Out of curiosity, what's the most efficient way to mask? Surely I'm not supposed to just buy disposable N95s in bulk, right? I don't know what the best method is. -- /Goadstool@hexbear.net

Me and my bodycount of 9205s:

side-eye-1 side-eye-2

So as I was laying bed unable to sleep in I went looking for some stuff.

Found a reddit sub dedicated to masks:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Masks4All/ - And they've got a pretty extensive wiki!

And then found a guy that's been reviewing masks, filters, and air quality meters for a while now.

https://breathesafeair.com/

He's got a bunch of reviews for masks and respirators. Here's some of his reviews for reusable Masks/Respirators.

Flo Mask Review - The Best Everyday Mask? - which I'm currently leaning towards.

Envo Mask Review - N95 Reusable Respirator

ElastoMaskPro Review - The Most Breathable N95 Reusable Respirator?

Also he recently did a write up on Mask for Kids

Best Kids Masks: 13 Best Certified Facemasks for Toddlers, Children & Teens

If you've got more resources, please feel free to share them in the comments, this was just some stuff I saved while tapping around in bed.

  • Dolores [love/loves]
    ·
    5 months ago

    despite being such an extensive website that review guy does a bad job explaining how respirators and masks for 'everyday' are different. like yeah i get you want a 100% seal in a medical environment so a half-face respirator frame is desirable, but i don't understand the variant filter standards. he never calls the 'masks' n95 or anything but seems to imply that they're for covid. like bro i don't know what a mmH2O is, a PFE or a flow rate. is it suitable for blocking a virus or is it just for industrial dust? stalin-stressed those washable nanofibre ones look cool from a fit perspective, ease putting it on & comfort is important, but how much (if anything) am i sacrificing from a disposable n95? shrug-outta-hecks im way too stupid to tell

    • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      5 months ago

      Totally feel ya. I recommend checking out that Mask4all wiki. There's a lot of good info there that may help a bit.🤞

    • AernaLingus [any]
      ·
      5 months ago

      but how much (if anything) am i sacrificing from a disposable n95? !

      Great video from the Mask Nerd on this exact subject. The TL;DW is that once you have a quality respirator (e.g. KF94/N95) the quality of fit far dominates filtration efficacy. It's worth noting that it can be easier to get a good fit in an elastomeric (both because of their construction and because it's trivial to do a positive and negative pressure fit test without any equipment), but if you can get a good fit with an N95 you should be good to go for everyday situations (KF94s are difficult to get a good fit in because of the design, so I'd recommend N95s when possible). Of course, part of the problem is the difficulty in determining the fit for disposable respirators, since quantitative tests are out of reach for most (that's actually something the guy who made the video is working on). Maybe someone else here can speak to qualitative tests, which are more accessible. You can also see if there's a mask bloc in your area who may be able to direct you to a community fit testing opportunity.