I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

On 18/04/2020 09:28, Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?



Obviously under lockdown you will want to avoid going out to buy
disinfectant, so AIUI urine has antiviral properties. Soaking the masks
in warm urine should destroy the virus.

This article confirms the virus is not detected in urine.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30200-0/fulltext

If that doesn't work try an angle grinder.

On 18/04/2020 09:28, Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?



That's odd. Roger in UKPM asked the very same question.

1/10 for trolling effort.

--

"Kelly" wrote in message
...
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

Not, it ****s the mask's filtering capability.

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/program...virus/12123574

"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...


"Kelly" wrote in message
...
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

Not, it ****s the mask's filtering capability.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/program...virus/12123574

But masks are pretty useless unless you are actually
infectious, they really just make it less likely you will
pick your nose with an infected finger or suck your
infected thumb or pick some food out from between
your teeth with an infected finger etc. So there isnt
any real point in cleaning a mask.

On Sat, 18 Apr 2020 19:17:32 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

"Kelly" wrote in message
...
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

Not, it ****s the mask's filtering capability.

Not necessarily, all-knowing senile asshole! Actually, depending on the
model, they CAN be washed!

--
The Natural Philosopher about senile Rodent:
"Rod speed is not a Brexiteer. He is an Australian troll and arsehole."
Message-ID:

On Sat, 18 Apr 2020 19:30:02 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the trolling senile cretin's latest troll****

--
Website (from 2007) dedicated to the 86-year-old trolling senile
cretin from Oz:
https://www.pcreview.co.uk/threads/r...d-faq.2973853/

GB wrote:

On 18/04/2020 09:28, Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?



That's odd. Roger in UKPM asked the very same question.

More acurately, Roger asked a similar question in UKPM which I
answered by asking if the idea above would be any good. As I haven't
got an aswer in UKPM I thought maybe I could get an answer in this
group.

1/10 for trolling effort.

Rod Speed wrote:

"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...


"Kelly" wrote in message
...
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

Not, it ****s the mask's filtering capability.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/program...virus/12123574

But masks are pretty useless unless you are actually
infectious, they really just make it less likely you will
pick your nose with an infected finger or suck your
infected thumb or pick some food out from between
your teeth with an infected finger etc. So there isnt
any real point in cleaning a mask.

That's an interesting way of looking at things. I think even if the
mask was pretty useless, anyway, whether it be clean or unclean,
I would prefer to wear a clean mask. And cling on to the hope that at
least it was better than wearing absolutely no mask at all.

GB wrote:

1/10 for trolling effort.

ps. 0/10 for helpfulness effort.

"Kelly" wrote in message
...
Rod Speed wrote:

"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...


"Kelly" wrote in message
...
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

Not, it ****s the mask's filtering capability.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/program...virus/12123574

But masks are pretty useless unless you are actually
infectious, they really just make it less likely you will
pick your nose with an infected finger or suck your
infected thumb or pick some food out from between
your teeth with an infected finger etc. So there isnt
any real point in cleaning a mask.

That's an interesting way of looking at things. I think even if the
mask was pretty useless, anyway, whether it be clean or unclean,
I would prefer to wear a clean mask. And cling on to the hope
that at least it was better than wearing absolutely no mask at all.

But cleaning it that way destroys its filtering capability.

On 18/04/2020 10:49, Kelly wrote:
Rod Speed wrote:

"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...

leaning a mask.

That's an interesting way of looking at things. I think even if the
mask was pretty useless, anyway, whether it be clean or unclean,
I would prefer to wear a clean mask. And cling on to the hope that at
least it was better than wearing absolutely no mask at all.



Learn how to snip posts

--

On 18/04/2020 11:05, Kelly wrote:
GB wrote:

1/10 for trolling effort.

ps. 0/10 for helpfulness effort.



ps welcome

--

On Sat, 18 Apr 2020 20:13:59 +1000, "Rod Speed"
wrote:

"Kelly" wrote in message
...
Rod Speed wrote:

"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...

But masks are pretty useless unless you are actually
infectious, they really just make it less likely you will
pick your nose with an infected finger or suck your
infected thumb or pick some food out from between
your teeth with an infected finger etc. So there isnt
any real point in cleaning a mask.

