Sous vide a face mask for sterilization

Never microwave a mask that have metallic nose piece to retain shape around nose. It might cause fire.

This will be a very useful video to post to our NextDoor. This is what I call an Explain it Like Iā€™m Five video, so should work well for that group.

You could stick it in a pot of boiling water for a while, or simply wash it with soap, which will destroy the virus. If you donā€™t have metal nose piece, microwave it.

My best recommendation according to info in the following link is to sous vide at 70 degrees centigrade or 158 degrees farenheit for at least 30 minutes, maybe longer and a couple of degrees higher to reach all the layers. Seems like the safest way to protect your masks.

chatnoir, you make a good point about PPE. In many localities, some hospitals havenā€™t properly planned, while others have done an excellent job. Performance varies greatly by region and even hospitals within a region. Many people forget USA is a federal republic and some duties (such as hospitals) are delegated to states.

Regarding the number of hospital beds, the shortages (again, it varies by region) are in ICU beds, not hospital beds. Many beds in the hot areas are sitting vacant, including those of of the emergency Army medical field hospitals and Navy hospital ships (which were initially scoffed at as being inadequate). But in fairness, pandemics are quite different from trauma or radiation injuries, which the military is trained for.

Thank you, Lyndaā€¦this is a veritable treasure trove of information.

Your welcome. I tried it with a mask with respirator and filter in middle and nothing melted. I did 160 for 1 hour. Seemed to work well. Be sure & wash your hands before removing from bag & handle by ear loops only.

Place in a new paper bag till you wear again. Use a new bag each time.

Itā€™s painful to see a couple misinformation here.

Surgical masks are consisting 3 layers, the outter layer being water proof, the middle layer as the filter, which has an electrostatic charge to it, and over time due to usage, the charge diminishes and itā€™s the charge which attracts bacteria, dusts, viruses.

Usage diminishes it is because when we breathe out, thereā€™s moisture, this build up of moisture will cause the charge to diminish. Any suggestion of boiling masks would be very dangerous assuming the mask is still effective.

Also, other kinds of advise such as UVC lights, hair dryer, ovens, etcā€¦ please do bear in mind the charge will still be diminished over time. Please be on your guard, I know itā€™s very expensive, but please stay informed, be careful and take care of yourselves.

Written by a material scientist on mask sterilization. He is also the inventor of electrostatic charged layer sandwiched inside the mask.

https://utrf.tennessee.edu/information-faqs-performance-protection-sterilization-of-face-mask-materials/%5D

Lee

Maybe check the link?

A heartfelt reply from Alex & Sue

Would someone please help me understand how i am missing something regarding all these posts about medical and surgical masks when I hear daily thereā€™s a critical shortage of them for our healthcare providers.

very useful information. we all need this

Iā€™d just iron/steam the mask.

Whaattt.ā€¦.??

Written by a material scientist on mask sterilization. He is also the inventor of electrostatic charged layer sandwiched inside the mask.
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