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Quoted: I have several of these rubber dust masks purchased years ago that use "pancake" filters: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/413AXKH7DFL._SX425_.jpg Unfortunately I never got any N95 pancake filters for them. Just the particulate variety. I am going to try to fashion something to augment the P95 filter. Two or three layers of cotton fabric inside would match what they are describing to make face masks out of. I also have a lot of brand new Israeli M4 masks that were surplused after Gulf War 1. Unfortunately the filters, while still sealed, expired long ago. They would still "filter" particles but I am not keen on walking around with a full gask mask though it does keep you from touching your face with your fingers. UPDATE: Color me shocked. I got the dust masks out of storage and it turns out they were equipped with N95 filters not P95 filters. Unfortunately, I have no replacements for them once they are used up. View Quote Only difference between the N95 and P95 is the P series is acceptable for use in heavy oil mist contaminated atmospheres. There is also an ‘R95’ good for use in lightly oil mist atmosphere. |
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There's a pattern available for a mask that a hospital in the NE has requested - comes in S, M, L. Design has a wire in the nose bridge to form it (I gave my wife some thin gauge aluminum electric fence wire), and a pocket to allow inserting additional filtration material. The wife set her assembly line up yesterday in the dining room and has been making them. If anyone wants the pattern, let me know and I can post a link.
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I ain't got time for that.
I got a shit load of these for 2 bucks each years back. not this brand. Keeps stuff out of your hair too. https://www.armysurplusworld.com/condor-tactical-multi-full-face-wrap-mask-bandanna-balaclava |
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I have N95s for serious engagement, but for walking around at a safe distance anyway ...
I'm just repurposing some old festival wear. For example: Failed To Load Product Data |
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Quoted: You guys who are using HEPA bags and other filter type material.....just be cautious and do your research. Make sure the material you are using doesn't contain any fiberglass. Some of the HEPA vacuum bags reportedly contain it. Only use the kind that have a poly material blend. You don't wanna be inhaling fiberglass into your lungs, as that could fuck you up just as bad as COVID-19. View Quote Yup. Same with old gas mask filters...older ones contain some nasty shit that degraded and breaks down over time, allowing you to breath it in. You’ll have a worse day with that than if you catch the COVID. |
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Quoted: There's a pattern available for a mask that a hospital in the NE has requested - comes in S, M, L. Design has a wire in the nose bridge to form it (I gave my wife some thin gauge aluminum electric fence wire), and a pocket to allow inserting additional filtration material. The wife set her assembly line up yesterday in the dining room and has been making them. If anyone wants the pattern, let me know and I can post a link. View Quote Please post it. |
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Did a household inventory this morning, and discovered we have almost a full case of puppy piddle pads.
They're pretty restrictive, but do allow respiration. I may have missed it...any at-home tests to check filtration effectiveness? |
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No mask is going to protect you fully, they protect others from you. Respirators are the only thing that's going to protect you.
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View Quote Pretty much this. I had an old t-shirt that had holes by the collar that I made two bandannas out of. Took about 2 minutes. |
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Did a household inventory this morning, and discovered we have almost a full case of puppy piddle pads.
They're pretty restrictive, but do allow respiration. I may have missed it...any at-home tests to check filtration effectiveness? Disregard on PPP, completely restrictive unless you peel the thin plastic layer off. Search continues. |
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Filtrete furnace filters are made by 3M. I was thinking last night that is probably the same material N95 masks are made from and those still seem to be still well stocked.
