March 31,2020 – Masks are a big topic for debate right now. There are at least two questions. One being should regular folks wear them? The other being can we even get a decent mask if we want on? My answer is pretty much we should wear some sort of mask and I doubt we can get a medical quality mask any time soon.
I am lucky in a small way. A few years ago I bought a bag of N-95 dust masks. I have been using them when doing dusty work around the house. I have four unused left and one slightly use one left. Not medical grade. I think I will be wearing one any time I need to be in a store. I will also be reusing them.
My basic plan to reuse a mask depends on how to clean one. I figure while out and about that the outside surface has a chance to be contaminated. Even if I am sure it is not I will treat it that way. My first plan to disinfect a mask is to expose it to sunlight and heat. I left one on the dash of my car out in the sun the other day. I figure the UV of the sun rays will kill off the virus and also the heat inside a car in the sun. (By the way I have been exposing my incoming mail to the sun. I lay it out in my boat for a while.)
Not sure about other ways to clean a mask. I will not be using Lysol nor such sprays as I will have to breath the residues. Might try 95% isopropyl alcohol and let it dry. Probably will just wash in hot soppy water and rinse.
Should I be wearing a mask and is there a personal benefit? Seems pretty obvious a mask works else why do all the medical folks wear them. I get they are around actually infected people and have many times over more chances to become infected. I get that if I am in a store and someone sneezes in my face there is still the chance to get some virus in my eyes. So a mask is not a sure thing to prevent my being infected but I figure I get some protection. I am making an unsupported guess that most infections are by way of mouth. So I figure I cannot be 100% protected with only a mask but it is better than nothing.
If I get infected I can be shedding virus for many days before showing symptoms so my mask can keep me from spreading virus. I may be one who never shows symptoms. Truth being I am a bit more concerned about preventing my own infection, but also do not want to spread it if I get infected.
My guess is if there were plenty enough good masks around for all to have all they need then the rules might be different. Right now there are not enough for even all the frontline health care folks so I get why they “blew smoke up our nickers” about us ordinary folks not needing them. I do see why medical folks need them more than me and in an us or them scenario they should get them before I do.
For you folks who are ordinary like me and do not have a mask there are options. Make your own nose and mouth cover.
Last thing on this for now. I was wearing a mask and gloves last week to Kroger’s. On my way out to my car I took the mask off. I realized I had touched the inside of the mask while taking it off. I failed to remove the gloves I wore and touched the inside of the mask with a finger. I had been touching stuff in Kroger’s so the mask was compromised. It spent the rest of the day on my dash out in the sun. I will be more careful from now on.
I have always had an ample supply of gloves and masks. There is a particular brand of mask that I used for 20+ years which I order from a dental supply company. Unfortunately, they are not available now. A family member is on peritoneal dialysis at home, and we have gloves and masks for connecting and disconnecting to the dialysis machine. The surface disinfectant wipes I have purchased to wipe off the table and equipment and supplies we use, are now not available through Amazon. I found some wipes that will work (dental supply company), but will have to mix up a bleach solution every day if we run out. The dialysis RNs are now telling us to reuse the masks and to use one mask a day per person. I'm down to four boxes of my favorite masks and then I'll have to use the cheap masks that come with the dialysis supplies. I've had frequent head colds, and my masks protect our patient better. Actually it turns out my head colds are actually allergies to everything, including the ash/smoke when starting fires in the wood stoves...so I need a N95 type mask.
There are all kinds of masks for sale, and the ads keep popping up on FB. Here's two of them:
N95 - ProCare™
clickedpick.com
Designed for comfortable protection
brandyrebirth.com
I think they are the same masks sold by different vendors. They come from China....who knows how long it will take to arrive. I hate it when the website is in English, and after I click my PayPal payment only then do I see that it is an overseas vendor I just paid.
When it comes to gloves, I have a stash of nitrile gloves from Harbor Freight (wouldn't surprise me if they are out now). The gloves really look like medical exam gloves, only they are much cheaper, and they come in 3, 5, 7 ,9 ml thickness.