Face masks

[harllee]

For those of you wearing N95 type masks, do you wear them only once and then dispose of them? If you wear them more than once how do you sanitize them between wearings?

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

For those of you wearing N95 type masks, do you wear them only once and then dispose of them? If you wear them more than once how do you sanitize them between wearings?

I swap them out. Air them and try to get some sunshine on them. Never find myself wearing 2 days in a row. Wear one set and air the other. I wear cloth over them when required to (n95 but has a valve, my health facility requires a mask over the valve) I also wear a cloth mask ivrr if Im going somewhere I deem as higher risk or known rusk BC I don't know what I will encounter

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Ref jaw pain? Yes I notice when I wear an n95 an hour or more i do have jaw pain afterwards and that night. I think I must hold my mouth open pulling against the mask so I can mouth breathe.

 

[ERhoosier]

Ref jaw pain? Yes I notice when I wear an n95 an hour or more i do have jaw pain afterwards and that night. I think I must hold my mouth open pulling against the mask so I can mouth breathe.

Probably right. Pretty common complaint among workers new to wearing protective masks on-the-job for long periods (like new woodworkers, healthcare workers, spray painters, etc.).

And I also air out my N95 masks before wearing a second time. Sunshine is always good too

 

[ABQ2015]

For those of you wearing N95 type masks, do you wear them only once and then dispose of them? If you wear them more than once how do you sanitize them between wearings?

I purchased six 3M 8210 N95 masks from a home improvement store in early March. I use the N95 masks with a disposable mask over it to keep it clean (there is no valve on my N95s) when I am indoors and just use a disposable mask outdoors - my state mandates use of a mask in all public places. Although it is more difficult to breathe with the N95, I have become used to it and feel more secure than with other masks. And I wear the N95 only two to three hours each week as do not go out much and air it out between uses.

It is hard to find good information on the expected life of these but the most common recommendation I have seen is a day but one article recommended a week max. My dental hygienist at the periodontist's office is issued two N95 masks a week. So I numbered my masks and have been using three of the six and logging how long each is used. I am up to about 25 hours each on two of them and transitioning to my third mask.

However the plastic head straps are flimsy and tend to break and I repair them as best as I can. And one of my masks seem to be warping some after about 20 hours and I am concerned about the air tightness. So I appreciate Freedom56 alerting us that N95s are now being sold again to the public and plan to order more and discard my older ones.

 

[Midpack]

This should convince everyone to wear a mask - but it won’t...

https://www.vumc.org/health-policy/...ic_files/Vanderbilt COVID19 Report-Oct 27.pdf

 

[Ian S]

For those of you wearing N95 type masks, do you wear them only once and then dispose of them? If you wear them more than once how do you sanitize them between wearings?

We wear them repeatedly and put them out in the sun for an hour or two to air out. However, our social distancing means we can go days without needing to wear any mask and even then it is usually for less than half an hour. Now that N-95 masks are more available, we'll dispose of the masks more frequently I suppose.

 

[Ian S]

This should convince everyone to wear a mask - but it won’t...

https://www.vumc.org/health-policy/...ic_files/Vanderbilt COVID19 Report-Oct 27.pdf

Based on what we've learned about the importance of amount of exposure to the virus over time, these results shouldn't surprise anyone. Of course masks aren't 100% effective but it's pretty clear they reduce the exposure especially if both parties are wearing them. Even with a mask, it's still better to avoid indoor and/or crowded situations for any significant amount of time. That's what we are doing and will continue to do absent effective and widely available treatments/vaccines.

 

[Freedom56]

For those of you wearing N95 type masks, do you wear them only once and then dispose of them? If you wear them more than once how do you sanitize them between wearings?