If so you could take the material out of one of those and fold it a couple of times for the right thickness and stitch it together. You could then staple a couple of rubber bands on the sides to hold it to your face. You could probably get several out of one filter. |
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Quoted: Pretty much everything out there says cotton and foam masks are entirely ineffective against viruses. Surgical and N95 masks are between 80-95% effective. Sewing your own mask makes for a great placebo effect. View Quote Maybe already addressed, but yes and no. A N95 is pretty effective, IF it is sized and properly fitted. I'm willing to be that almost all of them out there aren't fitted to the people wearing them, and the ways I've seen them worn it wouldn't matter anyway. Surgical masks pretty well fall into the next category as well. The reason for people to wear a mask in public is to protect everyone else. A cough or sneeze can carry droplets for quite a distance if the conditions are right. Much more than 6 feet, but you have to reach a realistic goal for folks to follow. The mask will also prevent you from touching your face, sucking your thumb, and picking your nose. Hopefully long enough to wash your hands. The preventive measure would be pretty good, but they are no substitute for the other precautions. |
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My wife is a fashion designer - she’s come up with her own pattern
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Quoted: @AeroEngineer A lady at my wife's church sews and has been making masks. We found out yesterday she had to stop because she ran out of elastic and can't find any. I raided my boxes of model rocketry supplies and found some shock cord elastic that we're giving to her. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: My wife has sewn 20 or so in the past 2 days. She's nailing them out to friends and family who are healthcare workers. I can ask her about patterns and other criteria. I just supplied my stash of very small diameter shock cord to use as elastic. @AeroEngineer A lady at my wife's church sews and has been making masks. We found out yesterday she had to stop because she ran out of elastic and can't find any. I raided my boxes of model rocketry supplies and found some shock cord elastic that we're giving to her. Tip: Bungee cords contain multiple strands of elastic that work for masks. |
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No need to since I have boxes and boxes of n95 masks I couldn't sell on eBay
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Quoted: I attempted to but butchered my first mask. I don’t have as sewing machine which would make a huge difference. I ended up buying a 10 pack of masks from Nine Line apparel instead. The wife and I are too busy with work and home school to mess with the stuff. ETA: i do have a small stash of N95s. Just trying to prolong them. View Quote Thanks for that, I just ordered some. I've been trying to find something for my brother, he has COPD. These aren't medical grade, but better than nothing and easier than trying to make your own. |
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My wife who is a nurse just told me that she ordered 6 masks from a nurse co-worker. She said they are the best she has seen and very innovative.
Have " wire " sown into them for a tight fit and a pocket sown into them to add an additional filter . Made out of cotton. Wife said they are very slick and comfortable. They are easily washable and decontaminated. I have not seen one yet but my wife and son have and they both give them a big thumbs up. |
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I was on the radio bullshit'n with some friends last night and this subject come up. I'm going to try making some diy masks for my dad and his wife this weekend.
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My wife is pretty handy with a sewing machine and has been making different kinds out of felt, mesh fabric and other types. She gets the patterns and templates online and is trying out different versions. All seem pretty good so far.
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I did this.
And I integrated a single wire strand from a piece of romex to contour my nose. https://nypost.com/2020/04/03/how-to-make-a-diy-no-sew-face-mask-with-fabric-and-hair-elastics/ |
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My wife has made some, one without a mask pocket, the rest with. She got the pattern off of Instructables.com and modified it to include the pocket.
She uses fleece on the inside and tightly woven cotton on the outside. |
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Quoted: Please post it. View Quote Video of someone making it (it appears they updated the design yesterday for the straps, but you'll get the idea): Tutorial: How to Sew a Face Mask for Hospitals | Coronavirus COV19 I'm going to start printing a design on my 3D printer this weekend and will most likely incorporate HEPA filter vacuum bags as filtration or something. That being said, I may also use the cloth ones my wife is making assuming there is one where the fabric isn't all flowery or something. |
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Quoted: Yup. Same with old gas mask filters...older ones contain some nasty shit that degraded and breaks down over time, allowing you to breath it in. You'll have a worse day with that than if you catch the COVID. View Quote |
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Quoted: Pretty much everything out there says cotton and foam masks are entirely ineffective against viruses. Surgical and N95 masks are between 80-95% effective. Sewing your own mask makes for a great placebo effect. View Quote And there is plenty of information suggesting that cotton is 70% effective... Reducing the viral load can only help... When the time comes that you have to be wearing a mask to enter a store, having a homemeade one will be better than nothing. |
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Quoted: People are going on Youtube to watch videos of mask making. However, a lot of fabric places are closed right now. I think we will start seeing a lot of home made stuff in the wild within a week. View Quote Mrs subvet is a quilter and has more material laying around than Joanne Fabrics does. She’s made a couple dozen masks so far. Most places are out of elastic so she’s used hair ties and the latest ones she’s making material ties Attached File |
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Saw this yesterday:
https://www.businessinsider.com/homemade-mask-using-hydro-knit-shop-towel-filters-better-2020-4 |
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Quoted: Filtrete furnace filters are made by 3M. I was thinking last night that is probably the same material N95 masks are made from and those still seem to be still well stocked. If so you could take the material out of one of those and fold it a couple of times for the right thickness and stitch it together. You could then staple a couple of rubber bands on the sides to hold it to your face. You could probably get several out of one filter. View Quote don't fold it, from what I've read HVAC filter material is designed for air to flow thru in one direction. Instead, put two layers that flow in the same direction. |
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GF is working on some right now. She has a lot of material in the house and sews quite a bit. Going to forward the plans/patterns to my grandkids. Granddaughter asked for a real sewing machine two Christmases ago and recently my grandson started learning how to use it.
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Quoted: Pretty much this. I had an old t-shirt that had holes by the collar that I made two bandannas out of. Took about 2 minutes. View Quote Short sleeve t Shirt sleeves make good masks Take some older T shirts Cut the sleeves off at the seam at the shoulder, pull sleeve over head with the shoulder seam first. The elastic will keep it snug to your face. You can re enforce it by taping a couple plies of standard paper towel or some more layers of cloth. Works good. That is a go to of mine when I have to work in dusty areas. You might want to wear glasses too if you are trying to avoid airborne particulate. |
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How To Turn A Bandana Into A Face Mask For Coronavirus |
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Nope. If I feel it necessary, I'll break in to .my stash of n95s.
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Quoted: Nope. If I feel it necessary, I'll break in to .my stash of n95s. View Quote Ive got n95s, and more better stuff. I don't like tying shit to my head and leaving the rest of my head exposed.. You are as apt to get it in your hair as anywhere else. full head and face coverage is what I would wear. I don't even care tho. I got zinc. |
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Quoted: Who doesn't have a supply of masks already? View Quote One cannot be prepared for every eventuality. I would assume most people prep based on what is likely to be the more common issues they may face. For most, that would be some sort of natural disaster (i.e. Hurricane Katrina). For others in certain urban areas, it might be civil unrest (i.e. Ferguson). Global pandemics are probably not at the top of most people's preparation lists. By the time it became apparent that masks were going to be needed here, the supply was already critically low because the Chinese have been buying up American stocks since December and continuing through January. By the time it hit our shores, it was already too late to stock up. Very few people have the means to have everything they might need for any situation on hand at any given time. |
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https://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/how-to-make-a-face-mask.html
Mom raised two boys by herself and taught us some basic repair sewing. This looks easy enough. I'll give this a whirl and will report back later. |
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I don’t have any of the 3m n95s, but I do have a couple of 3m and Honeywell/North half face respirators. Most of my cartridge filters are VOC with P100. I don’t plan on going out into the world too often, so I can likely use one set of filters each time I go to the store etc...then not have to use that set again for well over month. I’m not going to be around anything dusty, so they should last for a damn long time.
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Using retired t-shirt. specifically the hard armpit area that's collected too much sweat and anti-perspirant over the years. Ain't nothin getting thru that.
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Quoted: I don’t have any of the 3m n95s, but I do have a couple of 3m and Honeywell/North half face respirators. Most of my cartridge filters are VOC with P100. I don’t plan on going out into the world too often, so I can likely use one set of filters each time I go to the store etc...then not have to use that set again for well over month. I’m not going to be around anything dusty, so they should last for a damn long time. View Quote Before you remove the respirator put duct tape over the filter. Effectively sealing all contaminants in the filter. Remove respirator and sanitize with alchohol. Next time you use the respirator, put it on before you remove the tape from the filters. |
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Quoted: Pretty much everything out there says cotton and foam masks are entirely ineffective against viruses. Surgical and N95 masks are between 80-95% effective. Sewing your own mask makes for a great placebo effect. View Quote maybe it's enough |
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We made a few dozen masks today. Two layers of 100% cotton material with a hole to insert two layers of removable filterete 1900 series material.
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Quoted: One cannot be prepared for every eventuality. I would assume most people prep based on what is likely to be the more common issues they may face. For most, that would be some sort of natural disaster (i.e. Hurricane Katrina). For others in certain urban areas, it might be civil unrest (i.e. Ferguson). Global pandemics are probably not at the top of most people's preparation lists. By the time it became apparent that masks were going to be needed here, the supply was already critically low because the Chinese have been buying up American stocks since December and continuing through January. By the time it hit our shores, it was already too late to stock up. Very few people have the means to have everything they might need for any situation on hand at any given time. View Quote Heck, I would have asked my doctor for a hydroxychloroquine prescription a year ago if I had known. Maybe I should stockpile atropine in case someone decides to release a nerve agent in all this. Cipro if we have another anthrax release? |
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Quoted: Anyone have any downloadable patterns? View Quote This is the one my wife has been using: https://www.unitypoint.org/cedarrapids/sewing-surgical-masks.aspx I have been helping by cutting out material. She is using pipe cleaners for the nose bridge and strips of HEPA filters cut from new vacuum bags. The masks can be washed and the pipe cleaners and HEPA strips can be replaced. |
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its scary how many people even in this thread don't get the point and the purpose of the masks.
IT IS NOT TO FILTER THE AIR TO KEEP YOU SAFE. the mask is to stop liquid bits from leaving your mouth/nose and infecting others. resperators and n95 dust masks that have a exhaust flapper valve do not do that. |
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