That's an interesting way of looking at things. I think even if the
mask was pretty useless, anyway, whether it be clean or unclean,
I would prefer to wear a clean mask. And cling on to the hope
that at least it was better than wearing absolutely no mask at all.

But cleaning it that way destroys its filtering capability.

That is really the point I wanted some reassurance on. If the general
consensus was that cleaning it that way does indeed destroy its
filtering capabilities, I wasn't going to bother adopting this method.

Okay then, I've made a mental note, you think this method is a
detrimental waste of time. Thanks for replying.

GB wrote:

On 18/04/2020 10:49, Kelly wrote:
Rod Speed wrote:

"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...

leaning a mask.

That's an interesting way of looking at things. I think even if the
mask was pretty useless, anyway, whether it be clean or unclean,
I would prefer to wear a clean mask. And cling on to the hope that at
least it was better than wearing absolutely no mask at all.



Learn how to snip posts

Gladly - just as soon as you learn some manners.

Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?


Uh, oh. It's alive.

A strawman walks loose in the building, like a zombie.

Make it stop.

*******

All I can tell you, is "I pick disinfectant".

Preferably, a chemical that releases an oxidizer. Like a peroxide.

Something like peroxyacetic acid is used for surfaces.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peracetic_acid

"Peracetic acid is always sold in solution as a mixture
with acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide to maintain its stability."

Damn. Well, that stinks.

https://www.iata.org/contentassets/7...sease-2019.pdf

"0.5% peroxyacetic acid, 3% hydrogen peroxide, or 500mg/L
chlorine dioxide can be adopted for air disinfection, by way
of aerosol spray, with 10-20ml/m³. Windows can be opened for
ventilation after 60 minutes of reaction. After spray disinfection,
the surface of objects may be wiped (swept) in the way of
daily disinfection."

Of course, you also don't want to be breathing that in later,
through the mask.

https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/46/1/97/222610

*******

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/food-i...safe-1.2923309

"High dose irradiation over 10 kGy can completely sterilize a food,
but is only used for products intended for those with severely
compromised immune systems."

Using that knowledge, a google gets me.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...471v1.full.pdf

"Significant literature exists supporting the use of
gamma radiation as a sterilization method, with viral inactivation
of SARS-CoV reported at doses of at most 10 kGy,
with other studies supporting 5 kGy for many types of viruses.

However, concerns have been raised about the radiation
damaging the fiber material within the mask, specifically by
causing cross-linking of polymers, leading to cracking and
degradation during fitting and/or deployment

These results suggest against gamma, and possibly all ionizing
radiation, as a method of disposable N95 sterilization.
"

"Several methods of sterilizing N95 masks between uses are
currently being studied across the world. The advantages of
these methods and concerns regarding their use are summarized in Table 1.

Vaporized hydrogen peroxide and EtO treatments in particular
are described in detail by Viscusi et al (2009) [2]; UV treatment
procedures are described in Darnell & Taylor (2006) and Kumar et al (2015)
"

Hydrogen peroxide, when it breaks down, releases
H2O, so the "residue" happens to be relatively nice.

Just about any treatment, which is "hard on the lipid surface
of the COVID-19 container", likely also has a potential to
damage a synthetic fabric. Then it's a question of whether
the damage compromises the function of the thing.

When they sterilize the mail sent to the politicians in
Washington (the Post Office has some setup for this), it
"makes the paper crispy". Yet, this is what it takes to
keep people safe. The threat in these cases, is attempts
to send anthrax to politicians, as a dust inside an envelope.
Damaging the paper a bit, is the price they pay for this
bit of treatment.

Summary: You can see from the one paper, that they're interested
in making N95 masks last longer. But they're also not
fooling around. That's why they were seriously considering
gamma radiation. (You can't use that on lettuce because it
makes the lettuce wilt, but it's good on ground beef.)

Paul

Paul wrote:

Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?


Uh, oh. It's alive.

A strawman walks loose in the building, like a zombie.

Make it stop.

*******

All I can tell you, is "I pick disinfectant".

Okay.

Preferably, a chemical that releases an oxidizer. Like a peroxide.

