Washing and caring for your cloth mask: best practices.

Wearing a (fabric) mask is strongly recommended in many European countries. 

In Belgium, they have been mandatory on public transport since May 11.

The sewing community has been active in making them so that everyone can protect themselves, protect others, and allow a gradual easing of lockdown. 

I will not revisit the mask effectiveness, nor on their making since this has already been covered in my previous articles.

Today, I want to answer the question:

How to care for your fabric mask: how to wash it, keep it in good condition, and make it last over time.

1. Washing your fabric mask

In principle, a fabric mask can be worn for 4 hours and should be washed after each use. Hence the importance of having several that you can change during the day if necessary or simply to to have a clean one while you are washing the mask you are wearing. 

The best way to wash your masks is to put them in the washing machine for a cycle of at least 30 minutes at 60°C.
The cycle may be longer, depending on the programs offered by your machine, but not shorter to ensure that all viral particles have been eliminated.

I recommend placing your mask in a laundry bag to protect it but also to avoid the "sock effect," meaning masks getting lost in the machine.

Choose a regular laundry detergent and do not use fabric softener.

Do not use disinfectant products, such as bleach; you risk simply damaging your mask, fading it, and reducing its lifespan.


2. Drying your fabric mask

It is important to dry your mask quickly; it is recommended to dry it within 2 hours after washing.

Two options are available to you:
- using a tumble dryer
- using a hair dryer

Well, and if you're lucky enough to live in a sunny place, you can also dry it using the sun's rays ;-) as long as it dries within 2 hours.

3. Ironing your fabric mask

After drying your mask, you can iron it to remove unsightly wrinkles and reshape the original folds if they have loosened a bit after machine washing.

You can use steam if you wish.

Here is a short summary video :

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