Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Here are some tips on masks and gloves

This sports mask needs
a shop towel filter
    If you are going out to any stores you absolutely should wear disposable gloves and a mask if you have one. These things can be hard to come by, so here are some tips to make them last longer.

    1. Disposable gloves can and should be “washed” with soap and water just like you would wash your hands. If you are running short, when you get ready to take them off wash and then dry them first.
    2. When taking off gloves, try to do so without touching the outside of the glove.
    3. Both gloves and masks can be reused, but must be sequestered for several days to a week first. Viruses will naturally decompose over time. Masks need several days, gloves need a week. The longer the better, of course! Reusable masks such as the sports mask I'm wearing in the photo should be washed and dried.
    4. There is a real shortage of surgical masks. You can use a sports mask or balaclava. Some of these are quite thin, so to be effective you need to place two thicknesses of a shop towel between the mask and your face. Shop towels make excellent filters, which is why they have sold out in lots of places. Regular paper towels aren’t nearly as good, but better than nothing.
    5. Much of the benefit of both masks and gloves is that they keep you from touching your face. So a lousy mask is better than no mask at all.

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