No-Sew Covid-19 Face-Mask using Shop Towel

Simon

Now that the medical advice seem to be coming round to actually giving honest advice, it's good to have a mask. Weeks wasted and god knows how many infected that didn't need to be, but now there's no excuse for not wearing one ... other than you may not have any.

You can make them of course, if you have a sewing machine. But even if you don't, you can make one using the blue shop-towel, a couple of elastic bands and a stapler. Even for home-made sewn masks, the blue shop towels are apparently one of the best things to use for filtering (two layers).

Mask-up people!

https://www.facebook.com/ShopTowelMask/

https://www.businessinsider.com/homemade-mask-using-hydro-knit-shop-towel-filters-better-2020-4

Anony Mous

You could also go to Home Depot and get a drywall sanding mask. It's an N95 mask. I got a 10-pack from 3M for I think $15. They're not "medical grade" but realistically the same thing.

Diogenesister

I went looking for Masks over 6 weeks ago...all crazy expensive in the UK and those N95 masks you could buy in B & Q (probably like your Home Depot} were like £3 a piece which for single use is absurd considering the number you’d go through. We are isolating but still have to go out almost daily to buy food as it’s not possible to get deliveries. I do get an organic veg box but only because I already had an account for sending my brother them. He has only just managed to get a regular food delivery slot and he’s one of the one and a half million UK residents on the super vulnerable list, being on chemo for pancreatic cancer.

edit: most of the patients my brother attends out patients with have similarly struggled to get delivery slots

road to nowhere

Home depot around here is out of everything even close.

Simon

Yeah, most masks for purchase are sold out or crazy prices.

These look good but cost a lot: https://o2canada.com/

We've tried making the shop-towel disposable ones and some sewn ones with shop-towel filters - both came out OK.

Here's me in "310 to Yuma" mode ... ready for when the next stagecoach comes through:

Simon

In other news, cutting your own hair is a thing :D

LongHairGal

SIMON:

I have two N-95 masks I bought at the drugstore two years ago. To be perfectly honest, it is uncomfortable and it makes my glasses fog up and I want to run out of the store.

I am going to use a scarf next time I go to the store as it will be more comfortable and I don’t care if it makes me look like an outlaw from the old West.

Simon

An effective mask is not just about filtration but also a good seal around your face. If you're breathing in through something that doesn't filter (enough / much) or there is a gap so you're not breathing through any filter at all, it's going to reduce how effective it is.

It may be a case of using both, depending on where you are going and how busy it might be.

I have some N95 3M masks and also some N99 masks with replaceable filters, for if things worsen, but for going for a walk or picking up food from a restaurant, the home-made ones seem like they'll be plenty. We'll see how things are when we next go to Costco / grocery shopping to decide what to wear.

Listener

It seems that people are using anything they can think of as a filter without considering whether they are dangerous or not. A lot of the recommendations are for items that were never intended to be closely inhaled.

One suggestion is to use Hepa filters that can be found in things like Air conditioners. We have several unused ones for our room air filter but hubby told me to check whether they were safe to wear next to your face and breathing in the materials they are made from. Sure enough there are warnings (by Doctors) not to use them.

Apparently a better filter is one that is not very absorbent (the blue towels are) as in it repels water more.

I will be making some filters with a pocket to add some type of filter, probably a paper towel or a couple of tissues because I can't think of anything else. The material filter will be three layers thick and 100% cotton that is tightly woven is recommended.

Finkelstein

Simon you look crazy in that picture.

You sure you dont have Covid -19 ?

No-Sew Covid-19 Face-Mask using Shop Towel

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