HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Off Topic "Who Was That Masked Man?"

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 5/26/2020 5:59 AM (GMT 0)
The majority of you doubtless wear a mask when you are out and about, for example, grocery shopping. What kind of mask do you wear--a cloth mask, a bandana, a surgical mask, an N95, a cloth mask with a pocket to insert a filter, other? How do you care for them?

I started out wearing wearing and reusing a surgical mask I had around. Next I bought some cotton, washable masks from Ebay. The latest masks I have are ones I got from Brooks Brothers ( no sheep logo on them). BB is manufacturing masks for healthcare workers in one of their plants, and also offers these for sale to the general public. I bought a pack of 5 for $20 plus shipping and tax.

Here's what BB says about them:

"Proudly crafted in the USA, our masks are sewn in our own factories using state-of-the-art non-woven material that has been tested to filter 86% of particles of 0.3 microns. Featuring higher filtration capacity than standard cotton fabrication, this superior material has been developed with a leading university to provide protection and high breathability to minimize interior humidity inside the mask when wearing for long periods of time. "

I wash my mask after each use by taking it off by the loops, then putting in the bathroom sink and pouring boiling water over it. After it has cooled, I wash it with laundry detergent, rinse and let air dry.
Posted 5/26/2020 1:21 PM (GMT 0)
Wearing KN95 masks. Good fit and claim is 95% filtration. Link is to a chart.

https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-6961c1d602191a266c33c11bf3c76177

Post Edited (Duck2) : 5/26/2020 7:26:52 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/26/2020 2:02 PM (GMT 0)
We still have a box of disposable surgical masks left over from when my wife was getting chemo. I keep one in my car, one in her car, and one stuffed in the orders pocket of my Boonie hat (for those vets who know what that is). Been using the same masks since day one, though we have over a dozen left in the box.

We had some N95's but sent them to our son in NYC as he is currently in chemo. We worry a lot about him riding the subway, but he seems to be dealing with everything like a champ. Tomorrow he must decide on getting a bone marrow transplant.
Posted 5/26/2020 5:12 PM (GMT 0)
I taught myself how to sew some years ago when I wanted to learn how to automobile upholstery. I've made all kinds of things and started sewing a bunch of masks out of left over fabrics. I clean them by going over them with a steam iron.
Posted 5/28/2020 12:42 PM (GMT 0)
I have several masks of a sort made for bikers who dislike eating dust or swallowing bugs. They look something like bandanas but they are actually tubes of spandex that can be worn as neck gaiters or pulled up over the mouth and nose like like an outlaw in an old western galloping along beside a train. Obviously, a mask of this sort is not going to drive R0 for the virus to zero.It won't filter out particles the size of viruses and, actually, very little of the air I breathe in or out gets filtered anyway; the air I inhale is mostly filtered through by beard and my exhalations flow out the top of the mask and steam up my glasses. But I figure it will catch the larger gobs of spit and snot in the air and may lower the odds of the virus spreading by a few percent. Being rather shy, social distancing comes naturally to me so there's that, but as to touching my face... hmmm [tugs on beard and ponders...].
Posted 5/28/2020 1:49 PM (GMT 0)
We have quite a variety of masks at home -- simple disposable "surgical procedure" masks, KN95 masks, etc., but we almost always wear the ones my wife makes. She is a decent seamstress, and I found her a couple of patterns on the internet. She makes them as multi-layer cloth with a filter media insert between. She has gotten a number of whimsically patterned fabrics, and makes them for the two of us, our neighbors and our daughter and her family out in MA. It has, of late, gotten difficult to purchase fabric online, and especially elastic, but we hope that once the stores re-open a bit, their on-hand stock will become available too.

As we understand it, these masks aren't really able to protect US from aerosols in the air, but they DO protect others from anything we might exhale or expel.

I believe that masks will be with us for the foreseeable future -- at least until a viable vaccine becomes widely available (if, in fact, one does). At least DW's home-sewn masks fit well, give good coverage (from just below the eyes all the way under the chin), aren't too uncomfortable (except for fogging glasses), and even have those whimsical patterns. (Mine today shows stacks of books, since I read a lot.)

The one place I don't wear a mask is when I am outdoors, away from others. If I am walking through the neighborhood and encounter another person, I just walk wide around them (like 15-20 feet wide). They tell us that there is literally no significant chance of infection outdoors at that distance. Indoors in public places, in lines, any other place where I can't keep my distance from others. . . the mask is on. Not sure what I will do when the gyms re-open. Probably won't go for a while, just to see how things go.
Posted 5/28/2020 1:52 PM (GMT 0)
No mandatory mask rules here and I haven't put on a mask yet but I know there will come a time.
I work at a what is basically a Federal Vo-Tech Academy and we have no students now for a couple months, I suspect when they decide to start sending students from around the country back to us here in OK then we will be in masks at work.
I dread when that starts happening.
Posted 5/29/2020 1:44 AM (GMT 0)
I have been wearing surgical masks. A friend made my wife and i each a cloth mask, that i lost , cant imagine how. But we got a box of 50 surgical masks (level 3 whatever that means, i think thats good), and we also have 10 KN95 masks that i bought at the same time.
I also have 3 N95's that i bought at Home Depot when i was planning on doing some work on my garage floor, but never used them.
I guess I'm saving the N95's and KN95's but i dont know what im saving them for.

I need to buy some more masks i will look tomorrow. I am a little afraid of buying them on Amazon, because the actual seller could be any schmuck. I'll go on the Target, or CVS or Walgreens website.

Also saw an add for a fitted cloth mask on TV that i might buy some, as they are reusable... Copper Wear Mask...infused with copper, not sure what thats for i need to read about it.
Posted 5/29/2020 4:17 PM (GMT 0)

Pratoman said...
Also saw an add for a fitted cloth mask on TV that i might buy some, as they are reusable... Copper Wear Mask...infused with copper, not sure what thats for i need to read about it.


Weren't copper bracelets the thing people were wearing back in the 70s for arthritis? Maybe the mask is doing double duty?
Posted 5/29/2020 5:52 PM (GMT 0)

Free masks are given to all patients, when I visit my oncologist.

A hometown friend of mine has sewn 500 cloth masks, and still counting. They are given out across the community.

Best of all? I actually found an Iowa State University CYCLONE team mask the other day, at the grocery store!

Yep! Had to buy that one, without hesitation! It instantly became my favorite mask of all !

CYCLONE # Iowa State University
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply