How Often Can You Safely Reuse Your KN95 or N95 Mask? Paulina Firozi and Allyson Chiu - The Washington Post
go to original January 18, 2022

Surging coronavirus cases, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, have prompted renewed recommendations from health experts that the public should consider wearing more protective face coverings, such as N95 or KN95 masks.

President Biden said his administration is working on making such higher-quality masks more widely available.

“We’ll soon announce how we are making high-quality masks available to the American people for free,” Biden said. “I know we all wish that we could finally be done with wearing masks. I get it. But they are a really important tool to stop the spread, especially of the highly transmittable omicron variant.”

The administration noted this week that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “recommends Americans wear a well-fitting mask.” Biden acknowledged that “for some Americans, the mask is not always affordable or convenient to get.”

Health experts say while there are no hard and fast rules, there are best practices for safely getting multiple uses out of N95s or KN95s.

What to Know

• How many times can I reuse my mask?

• What are some best practices for safely reusing my mask?

• Where should I store masks between uses?

• How do I know when it’s time to throw out my mask?

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Related: Finding Reliable Masks Online Can Be Tricky. Here Are Tips That Can Help (Washington Post)

Related: New Sensor Tells You How Well Your Mask Is Working (Scientific American)