Something like peroxyacetic acid is used for surfaces.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peracetic_acid

"Peracetic acid is always sold in solution as a mixture
with acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide to maintain its stability."

Damn. Well, that stinks.

https://www.iata.org/contentassets/7...sease-2019.pdf

"0.5% peroxyacetic acid, 3% hydrogen peroxide, or 500mg/L
chlorine dioxide can be adopted for air disinfection, by way
of aerosol spray, with 10-20ml/m3. Windows can be opened for
ventilation after 60 minutes of reaction. After spray disinfection,
the surface of objects may be wiped (swept) in the way of
daily disinfection."

Of course, you also don't want to be breathing that in later,
through the mask.

https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/46/1/97/222610

So, really not that okay to be used in a face mask disinfection.

*******

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/food-i...safe-1.2923309

"High dose irradiation over 10 kGy can completely sterilize a food,
but is only used for products intended for those with severely
compromised immune systems."

Using that knowledge, a google gets me.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...471v1.full.pdf

"Significant literature exists supporting the use of
gamma radiation as a sterilization method, with viral inactivation
of SARS-CoV reported at doses of at most 10 kGy,
with other studies supporting 5 kGy for many types of viruses.

However, concerns have been raised about the radiation
damaging the fiber material within the mask, specifically by
causing cross-linking of polymers, leading to cracking and
degradation during fitting and/or deployment

These results suggest against gamma, and possibly all ionizing
radiation, as a method of disposable N95 sterilization.
"

"Several methods of sterilizing N95 masks between uses are
currently being studied across the world. The advantages of
these methods and concerns regarding their use are summarized in Table 1.

Vaporized hydrogen peroxide and EtO treatments in particular
are described in detail by Viscusi et al (2009) [2]; UV treatment
procedures are described in Darnell & Taylor (2006) and Kumar et al (2015)

Hydrogen peroxide, when it breaks down, releases
H2O, so the "residue" happens to be relatively nice.

Just about any treatment, which is "hard on the lipid surface
of the COVID-19 container", likely also has a potential to
damage a synthetic fabric. Then it's a question of whether
the damage compromises the function of the thing.

Oh dear.

When they sterilize the mail sent to the politicians in
Washington (the Post Office has some setup for this), it
"makes the paper crispy". Yet, this is what it takes to
keep people safe. The threat in these cases, is attempts
to send anthrax to politicians, as a dust inside an envelope.
Damaging the paper a bit, is the price they pay for this
bit of treatment.

Summary: You can see from the one paper, that they're interested
in making N95 masks last longer. But they're also not
fooling around. That's why they were seriously considering
gamma radiation. (You can't use that on lettuce because it
makes the lettuce wilt, but it's good on ground beef.)

A nice comprehensive read - I'll put that down as another one being
against the simple soap and water scrub, then.

It has been suggested that once used during a session, a N95 mask can
be put aside for somewhere around a week to let any potential virus
contamination die. Then it could be safely reused for another session.
That would be a pretty simple method... if it truly was safe.

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 09:28:11 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

An autoclave will do the job.

(Would a pressure cooker work? Can't think why not.)

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 13:00:31 UTC+1, polygonum_on_google wrote:
An autoclave will do the job.
(Would a pressure cooker work? Can't think why not.)

If there are no metal components, a microwave?

Although a virus is only DNA with no cellular structure, so no water to cook?

Owain

polygonum_on_google wrote:

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 09:28:11 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

An autoclave will do the job.

That would certainly kill any virus contamination, and I found this
video which suggests the N45 mask would still remain viable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxXKgDLPXUs

(Would a pressure cooker work? Can't think why not.)

Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that... it's so promising.

wrote:

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 13:00:31 UTC+1, polygonum_on_google wrote:
An autoclave will do the job.
(Would a pressure cooker work? Can't think why not.)

If there are no metal components, a microwave?

Although a virus is only DNA with no cellular structure, so no water to cook?

Unfortunately, you get mixed opinions for the microve idea when you
run it through a Google search. This return, for example, says it's
not a good idea:

https://www.answers.com/Q/Can_you_st...in_a_microwave

But, then, you are lucky to get full agreement on just about anything
these days.

