Sewing simple cotton masks

[jennypenny]

Does anyone wear a face shield in addition to their mask? About 1/3 of the people we saw flying last week were wearing them. I can't decide if that's overkill or not. I guess I understand it when flying since TSA makes you take your mask down (briefly), but anywhere else? Would you wear it while eating with your mask down in public? Does that even work?

[jacob]

Infection through the eyes is uncommon but it has happened. I see why people choose to wear both when sitting in a tin can 17" away from each other for hours. I add glasses (3M CSS) for higher-risk settings. Those work well with cloth masks (and I'm guessing K/N95 although I've yet to get one of those) but not so well with my respirator because of the nose bridge. Eating in public would preferably not happen at all but otherwise upwind and at increased distances from others because of the extended maskless exposure. This is where intermittent fasting comes in handy.

[jennypenny]

I see why people choose to wear both when sitting in a tin can 17" away from each other for hours.

Ha, it wasn't that bad. If you choose the right airline or air share, you can guarantee some space. Our flight had 14 people on it, including my own family and the two flight attendants, with no one seated in front or behind anyone.

This is when it's nice to have a stash so you can throw some money at the problem. Paying for pre-check, GOES, or Clear would be helpful if you have to travel now (they come as bennies with some AMEX cards so it might be a good year to upgrade your CC if you're going to travel). Air sharing is better since you can usually skip the terminal altogether.

Comparing the (1800 mile) drive and the flight, I felt safer flying. There were too many interactions while driving. I felt like my overall exposure to other people was much lower flying.


btw ... I always wear glasses and I wore a sweatshirt with a huge hood I could keep pulled over my head and face while on the flight. I looked like a masked unabomber lol.

[Sclass]

I wear wraparound safety glasses from Harbor Freight Tools. $1.99.

Work well over my prescription frames and my 3M respirator. There is a little gap at my forehead but I think these provide great protection. I’ve inadvertently discovered the connection between my eyes and nose during allergy season when blowing my nose. There’s a pipeline in there somewhere. This motivated me to buy the safety glasses.

[jennypenny]

Someone sent me one of these patches as a thank you. Cute.



I wonder how it will look on the MOLLE pack with the other (slightly more tactical) patches.

[Miss Lonelyhearts]

N95s available at Uline for $60/box plus shipping ($3/mask):
Uline.com | N95 Standard Industrial Respirator

[jennypenny]

Thanks for that @ML.


I broke down and bought face shields. FIL had a stroke so DH is at the hospital every day and I'm flying again this week, so between the two I decided it was worth it. They're so ... clinical lol. I'm trying to figure out how to tweak them to make them more personal. (I've been looking for police tape that's small enough to cover the band around the forehead. )


I'm still overwhelmed with requests for masks (from friends and family). I like that I can help people in a way that I enjoy that also doesn't mean just handing out money and care packages. We do that for those we know really need it, but making people masks doesn't change the dynamic of the relationship the way other types of favors would.

I also like customizing them for people. I found someone who prints fabric on demand so I ordered some with the periodic table on it for a couple of teachers on the list and DS and his friends wanted official looking NASA masks. The nieces got Dr Seuss and several family members got special irish themed ones (nice, not tacky). I ordered Liverpool FC fabric and I can't wait for that to come in.

It feels soooo good to have something creative to work on again. It really is the best salve for stress.

[jennypenny]

I'm making more masks for my son out west. He's dealing with smoke issues in addition to covid so I want to make sure the masks I'm making help with that too. Is there anything in particular I need to know/do to make the masks more useful for smoke, or are the standard fabric masks with filters ok?

[jacob]

Smoke contains particulates at all different sizes as well as gasses, so the optimal filter short of bringing your own air is a P100 with charcoal designed for both gases and particles. Such as https://www.amazon.com/3M-Cartridge-609 ... 009POHLRC/ ...

COVID cloth masks were intended to decrease the range of one's coughing/exhalations and less so for a tight seal around the face to maximize the amount of clean air breathed in. Note that Filti, N95, P100, ..., wet cotton, dry cotton only stops the particulates and not the gases. Anything that stops a virus also stops most smoke particulates which are much larger. Stopping gas require activated carbon. I don't know which is the bigger issue ... depends on what's burning.

