Looking after your face mask
When leaving the house, your face mask has become as essential as your wallet and keys. It is now illegal to be in a public space in South Africa without your mask, and the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organisation (WHO) both recommend wearing a mask to reduce chances of spreading, or contracting, the coronavirus.
However, rather than using disposable masks, many have invested in cloth masks, and it’s recommended that these be washed daily, or after every use – whether your mask has visible stains or not, and whether you live in a densely populated city or a sparse area with few Covid cases. Why is this so important and how should you go about washing it?
You are advised to regularly wash your hands for 20 seconds to destroy any of the Covid-19 virus that you might have been exposed to throughout the day. Just as your hands can be carriers of the virus, bringing the virus to your face or into your home or car, so too is your mask. The mask can pick up the virus and then, when you take it off at the end of the day, can spread it to the surfaces in your home or office or to you when you touch your face after touching the mask. That’s why it’s safest to remove your mask by the ear loops, not touching the body of the mask at all, and place directly into either the wash or into a plastic bag to be washed later.
Luckily, it’s not that difficult to wash your mask – the CDC recommends washing your mask in the washing machine, using your everyday washing powder. It’s recommended to use the warmest appropriate water setting, so 60°C or higher would be preferable. If you don’t have a washing machine, John Hopkins Medicine suggests you scrub the mask thoroughly in warm water with regular hand soap.
As the economy opens up, businesses are now required to provide their employees with masks, which your employees will have to wash every day. However, if you would like to avoid the hassle of ensuring each employee has their own clean mask every day, why not use fanute’s services? fanute has expanded its linen rental operations to include masks. Every day, the fanute team will deliver freshly-laundered masks and collect the dirty ones, providing mask that offer you peace of mind.
