Question: Coronavirus & home sewn masks?

Care of face masks article
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and...our-reusable-face-covering-1.4350568?mode=amp

 

Face masks could be giving people Covid-19 immunity, researchers suggest

Mask wearing might also be reducing the severity of the virus and ensuring that a greater proportion of new infections are asymptomatic

ByGeorgina Hayes12 September 2020 • 5:00pm

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-...b-coqUUyiMNDICIg-s9DOX3sKucvH7zYS9UmjN36VyNdk

 

Hiii, not sure which thread to put this in. Hope this ones ok.

An easy way to make surgical masks fit tighter so air does not leak on the sides:

https://www.today.com/health/how-make-mask-fit-better-how-wear-surgical-mask-t189236

I tried it. It works!

 

I’m going to try this method of mask making - it looks quick and easy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNnsyMY4WN4

 

Gosh that awful checked fabric with movement in front of it.... ugh it's impossible to look at but the finished mask looks a good fit, it it a good fit over the nose. I see so many masks perched on the end of people's noses with huge gaps either side of the nose - almost a waste of time wearing them when all the air can escape.

 

I made the mask from the video above. It’s quite quick to make, but I didn’t find it comfortable as it presses on my nose. Back to the old shaped version I’ve been making.

ie this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDYXW2CRpFc

 

@Keela Too
With masks compulsory in Melbourne for the last 4 months and for some time to come, it suddenly became important to get it right. I've done a fair bit of experimenting over the year and I think your version is by far the most comfortable. The only pressure I can stand on my nose is right at the top.

The nose clamp gave me problems but I've settled on a shaped paperclip for the best seal. The paperclip took some wangling with a couple of pliers to get it right so my glasses never fog up. I sewed a little pocket on the outside at the top so I could take it in and out easily to test.

The only other type I use is the standard blue medical mask with a tissue across the top to prevent fogging. That works well.

@JemPD
Those masks that sit at the end of the nose seem pointless to me too. And they must be uncomfortable because the wearers are constantly hitching them up, touching the mask as they do so. I give the wearers an extra wide berth.

 

yeah my carer does it... but she's so stressed by the whole situation I cant really point it out without getting my head bitten off lol. I cant give her a wide birth, but she only wears cloth ones outside... She wears an FFP2 indoors which are shaped & i wear one all the time i in contact with her inside & out, as well as very big glasses, so not too worried.

 

@Sean
That's something I'll definitely try. Thanks for the suggestion

 

I haven't posted on here for a while, so here's what I've been up to over the summer:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1297554247454724096


I've made nearly 200 of the things now!

I use aluminium nose strips or rubber-coated soft garden ties for nose shaping. Having the elastic travelling through a channel at the side of the mask also helps fit.

Loads in my stash if anyone still wants one...

 

This article from the Grauniad is about shop bought masks, but has some interesting information in it that you sewing mavens might find useful.

 

@Lucibee, your masks are beautiful! I love the patterns.

 

Wearing a used mask 'can be WORSE than not wearing one at all'

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/...one-at-all/ar-BB1bWZAn?ocid=ASUDHP&li=AAnZ9Ug

 

Interesting - though it is talking about surgical masks rather than washable ones. I seem to remember reading that washing fabric masks separates the fibres making them more efficient, but I can’t think where I read that.

 

There doesn't seem to be anything to support the headline in that piece. Moreover, it seems to focus on how well the mask protects the wearer. I thought we had all agreed long ago that the point of masks was to protect other people from the wearer. It seems pretty unhelpful.

 

Did I mention that, in the UK, Terracycle has set up a mask recycling scheme? Not, of course, for masks used in a clinical setting, but for the ones that "normal" people use when out and about, and getting on public transport, and so on.

EDIT: Sorry, probably not the appropriate thread for that comment, since it relates to home-made masks, but I can't find the other one these days.