I started with the disposable surgical masks (blue/white), which fogged my glasses and were itchy, so hard to keep on without moving them to scratch or see better. Switched to masks sewn by a friend, two layers of cloth, horizontal pleats, tie behind head, and they incorporate a bendable metal nose thing. Very comfortable, and I can wear one for hours with no problems. I could insert an extra filter inside if I wanted, between the two layers, but I haven't done that. I tried a bandanna too but the friend-sewn masks are the clear winner. She's sewn hundreds - it's a little business for her.
These are recommended by our company. They're expensive but have been tested to be similar filtration to N-95 while washable/reusable. They have either scarf pull-up style or more traditional masks- the latter appear to be out of stock.
Is there any design feature that prevents your glasses misting up while wearing the damn thing? Asking for a friend.
I just use a mask I bought for commute-cycling in winter. I only need to wear it once or twice week for 30 minutes or so, so it's been fine.
5: yes, the ones with wire bridges for the nose which are articulated. My favorite of the ones ai bought is from a company called vida. https://www.blog.shopvida.com/2020/04/21/how-to-videos-vida-protective-masks/amp/
We've been given surgical masks at work, 1/day, to wear when in close contact with coworkers. I'm in one basically all day every day. The glasses fogging is a fit issue - your breath is escaping between the mask and your nose/cheeks. I find that masks with ties rather than ear loops work better for my face, but that is basically the problem. (Unfortunately, the work issue are ear loops, so I end up lifting my safety glasses to see - it's not a great choice!) Ideally, all your breath would go only through the fabric, but that's nearly impossible to fit, so escape at chin or sides is more pleasant for the wearer.
I think a lot depends on how long you're wearing it. If the ear loops are tight enough to make a decent seal, and you wear one all day every day, the skin behind your ears will chafe and hurt. I'm pretty unbothered by uncomfortable gear that lots of people find bothersome, so YMMV.
I'm not about to comment on protective quality/filtering efficiency at all.
How does communication get adjusted in a work setting, when everyone is in masks? Does everyone adjust their volume and get used to it? Or do you avoid nonessential small talk because of the constant "What? Can you repeat that?" the way you would if there was a loud background noise?
I'm trying to figure out how much it will affect teaching in a classroom, in particular.
Oh, and the mask pulling in and out is a sign of a good fit - it's doing what it is supposed to. Maybe more rigid fabric would help, but then it might not fit your face as well.
8: We end up saying "What?" a lot. The labs have fairly high ambient noise, and you can't compensate by lip-reading. I articulate harder and speak more loudly and slowly, but it's tiring, truly. And yeah, less small talk by a lot at first (for 6 weeks, maybe here?) and then folks adapt.
I bought some vertical-seam ones early on from a neighbor with a business, but decided I don't like them because they have ear-loops rather than all-around-the-head elastic, and they're not tight to my nose so my glasses fog. Then I got a three-pack from L.A. Apparel which have a good bendy nose fit thing, and around the head elastic, but they're terry-cloth and super hot. I'm thinking of trying to find more that I like better, but haven't done it yet.
Ours are the type that seems to have fallen out of favor
I don't think mask fashions have really changed since the '90s.
7- I haven't been back in lab yet so I haven't had a chance to try with my safety glasses, but I saw this button hack for ear loop masks with glasses (although that site says it's not great.)
I'm looking for a mask that says, "While you learned to bake, I studied the blade." The problem is that kind of mask doesn't cover the mouth and nose.
I'm just wearing disposable surgical masks I can buy in packs of 100 at the pharmacy. They have a built in wire bridge for the nose. And thanks ydnew for 7 and 9, I've not been paying much attention to the fit but there've been a few times when my glasses didn't fog and the mask was pulling in and out with my breathing. Now noted.
I'm looking for a mask that says, "While you learned to bake, I studied the blade." The problem is that kind of mask doesn't cover the mouth and nose.
O RLY?
I bought a neck gaiter with a filter pouch and I'd highly recommend it for comfort and convenience.
We have a bunch of dust masks from our kitchen renovation two years ago. They have a metal clip and an elastic band, and we just keep a couple in the car. A friend also made us cloth masks with horizontal pleats and ties.
I need masks that fit the kids better. The cloth masks work but Pebbles is so tiny they're hard to keep on. But she does it, and she's four, so everyone in my state who isn't wearing them because it's just so harrrrrd on their freedoms, just so you know, my kiddo thinks you should HTFU.
