I’m going to make my H a storm trooper mask for Monday May 4th (star wars day)
Would love to see your storm trooper mask! Can you PM me a photo? I may make some as well.
Well, the new Atwood elastic is nice and stretchy and seems pretty comfortable.
I’ve made 4 different mask styles so far—the MASH style pleated mask (with insert for nose wire), Fu mask, pleated mask with darts for chin and nose, and Olson mask. Both H and D like the plain pleated mask with insert for nose wire best, so I guess that’s what we’re sticking with.
Sadly, all the masks make it hard for me to breathe, with my lung condition. I will keep experimenting and probably stick with a scarf or similar that covers my nose and mouth.
If anyone has any great other suggestions for comfortable mask, I’m interested.
This one is easy to make.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-OCwuiefzY&feature=emb_logo
Pretty comfortable, but most likely won’t make it any easier for you to breathe.
When I posted my Atwood Rope elastic score on my FB page (just the page for my sorority sisters) it caused a lot of jealousy and some additional orders.
It’s a different type of elastic, and I wish it were a little firmer, but it will do. I had to make some masks for very little kids (4 years old and tiny) and I think it will work well. I just cut the pieces for the mask a lot smaller and the elastic smaller. It just looks tiny but I don’t think the kids would do as well with tie masks.
Atwood rope now has a grab bag for $9.99 with assorted spools of elastic. If I hadn’t already purchased I’d be tempted to get that. I’m sure it would suffice for masks. My one issue was my elastic didn’t have an apparent end. I unwound several yards and gave up and just cut it. I like it, stretchy and soft, what more can you ask for?
Himom, I just made a mask for a neighbor who is a health care professional, and she has been complaining how hot the homemade masks tend to be (she’s wearing one over the N95 when she’s at work, so it’s a double load). This might work for you- I used an old linen curtain (nice pattern, a little faded but sort of country chic looking) for the front, and a stretchy cotton jersey lining for the back. Both have very loose weaves- the linen because it’s linen, and the jersey because it’s a very soft and not too dense fabric (I think it’s a cotton/spandex blend must mostly cotton). The jersey is VERY soft and comfortable near your face. I’m washing it in a hot load of laundry now, will dry it before giving it to her.
I think someone with breathing issues is going to be more comfortable with a fitted mask rather than a scarf which slips all over the place, no? The curtain was at the very bottom of a pile in my linen closet…
@blossom, thanks for your suggestion. When I anchor my face covering onto my glasses, don’t have slipping or having to readjust.
It is common for those of us with lung conditions to have problems breathing with most masks—heck we have breathing issues on most good days without any barriers.
Masks are just an additional barrier and because we have lung conditions we are much more prone to carbon dioxide buildup than health individuals.
Playing catch up here. I have 18 machines - the newest is a 1960. Three are featherweights. They are all work horses.
Just today, decided to try unbending a small vinyl-covered paper clip and then turning in the ends (so as not to get poked) and making a hook so that I could attached the hook to my mask and have the glasses anchor the mask so it doesn’t slip. It works perfectly and allows me NOT to fidget and is easy to put on and take off without touching the outside or inside of the mask.
Also tried replacing ties with elastic on masks I had made. It doesn’t form as good a seal when you use elastic as when you use ties but is easier to get on and off and you don’t have to adjust the ties. Pros & cons of different materials. The elastic is super easy to put on and doesn’t require the tedium of making ties.
The mask will protect others from mask wearer’s cough and exhalations for the most part but won’t protect the mask wearer from others as much as if it had a tighter seal
On the other end of the spectrum - Bolinas COVID testing showed no active infections. So I guess we should all move to a remote community, remove the road signs giving directions to our community, have a few very wealthy benefactor/residents and return to the idillic life of the 60’s.
Again, high density living is turning out to be a killer.
Hancock of Paducah has lots of 3/8 elastic for sale.
Hurrah! I have finally figured out how to attach a piece of wire to a small clip (like the ones on coffee and lanyards) and make a hook that I can use to more securely affix my mask to my glasses. Best of all, I can remove the clip for use on the next mask easily! Win/win! Thankfully, the clips and wire were free spares I had lying around!
When the mask is hooked to the glasses, I don’t have to adjust and fidget with the mask—allows me to keep hands away from face.
I would like some place to hang my mask conveniently on me somewhere when I am not using it to cover my face. I have tried hanging it from one ear, but I don’t like that so much. I would prefer maybe a large button on the front of my shirt.
I saw this video today on using a pony bead to tighten or loosen fabric ties instead of tying them each time.
Mostly, I’ve seen people with masks pushed down to around their neck which they pull up to cover mouth and nose as needed.
I’ve read that that’s not a good thing to do…that the mask can pick up any viruses that may land on your neck/collar area and spread it onto your face when you put it back on. Basically, the mask should stay in place once you put it on and only be removed above your head (careful of the eye area) or outward and not be put back on until washed.
That means we should all have multiple masks unless we rarely leave the house! I admit I have made do by leaving my mask in the empty car for a few days, after which time any virus would be killed (as I rarely drive anymore). I go out walking everyday but don’t wear a mask then as I can easily stay more than ten feet from the one or two people I might pass on a walk.
Well, the video of the schools in China required all students to bring 10 masks to school each week and wear a mask from the time they arrive, take it off and dispose of it at lunch and put on a fresh one after sanitizing after lunch, wearing it through leaving at the end of school day. That is how masks are supposed to be worn.
As a practical matter, those of us with lung conditions would have difficulty wearing a mask that long as it traps CO2 for those of us with COPD and makes it harder for us to breathe with more resistance. Hopefully most school kids don’t have lung conditions (like severe asthma or cystic fibrosis etc which would make breathing with a mask challenging. Mask wearing in public seems to be becoming the “new normal.”
“Mask wearing in public seems to be becoming the “new normal.””
And I am very happy to wear a mask if it means I can get out of the house!
I am still sewing them as I have plenty of material left over. However, with masks having been required here for nearly two weeks now, I am finding fewer and fewer takers for them.
We now have three masks per person in our household. I know I could leave used ones in the car, but honestly it is just as convenient for me to wash it every time. The Olsons hold up better after 20 washings than the Deaconess (those pleats get bent out of whack after a while and require the extra step of being ironed).
I am starting to wonder if I should stop making them now or might kids be required to wear them in school in the fall, in which case more than three would probably be necessary. Knowing how quickly they can get damp, the Chinese requiring 10 would almost be on the low side, a bare minimum even.
I think having a dozen masks or more is good if you plan on washing them when they get damp or whenever you do laundry. We only do laundry once or twice/week, normally. 3 wouldn’t be enough for me. I have more than that sitting in washing machine waiting to be washed right now.
When you take it off, you’re supposed to replace it with a fresh one and launder the one you had worn.