Question is right there. Now that cars are getting hot enough inside to burn bare flesh, I found myself wondering if I could leave my fabric face mask in my car for half the day (while wearing a second one) would be enough to sterilize it?
If this is a possibility, it would make life a little easier cause now I have 14 that I have to gather up and put in a laundry bag to wash a couple of times a week.
While the inside of a car may get hot enough to kill the virus it would be difficult to ensure the entire mask reached a high enough temperature, even if you lay the mask flat on the dashboard the underside might not reach the required temperature
I read in the lab researchers were taken aback to discover that they had to raise temps to almost boiling to actually kill the virus.
( It should be simple to google there were several stories about it!)
So I’m gonna guess, NO.
In theory, yes, it will.
It needs to stay at that temperature for 15 minutes (at least).
As an aside, but related, many do not know that the government’s recommendation for safe food temps are for almost instant sterilization of food borne pathogens. They do this because people are careless and don’t pay close attention.
You can safely eat chicken (for example) that is below the government recommendation of 165F. BUT, you need to keep it at the lower temperature for longer (and, of course, there is a floor to this where pathogens just won’t die and may even thrive).
You can really up your chicken game with this knowledge and everyone will wonder how you have the juiciest chicken they’ve ever seen.
Yeah, that 165 deg F temperature for chicken is to give you a 7-log10 reduction of salmonella in less than 10 seconds. You can get the same reduction at 136 deg F, but it takes you 64.5 minutes. That’s why sous vide is so great. It’s all a time-temperature relationship.
Undoubtedly there’s a relationship that exists for the COVID-19 virus, but I’m unfamiliar with it. I saw a World Health Organization document that said that at room temperature you got a 1-log10 reduction in two days, and a 4-log10 reduction in 15 minutes at 56 deg C, so around 133 deg F.
How long will the covid virus survive on various surfaces even at typical ambient room temperature?
Somewhere I read 170 F for 10 minutes. I don’t think a car can get anywhere near that hot. Interestingly, 170 is the lowest temperature most ovens can be set to.
That’s why I mentioned leaving them in the car for half a day. Every summer, I bake cookies on my car dashboard. It takes 3-4 hours, but they are fully cooked with melty chocolate chips.
I have done some other research and haven’t really found a good answer, so I guess they will have to continue to go through the washer/dryer cycle. I personally think it would work, but while I wear the masks because they are fun and fabulous, I also don’t want to risk spreading anything.
If you look at the WHO link I provided in my post it covers survival time at various temperatures on a mix of substrates.
No, no ,no. ALL masks are “single use”. According to the medical literature that I have seen, Surgical and N 95’s are to be discarded every time they are removed. Cloth masks must be put in a plastic container after each use and laundered with hot water, detergent and bleach.
Obviously, virtually no one is following these strict directives, especially as the weeks and months go by. Its becoming more virtue signaling than anything else. This is especially true for the loose fitting, dirty cloth masks that people throw in their vehicles for shopping trips.
I’ve been keeping my mask in my car for this reason, and convenience as well.
I did wash it about a week ago when it started getting a little funky.
How does the virus come off my hands with 20 seconds of soap and water, but a mask needs a full hot water cycle with detergent and bleach?
Personally I’ve been soaking my masks in laundry detergent and hot water once a week (one wear each) and air drying.
Yup. I routinely do this. Not at sous vide “hold for 3 hours” temps, but at “rest the chicken for 20 minutes after removing from the oven” temps. Works great. I love roast chicken.
Not sure how that translates to killing covid virus, though.
I wouldn’t trust that. On the other hand, the virus is supposed to die on its own on cotton fabric at room temp in a few days. So I have several, and rotate them. And I wash them by hand, in the sink, from time to time, because bacteria and stuff will not die just sitting on the hook.
I think the disconnect here is that most of us are not looking to perform surgery wearing our masks. A good many of us, myself included, are not even looking to protect ourselves particularly; I feel reasonably confident that my immune system could handle coronavirus, and whatever other bacteria or viruses might be lurking on the mask, just fine. The point of the mask, as I understand it, is to trap the wearer’s respiratory droplets so they have less of a chance of spreading it to someone else if they are infected. The mask doesn’t have to be sterile, or even particularly clean, to do that.
It’s “virtue signaling” for me to not want to spew my germs in your airspace? Good to know.
nm
The heat might kill the germs, but it could also affect the formaldehyde and other chemicals in the mask, making it more hazardous to wear.
On a fabric mask?
Well, why would you listen to health care professionals and epidemiologists when you could get medical advice form politicians? Be real here.
Sorry, can’t respond - I’m too busy virtue signaling!