A mask with vertical ties would look strange.
I haven't had a chance to really review this, but it seems pretty encouraging regarding the usefulness of masks as a mitigation method.
We bought three Vogmasks last summer, for that year's fire season and all future fire seasons. I'm content with them, and the kid size works well for our daughter. We taped the valves: inside is easier to cover because flat, but then no one can tell it's covered from the outside, so we put another layer of outside tape on.
The wire nose pincher can pinch tightly enough that my glasses don't fog, but I wouldn't want to go for a long walk with such a tight fit. It's not the most breathable thing in the world, but I've gotten used to it. I don't honestly know how good it is for filtering wildfire smoke.
We've gotten a bunch of different ones (after a disastrous couple of attempts at sewing our own - we are not good with the sewing machine, it turns out), and have developed Opinions. Some from random Etsy sellers and from tailors who have pivoted from making jackets and shirts to masks; some from big companies.
We aren't wearing them all day, so we prefer elastic ear loops over headbands. The nose wire is critical for top fit and not fogging my glasses. Having a place to put an additional bit of filter material is nice.
The current favorite are the ones that are being sold by Vistaprint (we have a friend who works there), who is usually in the self-designed business card and related paper trade. It seems like one of their supplier factories in China may have pivoted to making masks - I see the same brand masks being sold by other print shops.
What I haven't tried yet is going for a bike ride with one on, though.
22 The filter on those things defeats the purpose, no?
Yeah, I wouldn't deliberately buy them now, but you can tape over the filter and cover it completely. They may sell filterless models now, idk.
I made a bunch of these during the early days of the pandemic. Based on feedback from my family, I made some with earloops and some with elastic that goes around the head. I found that they lay closer to the skin if, instead of running the elastic through the hem on the sides, you make four buttonholes and put the elastic through the holes, if that makes sense.
I sew by hand and have been slowly making more for the household. I prefer one long strip of something (shoelace, rolled-up cut of fabric from a pair of old ripped leggings, crochet chain, whatever) so that the over-ear part extends in a loop behind your head that holds steady and then you draw the two ends tight and tie them behind your neck. I have just been using cut pipe cleaner bits sewn into the seam allowance before flipping the mask to the right side and seaming the edges so the 4/5 of us who wear glasses can get that tightened fit. I started making masks with room for filters but now they're mostly just a very tight-weave cotton batik on the inside and some fairly dense quilting cotton on the front. I'm about to try a new pattern I'm optimistic about after messing around with several others. I prefer front and back each to be one piece with darts for the nose and chin.
I conveniently ruined a nice fitted bedsheet in March (I was too lazy to get out my ironing board and ironed on my bed, and melted my mattress cover into the sheet) and so I cut that up and used it for mask liners. It's pretty much perfect: soft on the skin, tight weave and very high thread count. The front side of the masks are just whatever leftover cotton I have around, with the result that my family's faces sometimes match my outfits.
There's a local ad hoc volunteer group that's been making and distributing masks, so we have a couple of theirs with elastic ear-loops, but I actually prefer the ones we got earlier that were sewn by a friend of Amadea's who was making them mostly to promote her insurance agency. They are vertical-seam with ties in the back and more comfortable for long-term wearing than the ear-loop ones. I mostly use them for sanding these days since I haven't been going out much.
I've been making them to various patterns requested by local charities, and friends and relatives, and miserable internet-acquaintances halfway across the country, so I have tried many patterns. I don't have a favorite, the household has a suite available for different goals.
My favorite general improvement is a channel down each edge in front of the ear, with the elastic or cord running freely through it. The channels usually curve to fit the face a lot better. Finicky to make, compared to sewing in ear-loops, but it also makes the elastic/cord replaceable. (I like a 40" cord centered on the back of my neck, going through the side channels, and tied near the top of my head.)
Next time I'm experimenting I'm going to try a cross of very lightweight boning in one of the fitted ones to see if I stop sucking it in. I have a Chicago-based winter-biking mask with a vertical bone down the center, but it's for warmth more than particulates so one isn't sucking as hard on the material.
I like over-the-ears but the elastic stops working right and the mask threatens to fall off. I need a new mask or two, I guess. I wonder if there are adhesive masks that have no ties at all (no, I'm not gonna google it).
The one that I like best is the vertical seam style; it has elastic loops for the ears. It's the one that my wife managed to sew. A friend made the horizontal style and looped a pair of ties for behind the head.
