Let's see your masks

The Quarantine Zone
1

I’ve been using good ol’ disposable masks since it was suggested we all wear them. Now, with the need to wear them seemingly extending into who-knows-when, I’ve finally broken down and ordered nice fabric masks:

Flowers and butterflies and another one in black/grey floral pattern (sold out, no pic).

Discovered my daughter’s first serious boyfriend opened up a clothing shop online (not linking, don’t want to be accused of advertising). His patterns are all new school tattoo designs, so I purchased one that clearly states “Stay Back” with roses.

What are you wearing?

2

My first mask was from an offer by a woman in my local “geek girls” group. She had a lot of geeky fabric, so I picked out a Super Mario Bros. mask. I also got a dog pattern mask from her.

I wanted to get some masks my boyfriend would wear so I got two Cleveland Indians logos masks, which are nice because they don’t feature the racist Chief Wahoo logo. He didn’t want those masks so I kept 'em for myself.

I also have two masks that I had meant to give to my neighbors but it took so long for them to be delivered my neighbors didn’t need them. They’re plain blue. So they’re my “dress” masks :stuck_out_tongue:

I got my boyfriend and my brother some Star Wars Comics masks and I got my brother a Star Trek mask but I forget the pattern.

Anyway, I’m set for masks. I am enjoying using them as another form of expression!

3

I had two hospital style ones that finally broke. Got tired fixing them. I suspect a bleach soak finally got to the fabric. We still have some n94’s that I just happened to have. I did buy a pack of four neck gator type masks that are a bit more comfortable and washable. But they are boring. Black, blue, white and grey.

4

My mom’s been making oodles of them. With the fabric she has in the house, she probably has enough for the whole city (though she might eventually need to buy more wire and elastic). Mine is horizontal blue and white stripes, and I pour boiling water through it between uses.

5

Back in April, I ordered a couple of hundred dollars worth of cloth masks for our family from Disney and Jaanuu (a manufacturer of medical scrubs), thinking that we would need them over the coming months or even longer.

They were all back-ordered. I just received a few of the Jaanuu masks in the mail yesterday, but haven’t opened them yet.

However, since I ordered all of these masks, I read that cloth masks aren’t actually all that protective. Any woven cloth has such wide openings compared to the virus that they aren’t all that effective. See here for a great explanation.

While the N95 masks are the gold standard, the surgical-type masks, which (like N95 masks) also utilize melt-blown non-woven filter fabric are much better than any cloth mask.

(Note that another suggested alternative is a cloth mask with a pocket in which you can insert a filter, but it seems to me that the airflow would just go around the filter.)

So anyway, when I go out in public or go to work, I’m still using surgical-type masks (along with social distancing).

Fortunately they gave us a bunch of disposable surgical-type masks at work – though they are made in China and not approved for medical use, they do at least appear to be made of melt-blown non-woven filter material, according to the certification paperwork. I was also able to find some online that are similar to the ones they are giving us as work.

I re-use these masks, by putting them in a paper bag and letting them dry out and air out for a week after use, which is also enough time to kill any virus.

In the rare case in which I have to get within 6 feet of another person (once so far for a haircut last week), I made up one of these from rubber-bands, then added a second surgical mask.

P.S. If you look at their testing data here, cloth masks are indeed dramatically less effective than surgical-type masks (by nearly two orders of magnitude). One would think that they have to be better than nothing and they may help keep people from expelling macroscopic droplets, but they don’t do anything for aerosolized virus particles.

6

P.S. One thing the cloth masks do accomplish is to send a social signal that you are taking the virus seriously, which will hopefully encourage others to do the same and to maintain social distancing from you.

7

Cloth masks aren’t for protecting you. They’re for protecting others. I thought that was common knowledge by now.

8

If you have the choice (and granted, not everyone does), why not both?

Besides, if aerosolized virus particles can easily pass through a cloth mask, they can do so in both directions. The cloth mask will hopefully stop large droplets, but that’s about it.

An infected person expelling aerosolized virus particles by breathing, singing, yelling, etc. will likely send them right through a cloth mask.

9

Cloth masks have some benefits, but like you mention, they are weak at filtering the virus. But because they are still a barrier, they provide some protection against droplets actually passing through the mask. A few ways they do this are:

  1. Actually trapping the droplets.
  2. Impeding the droplets so that the ones which are exhaled won’t travel as far
  3. Making your breath more diffuse. Rather than your breath escaping in a strong column, it is diffused along the surface of the mask.

