MICRO19 Room and Surface Spray - boost your mask's protective powers!
“Everything we know so far suggests that wearing almost any kind of mask in public is better than nothing, that a tight fit is best, and that, with certain limits, many types of masks can be reused outside of medical settings.”
Here are some hints on how to keep your masks hygienic and protect you from germs.
How to clean, disinfect and dry your cloth mask.
It is essential to wash your cloth face masks daily to prevent germ transmission. Cotton masks stand up best to hand or machine washing with bleach or other disinfectants. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water before and after handling soiled masks.
Launder masks by completing these simple steps:
- Remove detachable parts like interior filters or elastic ear bands from a folded scarf or bandana before washing.
- Use a mesh laundry bag to reduce entanglement with other clothes during machine washing.
- Set machine water temperature to high.
- Add a detergent that contains disinfectant or bleach to ensure you’re killing as many germs as possible.
- Dry masks on the highest dryer setting or use direct sunlight to dry masks.
As well as washing your mask, use MICRO19 Antibacterial Room and Surface spray on your mask to supercharge its protective powers.
MICRO19 Room and Surface Spray may complement the now ubiquitous custom-made cloth face masks with their unknown filtration effectiveness.
Face mask hygiene etiquette.
To further reduce risk of infection:
- Always wash your hands or use hand sanitiser before you put on your mask.
- Make sure your mask is facing the right direction, so your face is not touching the mask exterior.
- Wear your mask snugly over both your nose and mouth.
- Try not to touch the mask while you’re wearing it.
- When removing the mask, touch only the attached strings or elastic bands.
- Hold it or place the mask on a sanitised surface until you’re ready to or wear it again or throw directly into the washing machine when you get home. Then wash your hands again.
How to care for your disposable masks.
Human coronaviruses remain on inanimate surfaces such as metal, wood, paper, glass or plastic for up to 9 days, but they can be efficiently inactivated through disinfection with 62–71% ethanol.
Consider the use of alcohol-based spray-on disinfectants, not only as the simplest method for quick mask surface sterilisation, but also applicable to other PPE surfaces or shared equipment, keyboards, computer mice or similar.
Spray the mask (both inside and out) with MICRO19 Room and Surface Spray (which contains 66% ethanol) and allow to air dry. Apply to the top surface only (i.e. avoid soaking). Do not use until the alcohol odour is no longer detectable and the mask is completely dry.
Improvised homemade or non-certified masks are the inferior alternative, although it seems better than using nothing at all. But please note that improvised masks, while a more fashionable choice, may increase the risk of infection due to humidity, the diffusion of liquids and the retention of the virus in the mask, which would facilitate self-infection.
Stay safe!
From the team at MICRO19