DIY Mask Designs

[Andrew Joiner]

I made one. Just a t-shirt with my head thru the sleeve. A dish towel( tea towel) as a 2nd layer is tested to be more effective. I'll tuck it into the turtle neck shirt I'll wear. The gap at the nose is held tight by my eyeglasses and chums.

Looks like this:

[Andrew Joiner]

This site has info on testing of homemade mask materials:
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/...ce-mask-virus/

[Ole Anderson]

When I see that mask I think of the folks streaming out of the WTC on 9-11 faces covered in ash and debris. How many could have just pulled up an undershirt over their nose?

[Jim Becker]

Professor Dr. SWMBO's V1 is quite stylin'.... next version will have a pocket for additional filtration as well as a metallic object that will allow forming back around the nose for proper close fit.

IMG_E7065.jpg

[Doug Dawson]

I made one. Just a t-shirt with my head thru the sleeve. A dish towel( tea towel) as a 2nd layer is tested to be more effective. I'll tuck it into the turtle neck shirt I'll wear. The gap at the nose is held tight by my eyeglasses and chums.

Looks like this:

You can call that one "the Bank Teller Special"| :^)

[Andrew Joiner]

You can call that one "the Bank Teller Special"| :^)

I thought that too Doug, but last week I saw several people at the grocery store with scarves and masks on. No one called the cops.
In fact if your coughing or sneezing WITHOUT a mask on in stores people may call the cops

[Lon Crosby]

Best sterilization approach for re-use of personal protective gear is probably an ozone bath. Ozone will kill everything, even a non-living coronavirus. Just know what you are doing because it is only safe when used appropriately.

[Andrew Joiner]

Funny how the information on masks changes as time goes on. Every day more experts say it's good for everyone to wear masks when they leave the house.

[Roger Feeley]

I think masks for all are kind of inevitable. There are two approaches to getting out of this thing:

1. Deliberately build herd immunity.
a. To do that somewhere between 50-66% of the population must get sick and recover. We have 327 million people. Even using 1% fatality (low), that's 3.27 million deaths.
b. vaccinate to get to herd immunity
2. Test, track and quarantine like crazy. That path requires us to be very vigilant over the next 18 months or so until a vaccine is available. To hold infections to a minimum, masks are pretty much required. Since individuals are contagious several days before showing symptoms, we can't just 'stay home if we have a fever'.

[Kev Williams]

Best sterilization approach for re-use of personal protective gear is probably an ozone bath. Ozone will kill everything, even a non-living coronavirus. Just know what you are doing because it is only safe when used appropriately.

So then, my 3-ppm sodium di-chlorinated / ozone generated neutral pH 103° hot tub water should be the ideal laundromat for cleaning masks and PP gear.... or..?
(hey, I don't know!)

[David Bassett]

So then, my 3-ppm sodium di-chlorinated / ozone generated neutral pH 103° hot tub water should be the ideal laundromat for cleaning masks and PP gear.... or..?
(hey, I don't know!)

A Post in Another Thread points to a study of sanitizing "single use" masks for reuse. They didn't evaluate all failure modes, but some methods, e.g. alcohol, compromised the properties they tested. Before you rely on any home remedies you may want to read the study and the FAQ they have up.

[Mike Henderson]

I think masks for all are kind of inevitable. There are two approaches to getting out of this thing:

1. Deliberately build herd immunity.
a. To do that somewhere between 50-66% of the population must get sick and recover. We have 327 million people. Even using 1% fatality (low), that's 3.27 million deaths.
b. vaccinate to get to herd immunity
2. Test, track and quarantine like crazy. That path requires us to be very vigilant over the next 18 months or so until a vaccine is available. To hold infections to a minimum, masks are pretty much required. Since individuals are contagious several days before showing symptoms, we can't just 'stay home if we have a fever'.

Just a mathematics comment. If 50% of the population gets the virus, that's 163 million. If 1% of those cases results in death, that's 1.63 million people. Still a lot, however.

Mike

[Right now, the CDC is reporting 53,000 deaths and about 1,000,000 cases. That's a 5% death rate. But many people are getting the disease and are not getting counted so the actual death rate is certainly lower. And the death rate is different for different age groups.]

[Roger Feeley]

Oops. My mistake.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Scientific studies in hospital settings have found that plain cloth masks only prevent about 5% of the virus from getting through compared to no mask at all. They can and do keep out some bacteria, molds, dust etc. I.E. virtually worthless for virus protection.

[Andrew Joiner]

Scientific studies in hospital settings have found that plain cloth masks only prevent about 5% of the virus from getting through compared to no mask at all. They can and do keep out some bacteria, molds, dust etc. I.E. virtually worthless for virus protection.

Do you have any links to those studies?

This study shows t-shirt cloth blocks 70% of particles 5 times smaller than the coronavirus, while 89% are blocked by a surgical mask: https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/...ce-mask-virus/