How Long Does a Disposable N95 Mask Last?

Doctors and governments are recommending people switch their cloth masks to a higher quality mask/respirator like N95 or KN95. Unfortunately, they’re now mostly sold out everywhere. We are once again facing a serious PPE supply issue. And I don’t think it will be fixed anytime soon.

If you can get your hands on a box of masks, it’s important you get the maximum use out of them.

Most manufactures say the masks are good for eight hours. Not eight hours from when you open the package, but eight hours of continuous use. For example, you could take 16 trips to the grocery store that last 30 minutes.

However, your mask might last longer than eight hours. @masknerd on Twitter did a filtration test on many different types of masks. He found that even after 40 hours, most KF94s were still filtering 95% of particles.

For further insight into how long he thinks an N95 mask will last, this is a good video:

How long can you wear a KF94 or KN95? How to get a good face fit and more! - YouTube

Here’s the thing with people that make consumables. They want you to consume as many as possible. Have you ever eaten food that was past its best before date? Most people have. And most food is still pretty good. I once saw a best before date on a box of table salt. Salt is a rock. It was sitting in the ground for millions of years before we dug it up and put it on our food. It was doing fine for all that time but now suddenly we’re to believe it will spoil in 18 months?

Give me a break.

Omicron and Covid-19 is a public health emergency of epic proportions. We need better masks for everyone, but we don’t have the supply. Not if people are tossing their masks after eight hours of use.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a scientist, and this is not medical advice, but I do like evaluating risk and payoffs.

If @masknerd tested the masks and they lasted for 40 hours, that’s good enough for me. This means my masks last five times longer. If the supply situation improves, or the Omicron wave vanishes, I’ll re-evaluate.

Masks do get gross after while, but if you just use your mask for 16 hours instead of eight, you are effectively doubling your supply. If you use it for 16 hours and do your shopping twice as fast, you are effectively quadrupling your supply.

Until the supply of high-quality masks meets up with demand, we can jury rig it.

I’m going to be using my KN95 masks for longer and taking shorter trips outside the home. No more wandering around the mall for an hour. In. Out.

More people wearing high-quality masks will mean less infections. Less infections means less strain on our exhausted healthcare workers.

We are at war with this virus. And we should be doing anything we can to fight it.

Help our doctors and scientists beat Omicron. If you don’t want to wear your mask for more than eight hours, then at least take shorter trips. If you send one person to get the groceries or do the errands instead of two, you just doubled your mask supply.

Good luck and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.