If the answer to my question below has already been posted, maybe someone can direct me to it. (I’m trying to get started on our garden, today!!)
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President Trump mentioned at some length a machine to do mass disinfections of masks for re-use, up to 20 times. Does anyone know what process this machine uses? Specifics, please (but no need to go into patent level detail!)
Above is the article about the device Battelle invented. It uses Hydrogen Peroxide gas. It is a commercial unit, but there might be something in there that could be modified for home use??
I’m guessing it isn’t as easy as dumping a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide into a pot and boiling it and hanging the mask in the steam. The HP (3%) is mostly water, and the water boils off at a lower temperature than the HP. I’ve seen videos where to get a stronger HP solution for disinfecting you can heat it up at just below boiling and the water will evaporate and the liquid remaining after 2(?) hours will be a higher percent HP.
Unfortunately I only have 5 N95 masks to rotate: 2 @ my Mom’s, 90 minutes away, and 3 @ home. I “should” be able to keep trips to town down to 5-6 days apart, mainly for perishables like milk & fresh fruit, but stuff comes up. For example, I had to take a vehicle to a repair shop unexpectedly, in the middle of a “cycle”, so I could then make a run to Mom’s 2 days later.
I’ve been heating masks @ 165 deg F (the “warm” setting in our Oster toaster oven) for 20 minutes, but worry that might degrade the mask slightly each time. Someone here posted something to that effect (4% degradation / cycle), but I’m not sure if the degradation was from the heat or the usage.
Note, the Oster is supposed to go down to 150 deg. F, but I can’t find any actual way to do it. The lowest manual (scroll up or down) temperature setting seems to be 200 deg. F. “Warm” is a preset that doesn’t display, but my thermometer says it is 165 deg. F. It appears the defrost preset may run @ 160 deg. F — need to get my non-contact thermometer gun back out to check that.