I thought washing your hands with soap killed (?) the (non-living) virus by compromising it's outer shell. So, can I then handwash re-useable masks - and does detergent kill the virus in the same way as soap?
The reason I ask is that googling it, it seems you have to wash clothes at 60 degrees - why is that necessary if the soap (detergent?) kills the virus anyway?
Machine washing with fabric conditioner will weaken the elastic. I steam ours over a pan of boiling water for a few minutes.
As for the effectiveness of cloth masks, there was a slogan borne of the 1918 "Spanish" flu pandemic "Coughs and sneezes spread diseases". In recent times people are far more lax about where and how they cough and sneeze without covering their nose and mouth so if wearing a mask helps reduce transmission to others it has to be worth doing.
There are any amount of videos and tutorials available online about how to make a simple 3 layer mask, with or without removable filter. Learning how to manage one effectively, without touching it all the time and how to put it on and take it off is a skill that does not require huge intellect but does need a bit of common sense and self discipline, like the early days of Clunk Click for seat belts in cars.
Better personal hygiene and thorough hand-washing is of general benefit, not just in a pandemic. We all need to think of our civic duty to respect and care for others and not just see our own, sometimes selfish viewpoint.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I entirely agree with your summary @steveTu. My own view, which I have bored people stupid with on here, is that the evidence of benefit is very slight, and that any benefit, would be negated, unless 100% perfect wearing of the mask and replacing at intervals during the day [ never mentioned that when they become wet, they cease to function ] I do what the law says I must. Most doctors who have actually worked in a relevant field, are very ambivalent about them. I am unaware of any new papers on the subject, although I would like to hope a good one might be done.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
It works in Korea which has a significantly lower level of infections and deaths than the west - Forbes, so economic rather than medical emphasis
What South Korea teaches us is that proactive testing and tracing, along with the mass production and distribution of face masks and the promotion of their use, are winning strategies in this battle.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
In Utah our numbers have dropped from 700-900 daily to 300-400 this week.. two weeks after a mask mandate in our hot-spot counties.. and big businesses mandating them across all their stores (Walmart, etc) last week.
1. Something has caused the numbers to drop, and mandatory masks have been the only major change.
So either the masks are working or people are so bothered about wearing them they stay home and shop online or local (smaller contact group).. regardless, our numbers are dropping!
A couple of minutes in a pressure cooker then? I have a steaming tray that I can use that I don't use for food.
I see the up side of masks Obelixx, it's the down side that concerns me - only because of what I've seen of them in use so far - and the attitude change it seems to encourage in others. The 'I am now safe' bit. I think I clumsily tried to make that point earlier when referring to the interviews of people coming back to quarantine in the UK from Spain - they 'felt' safer in Spain because masks were widespread - ignoring the 'fact' that Spain was/is experiencing spikes - the 'oh it must be ok over there, they all wear masks'.
Agree - mask wearing will become like muscle memory - the problem I had mainly was with my glasses steaming up (the surgical mask I wore didn't have a metal nose strip) and the mask feeling as though it was 'moving'. After a few attempts, it will be the same as not touching my face without a mask.
I would get out my wife's sewing machine - but I have to admit, I haven't a scooby as to how to use it. I can sew buttons and patch parasol covers though, so I may give mask making a go by hand...thought about that for all of 5 seconds and that's a no then....
You've used masks in a clinical environment - how do they NOT get damp on the outside?
Not sure what percentage of breath is moisture, but with every breath the inner layer must be getting damp, and via some form of osmosis or capillary action (or whatever the scientific term is), doesn't that moisture transfer through the layers, even though the outer layer may not appear damp per se to human touch? There's no damp course is there?!
Ordinary fibre surgical masks do get wet and so are replaced every few hours. The masks that I would wear for dealing with patients in this sort of situation are totally different [ with valves ], so wetness is not a problem.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
@steveTu - you asked about hand washing a mask using hand soap. My understanding is that providing you wash it for at least 20 seconds, that's sufficient to kill any Covid virus on it, just as it is when washing your hands. (When I come home from shopping, I wash my hands and my mask at the same time.) Drying the mask on the line was suggested as being the best option too. And - correct me someone, please, if I'm wrong - I believe all soaps and detergents, including washing up liquid, work in the same way to kill corona virus. It's the surfactant effect, breaking down the fat membrane in the virus, which is important.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Posts
As for the effectiveness of cloth masks, there was a slogan borne of the 1918 "Spanish" flu pandemic "Coughs and sneezes spread diseases". In recent times people are far more lax about where and how they cough and sneeze without covering their nose and mouth so if wearing a mask helps reduce transmission to others it has to be worth doing.
There are any amount of videos and tutorials available online about how to make a simple 3 layer mask, with or without removable filter. Learning how to manage one effectively, without touching it all the time and how to put it on and take it off is a skill that does not require huge intellect but does need a bit of common sense and self discipline, like the early days of Clunk Click for seat belts in cars.
Better personal hygiene and thorough hand-washing is of general benefit, not just in a pandemic. We all need to think of our civic duty to respect and care for others and not just see our own, sometimes selfish viewpoint.
My own view, which I have bored people stupid with on here, is that the evidence of benefit is very slight, and that any benefit, would be negated, unless 100% perfect wearing of the mask and replacing at intervals during the day [ never mentioned that when they become wet, they cease to function ]
I do what the law says I must.
Most doctors who have actually worked in a relevant field, are very ambivalent about them.
I am unaware of any new papers on the subject, although I would like to hope a good one might be done.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
What South Korea teaches us is that proactive testing and tracing, along with the mass production and distribution of face masks and the promotion of their use, are winning strategies in this battle.
So either the masks are working or people are so bothered about wearing them they stay home and shop online or local (smaller contact group).. regardless, our numbers are dropping!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The masks that I would wear for dealing with patients in this sort of situation are totally different [ with valves ], so wetness is not a problem.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border