We are using 3M Aura 9205+ NIOSH N95 masks. We have found that these masks are good for about 20 hours of use. So we re-use them after going to the supermarket or store. We wipe down the outside lightly with a Clorox wipe. We expose the interior to UV light. On a recent trip to Florida, I found that I could use these mask for the flight to and from Florida but the mask was pretty well done after that. We stocked up on these 3M Aura and also Honeywell H910+ N95 masks in anticipation of a second wave to carry us to the end of 2021. We also have ASTM Level 3 surgical masks that are single use masks and KN95 masks that can be re-used up to 20 times that we use for general purpose dust protection when using power tools.

 

[retire-early]

We are using 3M Aura 9205+ NIOSH N95 masks.

Where are the places selling these?

I can't find them anywhere.

.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Links about 10 posts above

Where are the places selling these?

I can't find them anywhere.

.

 

[retire-early]

Links about 10 posts above

Missed that somehow.

Thanks!!!!

Just bought ten of the N95 which I will give to my mom.

 

[Freedom56]

Where are the places selling these?

I can't find them anywhere.

.

We were able to buy them from this source.

https://www.henryschein.com/us-en/d...-masks/den-aura-n95-partic-respirator/1385354

My wife is still a licensed surgical O/R nurse. She has a contact at this particular medical supply distributer. They are sold in boxes of 440 masks but she split the order with 12 other people. They cost under $2 each. There are sellers on Ebay selling these masks for $8 to $12 each in low quantities. I wore one of these mask on my recent flight. It seals extremely well and I felt pretty secure with these on. After wearing this mask for 8-10 hours straight, the leave an indentation of the shape of the mask on your face.

 

[retire-early]

Are they individually wrapped?

 

[BigNick]

This should convince everyone to wear a mask - but it won’t...

https://www.vumc.org/health-policy/...ic_files/Vanderbilt COVID19 Report-Oct 27.pdf

I am a huge supporter of masks, and I would love these charts to be true, and to show what they appear to show.

But:
1. It's always important to be very careful with aggregated data (the ecological fallacy is always lurking).

2. Part, or all, or even more than 100% (multiple regression can get very weird, very fast) of the variance in outcomes associated with mask wearing could be in fact due to other factors that happen to be also associated with mask wearing. For example, looking round this forum, I think it's reasonable to assume that the people here who report wearing masks are also more likely to be maintaining a 6-foot distance from other people, not going out to bars much, etc.

As ever, unless we do a controlled experiment, we can only deduce causality if the confounding variables would have to be overwhelmingly smaller than the purported main effect. A researcher named Cornfield showed in 1959 that this was indeed the case for tobacco smoking and lung cancer, and defined the conditions that have to hold to be able to draw causal conclusions from observational data. I don't think those conditions are met here.

 

[Freedom56]

Are they individually wrapped?

Yes all 3M NIOSH N95 masks are individually wrapped. The same for Honeywell.

I just received and returned on order of Honeywell N95 masks today. They should have been individually wrapped in packaging marked "Honeywell" like others I have but they came together in a plain plastic bag of 10 masks. They appeared to be Chinese copies. I opened the box and suspected that they were fake and contacted the seller and received and RMA number and return shipping label.

 

[Freedom56]

Missed that somehow.

Thanks!!!!

Just bought ten of the N95 which I will give to my mom.

We did the same and gave most of ours to our parents. We wanted them to have a better level of protection.

 

[ERhoosier]

BigNick is right from a purely scientific perspective. And the supporting data are not perfect.
But masks (good ones properly worn), social distancing, and hand hygiene are the best tools a person has to protect themselves.
Unless and until we get a good vaccine.

BTW- I have some of those Optrel NIOSH N95 masks on order. Will try to report my thoughts when I get them.

 

[Badger]

BTW- I have some of those Optrel NIOSH N95 masks on order. Will try to report my thoughts when I get them.

Looking forward to your review.


Cheers!

 

[garyt]

They have a valve by default (their valve covers are extra, and sold out). Valve's mean you are protected, but you are expelling, so I avoid folks in these as much as those with their noses showing.

I tape up the valve

 

[Midpack]

I am a huge supporter of masks, and I would love these charts to be true, and to show what they appear to show.

