Sewing a do it yourself cloth mask

Have a few masks bought well before panic as well as masks used in wood working, painting, etc, but for those of you who don't, here is about the best design I have seen for a home made mask. Face Mask Pattern (FREE) - How To Make Diy Mouth Mask If not for your own use, others might seek your advise and I have not yet reached the point of sharing all my masks and then in 10 days have none. China seems to be in round 2 of the problem, so it is unknown at this time how many masks will be available in the USA, or how long we may need them. I kind of figure that those with immune problems or the elderly may well adopt the patterns found in the East and be using them in crowded places 5 years from now. Japan with its elderly population has had widespread mask use for many years.

 

Not sure if China is facing the second wave, or if they were just crowing too early regarding the first wave, but either way, they are far from done with this. We are far from done with it, too. Masks seem to be coming back to the market, but sewing a cloth mask could be a handy talent to have anyway.

This video shows a step-by-step method as promoted by the Deaconess Hospital system. Pretty easy to do with common materials.

 

In my opinion, there are 2 different styles of masks, one used by Dr, dentists, etc is flat and fits across face and works well, is cheap, covers nose and chin and goes to both sides of face. Works well for them, then 3 M and others used to make a semi rigid mask that fit face and the mask was not really tight against your face. The better ones had a 1 way valve that cut way down on the effort to use and the moisture trapped by the mask. As a woodworker, metal worker, and using the mask to prevent dust or particles, I always used that style as it could be worn for hours. For welding, insecticides, painting, I always used a mask with a cartridge filter as a regular mask only stops particular materials. Mouth or full face depended on protection required, eyes or not, and I have and use both. In my humble opinion, one size does not fit all. While a simple procedure or flat mask, might do well for going grocery shopping or to get gas, I would not expect to either be able to work in it or wear it for 4 hours. While a semi rigid mask is comfortable to wear and I have worn them all day, they are not perfect and I would not be comfortable treating known ill cases with them, then I personally would want a mask with filters as seen with CDC, but of course they are as rare as hen's teeth. Using flat face masks to go grocery shopping etc, decent filtering and they prevent you from touching your mouth or nose without thinking. They also don't scare people as they have seen them in medical settings for years and reguard them as a normal precaution. Full hazmat setup, use one in greenhouse at times, would panic everyone, full coverage of body, taped gloves and shoes, and small air pump hanging on side providing positive pressure filtered air. Shades of the people in the movie ET and about the same shock value. Have found that while people may ignore the signs to stay out of my greenhouse, the sight of a full hazmat suit keeps them out of my yard as well.

 

And all forget the filter. How to test the pore size, best material of the filter/cloth ?
I have no idea how to do this at home.

 

https://www.deaconess.com/How-to-make-a-Face-Mask/Documents-Mask/Mask-Information

https://www.deaconess.com/How-to-ma...to-Make-an-Adult-Surgical-Mask-with-Ties-3-26

A friend has stitched a few cloth face masks for me with tie strings made of stitched cloth. Not specifically to the Deaconess Hospital template, but similar in principle. The first couple were hand stitched but the third was machine stitched with a hand held cordless sewing stitching machine similar to this in principle:


It was definitely quicker than hand stitching, and the seams are stronger and tighter.

These machines are fairly cheap, light and take up little space. Get some rechargeable batteries and it will add depth to your prepping resources.





My friend's stitching is an old school model manufactured in 1973....it still works well though...it uses 4x D Cell batteries...they are rechargeables.

 

I LOVE this idea. I've seen these by the dozens in thrift stores and never once considered it for preps, but clearly I should have.

 

"Mind you, use this simple DIY face mask as a last resort, as a homemade face masks don’t offer the level of protection the N95 respirator masks do, and their capacity to protect from viruses according to CDC is unknown."

NO WHERE NEAR

a homemade face masks don’t offer the level of protection...OF A PROCEDURE MASK

A PROCEDURE MASK...........is used to protect the other person........NOT YOU!!!!

A PROCEDURE MASK......IS used to HELP KEEP YOUR SPIT OUT OF THE FACE OF ANOTHER PERSON that you are near!

THAT is why it is a one SHORT time USE.........AND THROW IT AWAY
IF you wear one for an hour or more.........it WILL get wet AND you can not breath

YOU WEAR ONE TO THE STORE........YOU GET THE OUT SIDE INFECTED..............YOU TAKE IT HOME..............
the kids play with...............AND GET INFECTED

WE are 74 and 72.................we stay home

 

Well, allowing the kids to play with a contaminated face mask that's been exposed in the 'hot zone' is a fail on the part of the adults. The decontamination procedure in my abode is to drop masks into a solution of bleach upon entry to soak in...followed by boiling in a dedicated stainless steel stock pot, and then air dried in the sun for a day.

You are quite right about the relative effectiveness of commercial N95 masks and improvised masks, however, "when needs must the devil drives". I have a respirator with commercial filters for high risk situations. Wearing a mask encourages others to keep social distance from the mask wearer, on the basis that the mask is meant to protect others more so than the wearer who may become suspected of being unwell...else, why wear a mask if they are so ineffective as protection???

 

I made up a few using funny prints, mainly to wear over my n95 so the sheep don't get all pissed off and yell at me for fearmongering or else hoarding medical equipment. Just looks like I have a star wars mask on heh.
It's a real beoytch to breathe through both lemme tell ya.

 

Of course one could make oneself an anti-fa / Proud Boys style riot gas mask.....



No warranties are made by me for the effectiveness of this kind of mask against bio-hazards such as Covid19....of course.

