Recent studies have shown that mandatory mask requirements—policies that have sparked anger in some Americans—provide a simple barrier to prevent potentially infectious respiratory droplets from coming into contact with others.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that cloth face coverings be washed after each use, according to its website.
Johns Hopkins Medicine recommends washing the mask each time its user goes “someplace where maintaining consistent physical distancing” is challenging, including on public transportation, the grocery store or a doctor’s office.
While experts still debate the most effective type of face covering, cloth masks are the most cost-efficient and accessible kind.
Other types include N95 respirators and disposable, surgical-grade masks, but health officials have asked Americans to leave these to health care professionals.
Ryan Sinclair, an associate professor of environmental microbiology at Loma Linda University, said his research indicates that fabric, if not properly disinfected, is a carrier of bacteria and viruses.
“Because we don’t know what germs we’ve been in contact with or how low long the germs have been active on the cloth fibers, it is crucial to regularly wash, sanitize and dry reusable face masks,” Sinclair said in a news release. He added that pathogens can live on cloth fabric for up to 12 hours.
Cloth masks can be washed in a washing machine along with your regular laundry, the CDC advised.
“Use regular laundry detergent and the warmest appropriate water setting for the cloth used to make the face covering,” the CDC guidelines say. They can also be washed by hand using a prepared bleach solution.
To dry a cloth mask, either air-dry or use the dryer’s highest heat setting.
Alabama became the latest state to issue a statewide mask requirement while in public.
Governor Kay Ivey signed the executive order Wednesday after state health officials reported more than 56,000 coronavirus cases and over 1,100 deaths on July 14.
Three top CDC officials said Tuesday that scientific research on face coverings shows they protect both the wearer and others from the coronavirus.
“While community use of face coverings has increased substantially, particularly in jurisdictions with mandatory orders, resistance continues,” CDC Director Robert Redfield, Chief Medical Officer John Brooks and Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases Jay Butler wrote in a joint editorial.
The editorial, published in JAMA (formerly The Journal of the American Medical Association), explained that there is now “ample evidence” that asymptomatic people are primarily spreading the virus and “may be the critical driver needed to maintain epidemic momentum.”
The CDC has faced criticism in its messaging on the necessity of face masks to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
By early April, the CDC had recommended cloth masks for the general public, but earlier in the pandemic it had recommended the opposite, saying that only health care providers and those who are severely ill needed to wear the masks.
During a news conference April 3, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams acknowledged that the federal government’s guidance on masks “has been confusing to the American people.”