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 13:52:09 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:
Unfortunately, you get mixed opinions for the microve idea when you
run it through a Google search. This return, for example, says it's
not a good idea:


It'll probably meet Matt Hancock's guidelines for the NHS

Owain

wrote:

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 13:52:09 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:
Unfortunately, you get mixed opinions for the microve idea when you
run it through a Google search. This return, for example, says it's
not a good idea:


It'll probably meet Matt Hancock's guidelines for the NHS

Ooh, a topical political witticism. Yes, indeed, the government
seem quite keen for the NHS to recycle normally disposable PPE at the
moment.

On 18/04/2020 13:37, Kelly wrote:
polygonum_on_google wrote:

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 09:28:11 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

An autoclave will do the job.

That would certainly kill any virus contamination, and I found this
video which suggests the N45 mask would still remain viable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxXKgDLPXUs

(Would a pressure cooker work? Can't think why not.)

Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that... it's so promising.



Maybe because you are too ****ing dumb.

--

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 09:28:11 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

Bleach.

harry wrote:

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 09:28:11 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

Bleach.

Well, bleach will certainly kill any virus contamination (and it's
widely available) but once again the killjoys are out in force. This
time saying, " ...don't use bleach, alcohol or household cleaners to
disinfect masks as ingesting or inhaling these chemicals can be
harmful."

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/h...or/2940960001/

On 18/04/2020 13:11, wrote:
On Saturday, 18 April 2020 13:00:31 UTC+1, polygonum_on_google wrote:
An autoclave will do the job.
(Would a pressure cooker work? Can't think why not.)

If there are no metal components, a microwave?

Although a virus is only DNA with no cellular structure, so no water to cook?

Owain

Actually RNA, but still a relatively fragile molecule with covalent
bonds so it ought to heat up a bit. You might cook your elastic straps
first though, or any thermoplastic bits.

Kelly wrote:

A nice comprehensive read - I'll put that down as another one being
against the simple soap and water scrub, then.

It has been suggested that once used during a session, a N95 mask can
be put aside for somewhere around a week to let any potential virus
contamination die. Then it could be safely reused for another session.
That would be a pretty simple method... if it truly was safe.

But the medical people want everything a PPE could
possibly come in touch with, to be cleaned off.

If you were working with a patient with drug-resistant TB,
C.Difficile, and COVID-19, the cleaning procedure would
have to cover those too. Whereas a home user, you would
hope that drug-resistant TB isn't present. The TB thing
is one thing I feared at our local hospital. And they bring
people from remote areas, hundreds of miles to my hospital,
so they can cough on us :-) Well, they gotta go somewhere...
My hospital is pretty good about putting masks on people,
where their range of conditions include the possibility of
tuberculosis. The more trips I make to the hospital, the
more I learn about weaknesses in the system.

That's another reason for the gamma ray thing. An attempt
at total coverage.

It would be better to be making masks out of something "more permanent"
that can take a healthy dose of gamma. That would be a kind of
"end-to-end" design, rather than trying to retrofit a process
to something intended to be disposable.

Paul

"Kelly" wrote in message
...
Paul wrote:

Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?


Uh, oh. It's alive.

A strawman walks loose in the building, like a zombie.

Make it stop.

*******

All I can tell you, is "I pick disinfectant".

Okay.

Preferably, a chemical that releases an oxidizer. Like a peroxide.

Something like peroxyacetic acid is used for surfaces.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peracetic_acid

"Peracetic acid is always sold in solution as a mixture
with acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide to maintain its stability."

Damn. Well, that stinks.

https://www.iata.org/contentassets/7...sease-2019.pdf

"0.5% peroxyacetic acid, 3% hydrogen peroxide, or 500mg/L
chlorine dioxide can be adopted for air disinfection, by way
of aerosol spray, with 10-20ml/m3. Windows can be opened for
ventilation after 60 minutes of reaction. After spray disinfection,
the surface of objects may be wiped (swept) in the way of
daily disinfection."

Of course, you also don't want to be breathing that in later,
through the mask.

https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/46/1/97/222610

So, really not that okay to be used in a face mask disinfection.

*******

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/food-i...safe-1.2923309

"High dose irradiation over 10 kGy can completely sterilize a food,
but is only used for products intended for those with severely
compromised immune systems."