 

That is the best reason I have seen yet to wear home brewed mask! I bought a case of 1000 Honeywell N-95s 5-6 years back and use them for cleaning grain bins, spray painting, tearing down stuff like the old mobile home to protect from the fiberglass etc. Probably used 100 of them over the years. And now the wife takes a couple every time she leaves the farm. I am a bit more fanatical and wear the N-100 bios with Cartridges instead. Mrs T5R hates wearing the the mask I wear as the rubber irritates her skin and she gets a rather nasty rash that looks kind of funny. So She opts for the common N-95s...... Which is far superior to a scarf or simple simple surgical mask that offers near ZERO protection from Biological infection.

Funny thing is people look at me funny but not like they look at wife wearing the N-95s. So we made a town run yesterday to the 20k pop town 45 miles to the North for things we can't get in the smaller town 20 miles to the East...... Mainly air filters for the tillers... Damn mice got into my filter stash and turned them into a big chewed up mess........ but I digress So we are in TSC and I am getting the filters I need and she hits the bathroom and comes back with a triggered mask vigilante in tow, giving her a lecture about how bad my wife is for hoarding and using mask that the medical community are desperate for. As she got to me the triggered woman veered off and went away thankfully. Mrs T5R looks at me with that anger in her eyes usually reserved for me after a large ammo or a new gun purchase and say "GET THE SHIT YOU NEED AND LETS GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BEFORE I BEAT SOMEONE BLOODY!" Not quite the same effect with half her face under a mask and the voice muffled but the eyes conveyed how serious she was Thankfully had a my replacement hoard of filters and check out and off we went. LOng drive back to the farm with a mad Mrs T5R but at least she was not mad at me this time A simply cloth home brew mask may very well have prevented that confrontation all together.

This also brings up the question of if you had the foresight to invest in something like mask for your own families personal protection and safety years in advance. When they are needed and in short supply are then obligated to turn them over to those who did not share that same foresight? In this case the medical community and the Government. Stretch it to ammunition, say for whatever reason there is a conflict and the Government runs low on ammunition, and you have a pallet of 7.62 and 5.56s should you be expected to donate your personal protection that you had the foresight to invest in and leave yourself vulnerable??? Food??? Whatever the shortfall might be???

 

Wearing these lesser masks is just as useless as "coughing into into your elbow" and do nothing to prevent me from getting the Kung Flu.
They will not do anything for me.

 

After reading comments online when this first got rolling and seeing how absolutely bat$hit people were being about masks (dammed if you wear and dammed if you don't) I decided it would be wise to make makeshift ones to hide the fact that I owned the real deal. The level of anger displayed online is bound to translate to real life encounters, either someone pissed off that you're wearing one and scaring the children or pissed off that you have one when the medical professionals don't. I don't see .gov pounding on my door to seize my little stash, but I'm not interested in finding out if some idiotic potato is game for following me home to see where the evil horder lives. Breathing through the N95 AND the cotton cover sucks, but beats having to drop a ho in Aisle 6 because she got too froggy.

Fortunately I was born with a Level VI Resting Bitch Face coupled with red hair so if I'm not actively smiling, strangers assume I'm plotting multiple homicides and steer clear.

The Mr is still working, underground with over 3k other "essential workers" though more and more are being sent home each week. His exposure to other people means I'm exposed, so yeah, I wear a mask if I have to go out because for all I know I'm a walking germ sprinkler.

 

If I wear the mask that means I likely don't need to be a patient for any doctor to need several of them to treat me.
I keep a mask in my back pocket soaked with colloidal silver in a plastic bagge, in the event I must be in a crowd.
I use colloidal silver as a hand sanitizer and do both my hands, arms, face, and beard.
My reasoning is that no bacteria can survive the silver and the silver does not evaporate ( only the distilled water soaks in) nor is it harsh to the skin, as alcohol is, and evaporates and is no longer effective after it has evaporated.
You may poo poo my faith in colloidal silver but I know it to work on all bacterial issues in the 30years I've been making an using it.

 

Exactly! if you wear a mask You may very well be saving a 100 mask or more by not being hospitalized or causing someone else to be!!!

 

Those Singer hand-held portable sewing machines are all over ebay for $6-12.00

 

This answer is hilarious. I actually had to read this one to my wife!

And using a generic cloth mask to hide your high quality one is genius!

 

I don't poo-poo the colloidal silver--my drinking water filter is infused with it to kill the bacteria that enter it. I just don't know if it would have the effect on viruses that it reportedly has on bacteria. You'd think that they are one and the same, but it's entirely possible it's an apples and oranges situation.

This is an interesting point that I'll make in a different thread at some juncture, but I'll throw it in here now. My rainwater catchment system has to take both viriuses and bacteria into consideration. The filter that I use to purify our drinking water filters down to about .2 microns--small enough to capture virtually all bacteria (as well as chemicals, heavy metals, etc.). The bacteria are then killed by the silver impregnation. Viruses, though, are typically smaller than .1 micron, so they'd slip right through my filter. That's why, like the municipal water company, I treat my captured water with bleach, which kills the viruses. In my case,the bleach of choice is a proper dose of swimming pool shock (the dose varies depending on the active ingredient and it's concentration). I bleach the water first, then filter it. The bleach kills the viruses, and the filter removes any bleach that might be left over in the water before we drink it.

 

F**k'em and feed'em fish heads!! I got mine and I got'em for a reason!! They should have gotten theirs!!

 

You can recycle/renew your N-95 masks by placing them in an oven that has been preheated to 160 F. and cooking for 30 minutes. This kills all bacteria and viruses on the mask and doesn't reduce the efficiency of the mask. A handful of N-95 masks could last for weeks...long enough to see the end of this pandemic. However, I won't be donating any of my masks to hospitals, doctors or nurses, because this virus will be coming around again this winter and I'm betting that all of the masks will be spoken for.