How To Sanitize Your N95 Mask in an Instant Pot

A University of Illinois study just proved that you can sanitize your N95 mask using the dry heat of your electric cooker.

The pandemic has taught us so much about protective masks. The professional that wear these types of devices daily have certainly gained our respect. We've even learned how to respect our own noses a lot more, given the immediate smelling of our own breath. Have you had an acne breakout yet? If you haven't, and you don't clean your mask often enough, you soon will suffer with a bout of 'maskne.'

The highly sought after N95 masks were recently the subject of a sanitization study done by two University of Illinois professors. They wanted to not only find an easy way to decontaminate the mask, but to see how many times it could be decontaminated before it lost any of its fit or filtration strength.

The 'gold standard' N95 is pricey, so the study was also motivated by helping all of us, not just medical professionals, get the most out of these masks.

Engineering professors Thanh “Helen” Nguyen and Vishal Verma found simply placing an N95 mask in an electric cooker like an Intant Pot or rice cooker set to 100 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes can decontaminate it inside and out without affecting the size or filtration, according to wgntv.com.