Using that knowledge, a google gets me.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...471v1.full.pdf

"Significant literature exists supporting the use of
gamma radiation as a sterilization method, with viral inactivation
of SARS-CoV reported at doses of at most 10 kGy,
with other studies supporting 5 kGy for many types of viruses.

However, concerns have been raised about the radiation
damaging the fiber material within the mask, specifically by
causing cross-linking of polymers, leading to cracking and
degradation during fitting and/or deployment

These results suggest against gamma, and possibly all ionizing
radiation, as a method of disposable N95 sterilization.
"

"Several methods of sterilizing N95 masks between uses are
currently being studied across the world. The advantages of
these methods and concerns regarding their use are summarized in Table
1.

Vaporized hydrogen peroxide and EtO treatments in particular
are described in detail by Viscusi et al (2009) [2]; UV treatment
procedures are described in Darnell & Taylor (2006) and Kumar et al
(2015)

Hydrogen peroxide, when it breaks down, releases
H2O, so the "residue" happens to be relatively nice.

Just about any treatment, which is "hard on the lipid surface
of the COVID-19 container", likely also has a potential to
damage a synthetic fabric. Then it's a question of whether
the damage compromises the function of the thing.

Oh dear.

When they sterilize the mail sent to the politicians in
Washington (the Post Office has some setup for this), it
"makes the paper crispy". Yet, this is what it takes to
keep people safe. The threat in these cases, is attempts
to send anthrax to politicians, as a dust inside an envelope.
Damaging the paper a bit, is the price they pay for this
bit of treatment.

Summary: You can see from the one paper, that they're interested
in making N95 masks last longer. But they're also not
fooling around. That's why they were seriously considering
gamma radiation. (You can't use that on lettuce because it
makes the lettuce wilt, but it's good on ground beef.)

A nice comprehensive read - I'll put that down as another one being
against the simple soap and water scrub, then.

It has been suggested that once used during a session, a N95 mask can
be put aside for somewhere around a week to let any potential virus
contamination die. Then it could be safely reused for another session.
That would be a pretty simple method... if it truly was safe.

It likely is because the virus has been shown to not survive that
long on any type of surface.

BUT the diamond princess cruise ship was found to still have
some virus still present after weeks by the US CDC but they
didn't say where that was found to have survived. It might
have been in some irrelevant place like the sewer system etc
which wouldn't be relevant to a mask.

On Sun, 19 Apr 2020 04:21:52 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the trolling senile cretin's latest troll****

04:21, and you are up and trolling already? LMAO

--
Norman Wells addressing trolling senile Rodent:
"Ah, the voice of scum speaks."
MID:

Paul wrote:

If you were working with a patient with drug-resistant TB,
C.Difficile, and COVID-19, the cleaning procedure would
have to cover those too. Whereas a home user, you would
hope that drug-resistant TB isn't present. The TB thing
is one thing I feared at our local hospital. And they bring
people from remote areas, hundreds of miles to my hospital,
so they can cough on us :-) Well, they gotta go somewhere...
My hospital is pretty good about putting masks on people,
where their range of conditions include the possibility of
tuberculosis. The more trips I make to the hospital, the
more I learn about weaknesses in the system.

That's another reason for the gamma ray thing. An attempt
at total coverage.

It would be better to be making masks out of something "more permanent"
that can take a healthy dose of gamma. That would be a kind of
"end-to-end" design, rather than trying to retrofit a process
to something intended to be disposable.

Yes, definitely, if working or coming into contact with contagious
hospital patients I would want the best PPE possible, the full kit. I
am only messing about trying to re-use disposable masks to go
shopping, down the supermarket, say. And we are not suppose to deprive
our NHS front line workers of their stuff by buying up all the best
face masks, even if we could get hold of them, not to mention afford
them, that is.

I think I'm edging towards the compromise (until I get more supplies -
as needed) of maybe re-using disposable face masks, say 2 or 3 times,
by sterilising them in a pressure cooker. I'll review things as they
go along, and hope to keep healthy all the while.

Rod Speed wrote:

"Kelly" wrote in message
...

