Michael Vang

Here's a link to a helpful Google doc about the importance of wearing a mask. It has a link to a research paper on the effectiveness of different kinds of masks.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258525804_Testing_the_Efficacy_of_Homemade_Masks_Would_They_Protect_in_an_Influenza_Pandemic

I am also quoting Adrien Lapointe again:

Adrien Lapointe wrote:Here is an interesting article about the efficiency of the homemade masks.

https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/diy-homemade-mask-protect-virus-coronavirus/

Also, I would like to add this. I have joined a group of people who are trying to figure out ways to repurpose hospital equipment to sanitize n95 masks for re-use. I am just reading through what they are doing. But from what they have gathered, in order to sanitize the masks, you got to heat treat masks to 70 degrees Celsius or 158 degrees Fahrenheit for half and hour. I think ideal is 80 degrees Celsius to kill C-Diff spores if in a hospital setting. So if you are going to sanitize your masks using heat, be sure that it can produce temperatures up to 70 degrees Celsius or higher. Some have placed masks in jar and boil the jars.

You could also use a bleach solution, though I don't know the ratio, for low temp sanitation.

One thing to keep in mind, use only the method that will not degrade the integrity/quality of your masks quickly. For example, UV-C sanitation methods can degrade n95 masks quickly.

And the very last thing, this is something that some hospitals are doing. They are writing names and dept on their n95 masks, bagging them in brown bags that also has a person's name on it. After sanitation, a strike is put on the mask to keep track of how many times it has gone through the sanitation process. I think only one person handles the sanitation process to limit cross-contamination. If you live with family or more people and all your masks are the same, this might be a helpful process to keep track of who's masks.

Beth Wilder wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:I wonder about using some of the non woven things used in clothing construction like pelon or some other interfacing fabric sold by the yard (or something similar to the vacuum cleaner bags mentioned in Anne's quote above) that might filter but not make such a humidity pocket behind the mask like a cotton fabric does?

Someone in my local fiber arts guild said, "I've just learned that the filtration membrane in a surgical mask is meltblown polypropylene. Better known to BFAGsters as nonwoven fabric interfacing! A layer of this in your diy surgical masks might be a good idea!" What do you-all think? That in between a couple layers of cotton? It should help hold the mask's shape away from the face, too. This Instructable is the pattern folks around here have started to use, I believe.

I also discovered this fact a few days ago but I also learned that the actual filtration piece that goes in the middle is permanently electrostatically charged non-woven fabric. Also, many masks and filters are made from meltblown non-woven fabric include furnace filters!

Also, I have seen mask designs with pocket insertion for CPAP 2.5 filters and CPAP HEPA filters.

Welcome and thank you for sharing your book and knowledge!