Insofar I had issues, I'd go commercial and switch from P100 (much easier to breathe through) to combination filters (harder but stops most things).

Add: Or maybe just scale up until the issues go away. I'd expect the escalation to look like this: nothing, dry bandana, surgical mask, dry cloth mask, wet bandana, wet cloth mask, commercial face mask (tighter fit), ditto with filters, N95, respirator with P100, respirator with combination filters.

More add: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Docume ... 34-353.pdf

[Sclass]

Yeah the zig zag nose wire looked a little excessive. Easy to break a needle doing this. I just run a straight stitch to secure it at the upper border. I am very happy using 1mm stainless steel wire. Easy to find at good hardware supplies as “stainless steel safety wire” or ask a race vehicle hobbyist or small aircraft mechanic for a few feet. They usually have a lifetime supply on the shelf. It can be washed without corrosion. I find it has sufficient stiffness for a good seal around the nose and cheekbones.

I found for the patterns it was good to make some tough plastic ones using cheap plastic cutting boards. They last a long time and I don’t destroy them with my rotary cutter when making a lot of masks. They are really cheap and some come with a non slip backing which is good for patterns.

These



Safety wire

[Sclass]

Insofar I had issues, I'd go commercial and switch from P100 (much easier to breathe through) to combination filters (harder but stops most things).

They’re hard to find now but I have some 3M 2097 pancake filters that have a small layer of carbon for “nuisance organics”. I noticed they cut the smell of body odor, cigarettes, and food smell compared to the 2091 pancake filters.

That being said one of my big challenges now is wearing a “socially acceptable” mask to particular events. I get a lot of looks from people when I wear my p100 that screams “I don’t want your freaking germs in me!” In those cases I’ve put on my Filti lined fabric mask with a tight fitting nose bridge and behind the head shock cords. It gives a good seal and fair filtration while not making me look like I am...how shall I say it, fearful? (Which I genuinely am).

[ertyu]

Off-topic to the main discussion but:

American youtube mask tutorial: FREE pattern! Register on my website and download!

Russia: take an A4 sheet of paper and a ruler and construct a rectangle of these dimensions then draw a line 3cm to the right of the middle then another 2cm line at a 45 degree angle... [insert math lady gif]

Brazil: So we place a large plate or a pot lid on top of our old t-shirt

[white belt]

Well this is the mask thread so I figured I'd post here, although I know this is mostly about DIY masks.

I'm flying for Thanksgiving. Having said that, based on what I've read the best option for airport/plane is N95 along with eye protection and/or full face shield. N95 masks are available for purchase in the $6-9 range (bought in packs of 20+). K95 masks are supposedly just as good for $2-4.

I know there are some smart folks on these forums that have done a lot of research on this stuff. Is it worth shelling out for the legit N95? Are there other PPE options that I should be considering for traveling?

[Sclass]

How much would you pay to not get Covid 19?

The KN95 has to be taken on faith. I hear some are good but counterfeit trash is coming out of the same region. If I had to fly I’d pay up unless I could get the KN95 from a reputable source and due diligence has been done.

A friend of mine just dropped $100 for a big box of 3M N95 masks without valves. He said the big case has the anti counterfeit numbers that you can check on the 3m website. If they get broken into small lots you don’t get the one time use verification number. $100 to make sure I’m not breathing through cheese cloth? It’s a no brained for me.

[jennypenny]

I've flown twice in the last few months. I was comfortable (felt safe, not exactly physically comfortable) in a homemade mask with a filti liner and a face shield. DS wears an N95 under another mask and safety glasses when flying. I like the face shield because you have to lower your mask at TSA (but not the face shield) and you can wear it while eating/drinking/blowing your nose/etc.

I felt most exposed when people were walking 'over' me down the aisle while I was seated or reaching into the overhead compartment above me. I wore a huge hood to prevent germs from raining down on me. You could also wear a hat that will fit over a face shield (like a boonie). I also wore latex gloves through the airport. I still washed my hands frequently (with gloves on) and then tossed the gloves after picking up my luggage and wiping it down.