An analogy might be spraying a hose at a piece of taut fabric. Some of the water will definitely go through the fabric, but much of it will be blocked, impeded, and redirected. The water which is able to travel through the fabric won’t go nearly as far as if the fabric was not there at all.

Cloth masks may also be more comfortable and accessible than medical masks. For people who refuse to wear a medical mask because of the discomfort and extra effort to breathe, a comfortable cloth mask can be a viable alternative. Even though it has less filtering ability, it is much better than nothing. But just keep in mind that the easier it is to breathe through, the less filtration it is providing. Take appropriate precautions in your environment relative to the filtering ability of your mask.

10

There are also different qualities of fabric masks. The ones I found at a local grocery store were the mid-range of the three listed at that site, made of droplet-resistant treated polyester, which has to be way better than just plain cotton. I haven’t even opened the package yet to see how thick they are as I’ve been re-using the single-use ones I have after letting them sit on the car dashboard in the hot sun for a day or two.

11

I haven’t found a good option yet. I’ve got the paper disposables and those seem to be the best overall. I’ve also got a thick black balaclava (too hot) and a thin black balaclava (bellows in and out with my breathing).
Right now I’m wearing a white cloth one someone gave me yesterday. They told me it was made by Hanes so I call it my underwear mask. It’s pretty comfortable but I’m under no illusion that it’s doing much beyond making a social statement (and conforming to the new rules at my workplace).
I’d like a cool one like this or this but not enough to do anything about it.

12

My wife had a red bandana printed swath of cloth that she made 5 masks out of. I’ve worn the elastic out of two already. That she had was old so we didn’t expect it to last long. She also had some other printed stuff like cats, dogs, pawprints that she made into reversible masks depending on mood.

13

Big toothy grin. White teeth on a black background. Has 2 layers so a trimmed-to-fit coffee filter can be inserted between the layers.

14

This isn’t about eliminating the risk, it’s about reducing it. Cloth masks reduce the risk. They’re worth it.

If everyone had been wearing cloth masks in public places these last three months, the pandemic would be over by now, or close to it.

15

My first was a DIY no-sew dealy made from an old Budweiser bandanna and rubber bands. Then I was using neck gaiters, then I impulse bought a couple of *Golden Girls *masks from some company off of Facebook because that’s hilarious.

I’ve got a really old painter’s mask in a file cabinet drawer, but it’s quite bulky, I don’t have new filters for it, and I doubt it’s much more effective than just cloth masks anyways.

16

Mine aren’t pretty, but they’re comfortable:

Soft cotton, not too claustrophobic: Washable Face Masks - Decent Exposures, Inc.

Nicely layered and don’t fog glasses as badly: https://starks.com/products/face-masks/

Plus a couple of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WR5MGWN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a Vogmask https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J6KUI4W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 that I bought last spring for wildfires; I’m wearing it with a disposable mask over it if I’m in close contact with someone.

17

I have a few masks. My favorite is this one. It looks just like my cat, who is part Maine Coon.

18

I’m really struggling to find a mask my (autistic with severe sensory issues) son can handle. I am not having such a great time with them either but I can stand the disposable type long enough to pick up my groceries. I’m worried when school starts he’ll have to wear one to school. I have bought three masks now and he can’t handle the material. The first was too stiff. It felt kind of like a new bandanna. I washed it but it was still really unbearable for him. I got another that had nylon fabric I thought would be soft on his skin. That was even worse. He said it made him feel itchy. Then I got another made of cotton and it was soft but the bands were uncomfortable. I can’t afford to keep buying to test them! I even found someone local who said she’d make one but I guess she never got around to it and now doesn’t answer my messages. So for now the poor kid isn’t able to get out much.

19

I bought 50 single use masks, of which I’ve used one, mostly for scaring off other people. I could still taste the mask 2 hours later. Yuck.

I bought 4 cotton ones on Etsy when we couldn’t get any masks. I carry one of those, plus 2 disposables, any time I’m out of the house.

On Friday I bought 2 more from Calida. The mystic blue is on their website, but the other one, which is pale green with the famous Luzern Chapel bridge and water tower, is not on their website. As soon as I wash them, I will put one of them in rotation as well.

My first line of defense is staying home and avoiding crowds.

20

Is there anything he’s interested in that might have halloween-type masks? Like if he’s into dinosaurs, maybe he would wear a dinosaur mask. If that’s the case, try to find one of those masks into which you could add some filtering material. So rather than trying to get him to wear a surgical mask, get a dinosaur mask and find a way to insert a surgical mask into it.