But:
1. It's always important to be very careful with aggregated data (the ecological fallacy is always lurking).

2. Part, or all, or even more than 100% (multiple regression can get very weird, very fast) of the variance in outcomes associated with mask wearing could be in fact due to other factors that happen to be also associated with mask wearing. For example, looking round this forum, I think it's reasonable to assume that the people here who report wearing masks are also more likely to be maintaining a 6-foot distance from other people, not going out to bars much, etc.

As ever, unless we do a controlled experiment, we can only deduce causality if the confounding variables would have to be overwhelmingly smaller than the purported main effect. A researcher named Cornfield showed in 1959 that this was indeed the case for tobacco smoking and lung cancer, and defined the conditions that have to hold to be able to draw causal conclusions from observational data. I don't think those conditions are met here.

Ah, the old let’s casually cast doubt to discredit an idea, that appeals to those who want to believe masks have been in use for decades for no reason.

The report acknowledged other factors and the limits of the study, but the graphs were a great illustration, so I brought it to light.

Further, the groups are counties where masks are mandated at various levels, so it’s not necessarily individuals who are more likely to maintain distance, wash hands, etc - they aren’t wearing masks entirely by choice.

More important, you must realize there have been dozens if not hundreds of controlled experiments testing the effectiveness of all manner of masks, and the results from controlled experiments have all concluded masks reduce transmission. You can do a simple search and find as many as you want. Here’s a couple to get you started...

https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200826/the-forgotten-science-behind-face-masks

https://pws.byu.edu/covid-19-and-masks

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/4...s-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent

 

[Boho]

Are they individually wrapped?

Mine came two or three in a plastic case, not individually wrapped.

I store them on top of each other, so they all get a little contaminated. I wasn't sure whether I could donate them to a hospital in that condition, and the expiration date must have been on the label which I threw out so I didn't even know that. I sun them out but the safety feature for medium sized particles is a static charge and I don't know how to replace that.

 

[ERhoosier]

MidPack-

Not all "experts" are as positive in their view of mask effectiveness in the real world public (non healthcare) settings. IMHO this is likely due to spotty compliance (no mask, or nose uncovered) and mask quality.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372?query=TOC

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191274/

Lab data have reported large differences in effectiveness of masks/face coverings. One recent study from Duke found that some (gaiters, bandanas) offer "very little protection".
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/36/eabd3083

I would only use a gaiter or bandana in an 'emergency'. I try to wear NIOSH (industrial, not medical) certified N95 masks whenever indoors in public. And I avoid cheap 'fakes' (been there, done that).

I tried the Swiss made Optrel P.Air masks mentioned earlier in this thread. Unlike many masks falsely claimed to be N95 certifed, these are indeed NIOSH N95 certified, (although NOT FDA-cleared for medical use) on the CDC/NIOSH website:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part/N95list1sect2-o.html
Found them in stock here a few days ago-
https://bakersgas.com/products/optrel-4190010
Good price (~US$2.50 each) and prompt delivery.
I have tried them and recommend highly. Multi-layer construction. Light, comfortable, well-fitting (no leaks on my size 7 5/8 hat size head), and easy to breathe in. There is an adjustable nose strip to minimize fogging of the eyeglasses. (An old tip from surgery workers is to tape the mask down across the bridge of the nose if mask fogging is an issue). While the straps are elastic, there is no adjustment to shorten the straps (although you could tie a small knot to shorten if you have a smaller head).
These masks seem much better made, lighter, and more comfy than any of the disposable industrial N95 masks I have found locally. Like any mask, though- YMMV.

 

[retire-early]

MidPack-
Found them in stock here a few days ago-
https://bakersgas.com/products/optrel-4190010
Good price (~US$2.50 each) and prompt delivery.

Are they individually wrapped?

 

[Boho]

Are they individually wrapped?

No. The manufacturer's page here says "Packaging: 5 pcs per bag /40 pcs per box."

The manufacturer's technical info words it "Respiratory Masks: 40 pieces (8x 5 pieces)"