, if you can’t find a mask in pharmacies in Russia during the day! No paracetamol, no masks, no antiseptics at all!!! Country of clowns and idiots!
You see, everyone is right. Well, then what? The answer is simple. You have to sew it yourself!
I feel completely healthy and, therefore, it seems that I don’t need a mask because... won't protect me. But what if I’m an asymptomatic carrier? Then the mask on me is a concern for those with whom I come into contact (naturally at a distance and with minimal time). I hand sewed a couple of masks from cotton scraps. fabrics and put them on alternately - boil for 3 minutes - dry. For the peace of mind of others...
Kemerovo region town. There are no masks in Yashkino pharmacies!