It has been suggested that once used during a session, a N95 mask can
be put aside for somewhere around a week to let any potential virus
contamination die. Then it could be safely reused for another session.
That would be a pretty simple method... if it truly was safe.

It likely is because the virus has been shown to not survive that
long on any type of surface.

BUT the diamond princess cruise ship was found to still have
some virus still present after weeks by the US CDC but they
didn't say where that was found to have survived. It might
have been in some irrelevant place like the sewer system etc
which wouldn't be relevant to a mask.

Right, it's difficult one and I'm not totally sure what to do for the
best. But maybe after using the face mask once, I could sterilise it
by putting it into an autoclave bag and heating the whole thing up in
a pressure cooker. This might be an acceptable compromise, at least
for the time being, to then re-use masks 2 or 3 times.

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 20:44:34 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:
Paul wrote:

If you were working with a patient with drug-resistant TB,
C.Difficile, and COVID-19, the cleaning procedure would
have to cover those too. Whereas a home user, you would
hope that drug-resistant TB isn't present. The TB thing
is one thing I feared at our local hospital. And they bring
people from remote areas, hundreds of miles to my hospital,
so they can cough on us :-) Well, they gotta go somewhere...
My hospital is pretty good about putting masks on people,
where their range of conditions include the possibility of
tuberculosis. The more trips I make to the hospital, the
more I learn about weaknesses in the system.

That's another reason for the gamma ray thing. An attempt
at total coverage.

It would be better to be making masks out of something "more permanent"
that can take a healthy dose of gamma. That would be a kind of
"end-to-end" design, rather than trying to retrofit a process
to something intended to be disposable.

Yes, definitely, if working or coming into contact with contagious
hospital patients I would want the best PPE possible, the full kit. I
am only messing about trying to re-use disposable masks to go
shopping, down the supermarket, say. And we are not suppose to deprive
our NHS front line workers of their stuff by buying up all the best
face masks, even if we could get hold of them, not to mention afford
them, that is.

I think I'm edging towards the compromise (until I get more supplies -
as needed) of maybe re-using disposable face masks, say 2 or 3 times,
by sterilising them in a pressure cooker. I'll review things as they
go along, and hope to keep healthy all the while.

We have home-made cotton masks (made to fit by partner). Obviously, we have no way of actually testing. But our choice is to steam iron them. Apparently (from some reasonably sensible sources) ten seconds full blast steam just might be enough to sterilise them adequately. Obviously, not thinking about the worst possible pathogens as we each have our own and no-one else will even touch them.

I think the odds are good enough that it will work.

On Sat, 18 Apr 2020 19:53:57 GMT, Kelly wrote:


Right, it's difficult one and I'm not totally sure what to do for the
best. But maybe after using the face mask once, I could sterilise it
by putting it into an autoclave bag and heating the whole thing up in
a pressure cooker. This might be an acceptable compromise, at least
for the time being, to then re-use masks 2 or 3 times.

A TV documentary mentioned, don't use it AT ALL with appliances that are
used for preparing food (so NO oven, NO microwave, etc.). It's simply too
dangerous. Also NO ironing. The explanation was, you can't iron it long
enough to have effect without damaging the mask.

What they said you can do is WASH it at AT LEAST at 60°C, better 90°C and
for AT LEAST ten minutes, preferably longer.

On 18/04/2020 16:10, Kelly wrote:
harry wrote:

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 09:28:11 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

Bleach.

Well, bleach will certainly kill any virus contamination (and it's
widely available) but once again the killjoys are out in force. This
time saying, " ...don't use bleach, alcohol or household cleaners to
disinfect masks as ingesting or inhaling these chemicals can be
harmful."

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/h...or/2940960001/


One of the good things about chlorine is that it is readily detectable
at a very low (and AFAIK safe) level.

IIRC it does not have the evil property of H2S where a relatively
limited exposure winds down your sensitivity to it, so that it is not
too difficult to end up breathing a toxic dose.

I'm happy to be corrected by someone "in the trade".

One of the things they taught us during fire extinguisher training is
that if using CO2, at the point where you get the "lemonade" taste in
your mouth then you get the hell out and leave it to the guys with B/A sets.

polygonum_on_google wrote:

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 20:44:34 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:

I think I'm edging towards the compromise (until I get more supplies -
as needed) of maybe re-using disposable face masks, say 2 or 3 times,
by sterilising them in a pressure cooker. I'll review things as they
go along, and hope to keep healthy all the while.