Some other tips:
board last
don't take luggage so big that it requires an elevator -- better to use the escalator or stairs
wear comfortable shoes so you can stand somewhere near the gate while waiting to board instead of having to sit near other people
brings straws so you can sip a beverage without taking your mask off
bring a couple of antibacterial wipes to wipe down your seat, seat belt, and tray table

[jacob]

For those desiring a less aggressive look than viewtopic.php?p=220307#p220307 (price <$35 now), there's e.g. https://castlegrade.com/

This made me think that one could DIY (3d print or maybe ziptie) some unobstrusive/low-profile Filti-based filters (N95ish) on both the inlet and outlet valves of a regular respirator instead of the commercial P100 pancakes or cylinders.

[Sclass]

That’s a nice looking mask. They seem careful not to show you the inner side. The seal to the face seems to make or break these designs. I like the multiple sizes. Just like n95s. The strap looks well designed.

It’s all about filtration area on these things. The Castle looks a bit lean on filtration area. If you have a micron grade filter like n95 or p100 you need a large area. I’ve tried Filti on my exhaust valve on the 3M p100 respirator and it is too small an area for such a tight filter. You need pleats like an automotive air filter or hepa furnace filter to boost surface. Otherwise it’s too hard to breathe through.

I like the designs using pleated Roomba hepa filters. My Honeywell 5500 p100 uses many pleats to achieve a smaller filter cartridge. I’ve toyed with designing a Roomba to 3M exhaust valve adapter but it’ll look like Star Wars movie characters. George Lucas had a thing for gas masks didn’t he?

The funny thing is after playing around with the design of diy masks this summer I kept coming back to my p100 respirator. They’ve really thought it all out. The seal has a cushioned double fold. The pancake filter is big and you get two. The drawback is the unfiltered exhaust valve. And the looks I get. Most of the comments have been positive but I’ve had a few people make fake coughing sounds as they walk by. It certainly makes it difficult to be invisible in a crowd.

It’s funny on thingiverse.com how the evolution of 3D printed masks moves closer and closer to a 3M 6200. Silicone double folded seal, big filter area. The bigger the easier it is to breathe. DIY engineers figure it out the long way. My cloth masks are no match for the p100 pancakes as far as back pressure goes.

Today a clerk at Walmart asked me about it. He said many of the employees started wearing elastomeric reusable respirators but gave up because they were too uncomfortable for long shifts of physical labor. No kidding. I mow and cut wood with mine. It’s a workout.

I’m looking forward to transitioning to a more laid back mask in the coming months. Probably one of my cloth with Filti liner designs. Looking at the low infection rates in our local schools (in person attendance with masking) I think that cloth masks have been proven effective. In retrospect my industrial respirator may have been overkill.

[Sclass]

I just bought one of these GVS brand masks. The mask thing is almost over here in CA but I couldn’t resist this one. $25 on Amazon shipped. This is a design out of Europe. P100. Very easy to breath through. The filters are less restrictive than the 3M 2091 or Honeywell P100. The mask is very flexible and doesn’t need much tension on the elastics to hold an airtight seal.

I know these aren’t home sewn but the price/performance is unbeatable. They cost about the same as a box of N95s and they’re reusable.

The big benefit of this thing is it’s low profile and you can wear it pseudo discretely under a cloth mask. It has an exaltation valve so it’s prudent to slip a cloth mask or surgical mask over it.

I figure they overproduced and they’re clearing them out. This mask used to be marketed by Miller Welding because it fits under a welding helmet. I guess the pandemic is almost over and we’ll be buried in masks. But, I got it anyway…something tells me this may be useful again. (Sigh). I can just picture rogue nations freezing samples of COVID-19 to do gain of function studies* for future trouble making. It’s too easy, cheap and effective.

They come in two sizes s/m and m/l unlike the 3m that comes in three sizes. The small fits my wife well and the large fits me well. They’re made of a softer rubber than the 3m and they’re more comfy.

Anyhow enjoy. Cheap high tech protection. I suffer from hay fever and I do my own landscaping. P100 masks have become my goto tool for mowing. Saves me a day of runny nose and sneezing.

*wait, that’s what is already happening what am I saying!