I like the ties-- on one of my first trips out, my elastic ear loop slipped off my ear and just swung open like a door while I was paying for takeout -- super embarrassing, in the early days of mask etiquette. Unfortunately, my wife's shoulders make tying things behind her head difficult, so elastic ear loops work much better for her. I used the horizontal one for a week or so, but it had trouble covering both nose and mouth -- I think it was just a little small.
A few people have experimented with clear panels in the center -- made from shower curtain in one case. I'd be interested in trying that -- and for it becoming the norm, because like ydnew notes above, lips are a great backup to not quite clear or quiet speakers.
The backsliding around here is huge; for a couple of weeks mask wearing was better than 80%, but no one in the mechanics shop was wearing one -- including the customers who came to pick up their cars. We were mostly standing outside, but it's disturbing. Grocery stores, at least, are still being strict.
I've ordered masks on Etsy from a store called MaryStudioDesignsUS, and have been very happy with them (as has Mr. Robot and a friend who have ordered from them). So far they've held up great in the wash.
We were using a couple of sleep masks we had gotten on a business class flight last year. They work surprisingly well, and when this is all over, we can get some sleep. Then a friend made us a bunch of masks which were pretty good. We made a few hand sewn masks using flat cloth dish towels and electric fence wire. We tried around the head elastic bands, but they were awkward, so the latest model uses shoe laces and clip ties. Then we bought some from an output in LA - Zunie Masks - which work pretty well. There isn't much to do about fogging lenses except Cat Crap or some such goop to smear on the inside of the lenses.
Aren't those supposed to go over your eyes?
The evidence for masks keeps getting stronger and fewer people are willing to wear masks. If everyone in the country wore a mask around others for the next month cases would drop by 90%.
Heebie I'm sorry your governor sounds like deBlasio did three months ago before tens of thousands of people died in his city. I didn't think the whole history/doomed to repeat it applied to events from 90 days ago.
From the link,
Because the virus is spreading especially rapidly in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, from Latin America to Africa, heat is clearly no impediment to its dissemination.Not to balb, but it is winter down there.
Just read the title. I can't real whole articles.
You know that all of Latin America and Africa is always hot because when movies are set there, they use a yellow filter to make sure you know it's not America and very hot.
2: I sent you a message, though the thousand recommendations since then may make that moot.
what? I blockquoted.
Worst Tom Swiftly ever.
13: I suspect the buttons would tangle in my hair (which is sadly broken from being pulled up all day). I should probably just ask if I can get the kind with ties when we reorder. My ears are adjusting, not a huge deal like for health-care workers, who needed tight masks. I have friends who were sewing headbands with buttons to out the ear loops on for Detroit hospital workers, but that seems a bit much at this point when Mi is seeing 13: I suspect the buttons would tangle in my hair (which is sadly broken from being pulled up all day). I should probably just ask if I can get the kind with ties when we reorder. My ears are adjusting, not a huge deal like for health-care workers, who needed tight masks. I have friends who were sewing headbands with buttons to out the ear loops on for Detroit hospital workers, but that seems a bit much at this point when MI is seeing fewer than 200 new cases per day (thank goodness).
We went to a coffee shop this morning, masks on, and got coffee to go and drank it while we strolled around downtown. The shop was about 50% capacity with only staff in masks (fair enough, since you can't drink in a mask, but still weird to see after so many weeks).
We went through a Dunkin drive through on foot today, waiting in line with cars.
We went clear to Lawrenceville to eat the pizza made by the trendy people. But we did pickup.
SP - Did you ever try the R-shield or any of the Respilon products? I'd really love it if I could find something that gave me some protection and not just other people - since I can't make every single person wear a mask. It sounds like the R shield is washable and is supposed to do just that.
I have not, but other people at the company have bought them and on discussion boards said the scarf-like ones are comfortable. Some people also just bought the nanofiber filter material and sewed it into their own masks.
I'm not a fan of the vertical seam type, which IME don't form a good seal at my nose. That's partly facial shape (I think my beard, which isn't bushy, but exists, is the main point of contact), but also a factor of elastic loops. I greatly prefer the horizontal pleats with ties and pipe cleaner. AB made those, while the other kind were given to us by a friend in exchange for fabric in the early days (she's been absolutely obsessive about making them).
49: I have worn it twice now and it's...OK. There's a semi rigid piece over the nose that fits to shape. Makes your face sweat.
We bought some of the Vistaprint masks. Tried one without the filter and it was comfortable and fit well; will use the filter for our next outing. Expensive, though.