We have home-made cotton masks (made to fit by partner).

I've also been considering making my own cotton masks after coming
across this Cambridge Uni publication (the full-text PDF can be
downloaded) which shows just how effective, for example, a doubled-up
tea towel material face mask can be.

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...54e85/download

Obviously, we have no way of actually testing. But our choice is to
steam iron them. Apparently (from some reasonably sensible sources)
ten seconds full blast steam just might be enough to sterilise them
adequately. Obviously, not thinking about the worst possible pathogens
as we each have our own and no-one else will even touch them.

I think the odds are good enough that it will work.

It sounds good to me too. I've picked-up so much valuable info today,
and now I have a further option. Thanks for being so helpful.

newshound wrote:

On 18/04/2020 16:10, Kelly wrote:
harry wrote:

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 09:28:11 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:
I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

The guy plausibly (I thought) explains his method in a video:

https://diyjoy.com/how-to-sterilize-a-face-mask/

Could I please ask the 'experts' here in this newsgroup if they think
this is a good idea... or not?

Bleach.

Well, bleach will certainly kill any virus contamination (and it's
widely available) but once again the killjoys are out in force. This
time saying, " ...don't use bleach, alcohol or household cleaners to
disinfect masks as ingesting or inhaling these chemicals can be
harmful."

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/h...or/2940960001/


One of the good things about chlorine is that it is readily detectable
at a very low (and AFAIK safe) level.

IIRC it does not have the evil property of H2S where a relatively
limited exposure winds down your sensitivity to it, so that it is not
too difficult to end up breathing a toxic dose.

I'm happy to be corrected by someone "in the trade".

One of the things they taught us during fire extinguisher training is
that if using CO2, at the point where you get the "lemonade" taste in
your mouth then you get the hell out and leave it to the guys with B/A sets.

Okay, so I shouldn't totally rule out bleach at this stage then. It's
almost impossible to get everyone in total agreement on certain
things, sometimes you just have to trust your best judgement... I do
get it right now and again.

"Kelly" wrote in message
...
polygonum_on_google wrote:

On Saturday, 18 April 2020 20:44:34 UTC+1, Kelly wrote:

I think I'm edging towards the compromise (until I get more supplies -
as needed) of maybe re-using disposable face masks, say 2 or 3 times,
by sterilising them in a pressure cooker. I'll review things as they
go along, and hope to keep healthy all the while.

We have home-made cotton masks (made to fit by partner).

I've also been considering making my own cotton masks after coming
across this Cambridge Uni publication (the full-text PDF can be
downloaded) which shows just how effective, for example, a doubled-up
tea towel material face mask can be.

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...54e85/download

Cut up vacuum cleaner bags work much better.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/program...virus/12123574

Obviously, we have no way of actually testing. But our choice is to
steam iron them. Apparently (from some reasonably sensible sources)
ten seconds full blast steam just might be enough to sterilise them
adequately. Obviously, not thinking about the worst possible pathogens
as we each have our own and no-one else will even touch them.

I think the odds are good enough that it will work.

It sounds good to me too. I've picked-up so much valuable info today,
and now I have a further option. Thanks for being so helpful.

On Sun, 19 Apr 2020 07:22:13 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the trolling senile cretin's latest troll****

07:22 already? And you've been up and trolling for OVER THREE HOURS already,
you abnormal 86-year-old senile troll!

--
Website (from 2007) dedicated to the 86-year-old trolling senile
cretin from Oz:
https://www.pcreview.co.uk/threads/r...d-faq.2973853/

In message , at 08:28:09
on Sat, 18 Apr 2020, Kelly remarked:

I've been hoping I could find a relatively easy way to sterilise,
clean and reuse my coronavirus protection face masks, without the need
of powerful disinfectants and alcohol (which are of course also in
short supply). Then I came across this method online where a guy
reckons it's possible to do all this with just soap, hot water and a
toothbrush (it's almost as easy as washing your hands).

What's wrong with a simple pan of boiling water?
--
Roland Perry