Don’t wear gloves! You are only cross-contaminating everything you touch. Seriously… gloves on the hands of the average person are BAD.
Here is a video of a serviceable mask made with a scissors, a sock, and a paper napkin, in five minutes.
Gloves are good if you disinfect your hands, put on the gloves, do the task, take the gloves off, throw them away. Then disinfect your hands again. Without touching your face.
I cover my face when I’m outdoors because I live in a dense-ish neighborhood. One where older people hang out for hours on their front porches. Also, I figure if my nose can pick up odor molecules wafting out of kitchen windows, it can also pick up aerosols wafting out of bedroom windows. So I wear a mask when I go for walks and keep my fingers crossed.
Yes. I am provided a disposable paper mask (I do not work in healthcare but my work is considered essential) and I have some cloth masks to use when I am out and about off work.
I’ve also heard that, for maximum effectiveness, a mask should have slight gaps, because otherwise the pressure of a sneeze can force droplets through. I suspect that it’s mostly irrelevant, though, because most homemade masks are going to have gaps, even if the maker was trying to avoid them.
Aspidistra, you’re not the only one who has trouble breathing through one. I tried wearing a mask while on my bike… once. After 20 minutes on the bike, it took me over an hour to catch my breath again. So now when I have to go somewhere, I put it on when I get there… which is also sub-optimal, because it means I have to touch my face, without a chance to wash my hands before touching things others will also touch.
[quote=“Ulfreida, post:82, topic:852448”]
Here is a video of a serviceable mask made with a scissors, a sock, and a paper napkin, in five minutes.
[/QUOTE] Thanks.My question, about things like that, is: Would it still work (or “count”) as a mask without the napkin.
That’s a big part of my confusion: of all the ways of possibly rigging something up to cover one’s face in lieu of an actual mask, which ones actually “count,” or work, or are significantly better than nothing?
Gloves aren’t intrinsically physically worse. It’s just that if people are wearing them for extended periods (rather than disposably) they give no protection at all, because your gloves hands will transfer contamination just as effectively as ungloved hands.
So the problem with using gloves is a psychological one, risk compensation. The incorrect perception that gloving your hands makes you safer leads people to act more recklessly and disregard procedures that do actually keep us safer - social distancing, washing hands frequently, avoiding touching things unnecessarily, avoiding touching your face with your hands.
Same for us; our county order is to wear masks when we’re patronizing essential businesses (the only kind allowed to be open), but otherwise we don’t have to.
So I don’t wear them if I’m walking around my neighborhood, or driving to/from the grocery store or wherever else, but when I’m actually there, I wear the mask. Of course, I do the online order/pickup outside grocery method, so I’m not going inside anyway.
Why do you need to know this?
I’m not intending to be harsh, but I’m just not understanding why you’re so confused. I can understand curiosity (i.e., how much more protection does the napkin add?). I don’t understand confusion, though. This isn’t rocket science, yo.
We’ve been advised to cover our faces to block aerosols. Anything can block some aerosols–even napkin-less socks. So wearing anything on your face “counts”. It’s just that napkins+socks can block both small and large droplets.
double post
That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought of the impact of wearing one for such and extended period. I do see many wearing them so just the fact that some do still helps mitigate spread.
Went to Home Depot today to get stuff to fix my tub. Well under half of the people weren’t wearing masks, and I saw more than one couple with a kid.
That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought of the impact of wearing one for such and extended period. I do see many wearing them so just the fact that some do still helps mitigate spread.
Because… ah, fuck it. If it doesn’t matter, then the next time I have to go out, I’ll just make some half-assed effort to cover my face. Maybe I’ll just pull my shirt up so it’s covering my nose. But if it does matter, well then that’s why I need to know.
Yes.
Before I got actual masks, I just tied a t-shirt around my face. Seemed pretty effective, though it wasn’t comfortable.
I see a lot of people who seem to think a mask is a magic talisman that will protect them if it’s anywhere near their face.
Me? I’ll wear one for stores/takeout, or other public situations. Just seems like the polite thing to do, since allergies are a thing in my area at this time of year, and everyone’s paranoid about any upper respiratory symptom.
I don’t wear one:
In the car - the only person who would be in there other than me is DH, he’s already been exposed to anything I have been, and I do not consider driving with fogging glasses a good safety move. I cannot legally or safely drive without glasses, either.
Taking out the trash - the dumpster isn’t that far from my door, I usually pick times others aren’t around, and it’s easy enough to stay 6 feet from anyone I do encounter.
At work - masks do not play well with headset microphones (I work in a call center, and since my project is with a bank, I’m considered “essential”. Doesn’t help my pay any, unemployed are making more with that bonus $600/week than the “essential” who are still working do). We have been rearranged to at least have a FEW feet of distance (probably not a whole 6’, though) and use of hand sanitizer on entering the building is mandatory.
That’s the one I wear, with a coffee filter stuck in when the bandana is folded. (Didn’t watch the video.) Works great, now, with practice, I can make one in 30 seconds. When we get home the bandana goes into the washer.
I didn’t say it doesn’t matter what kind of face covering you wear. A sock mask isn’t as effective as a sock + napkin mask, which isn’t as effective as a N95 mask. But wearing a sock is better than wearing nothing, even if by “better” we’re just talking about a marginal reduction in viral load.
I mean, if you were trapped in a room full of sneezing and coughing people and someone offered you a sock mask to wrap around the lower part of your face, would you decline their offer and keep your face uncovered? Or would you take the mask with the understanding that half-ass is better than no ass?