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Medical face masks

B

Bowen Turner

Joined
Jul 31, 2004
Messages
46
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I have recently started to see face masks in the pharmacy section of drug stores. The masks are the folded type and are for helping prevent the spread of cold and flu germs.

Does anyone know if these would be good for woodturning?
 
AH choo!

I've used the true surgical masks, the kind that have 2 tie-strings, and they work fairly well. The kind w/the elastic headband and the metal nose piece are not that good for me. I bought a respirator a couple of years ago and found it to be the best for the money. You can also "go for the gold" and get a vented respirator. I'm sure that one of the members will tell you about those. There's also a thread in this form dealing with them.
 
medical face mask

I do have a fully enclosed respirator. I had a Record Power ventilator sent over from the UK. It cost a fair penny and has never been satisfactory. I don't think my head is particulalry small, yet I have never been able to get the ratchet fastener to work....once I do get it to sit tight without dropping over my face, it's so tight I get headaches. Also, the battery pack sits at the back of the head but it isn't balanced very well and I don't have the neck muscles to keep it from wanting to tip my head backwards.....I did speak with Record and they were not the slightest bit interested. They took the position that since nobody else had complained about it, it must be my problem. I pointed out that maybe women were not the biggest purchasers, or I had a faulty one.....no joy there either.
 
medical masks answer

Hi I am a Registered Nurse and use the cheapy masks (stretch band)you are referring to a lot. they work very well for fine dust since they were set up to stop bacteria from a hacking patient ( Tuberculosis excluded - tighter woven mask required there.) Anyway they are sufficient in an area that is being ventilated to begin with. they are not a substitute for a breathing apparatus ( I own a Home depot type pestiside apparatus For $25.00 for the real dangerous stuff) the cheapy masks are excellant for woods with high tannin counts - ie Walnut, Oak- many times it has cured my coughing fites brought on by those woods. (no i am not allergic to them) may be? nahhhh... So if you are working with toxic woods or in closed spaces then go the more secure way- otherwise my friendly health advice is that its okay. Let your body be the doctor (ugh... did I say doctor) it will tell you if the mask wasn't the right choice ( tightness of chest, coughing, headache, difficulty breathing)

Nite nite. 😀 😀 😀 🙂
 
I used to use a surgical mask when outside working on the lahe in the open and that worked pretty good, but I found the resp-a-rator worked a lot better because it doesn't fog my face mask. I also do a lot of scroll saw work so the resp-a-rator isn't a one trick pony for me and I could easily justify the $50.00 for it.
 
Bowen Turner,

Those masks will do more for your woodworking/turning dust problems than they will for the virus control that they claim. I'll not go into the reasons for the bogus virus claims unless someone is really interested.

As for your dust, they're better than nothing but not really going to do as much good as a person would hope. It's all a matter of size and usage (as usual, eh? 🙂 )

Size: Without knowing the make and model of those masks, the types usually sold to the general public (pharmacies, home centers, etc.) is only going to catch particles down to about 15-20 microns. Not bad but it's the stuff/dust in the 1 - 3 micron size that's going to do the real serious damage. The stuff that gets deep into the lungs. It'll certainly catch the fiberglass insulation and big stuff you can see and that's good. Just not good enough.

Most actual surgical masks are rated to catch the 3 - 5 micron particles. That's much better. It's not intended, really, to keep virus (under 1 micron), bacteria (1-2 microns mostly), etc. from being passed either direction but mainly for splatter and "debris" from the wearer to fall down. These are pretty good as they'll catch the majority (with caveats discussed below) of the dust that's going to cause the real problems. Still, it's not going to get the majority of dust (which you can't even see).

The N-95 rated surgical masks (actually, they're called respirators) are designed to catch .1 - .3 micron sized particles (taking care of most bacteria and a lot of virus') 95% of the time. Much better but not easy to find for most people. And they have a shelf life too.

An actual respirator specifically designed for woodworking applications are going to give you the best protection over the long term (being designed for more than one-time use) without going completely overboard.

Usage: All of the listed ratings are there for "ideal conditions" which, especially in this context, means wearing it correctly. Humidity, among other factors, has a big effect too but that's not nearly as relevant here.

Absolutely NO leaks and NO extended wear. If there's any leakage, you can throw out all of those size ratings. You might as well be wearing nothing at all when dealing with dust. It'll still take care of much of the large stuff, splatter, etc. but that's not really something to be worrying too much about for those without respiratory problems in the first place.

So, to sum it up, wear it if it makes you feel better. It'll help, yes, but don't expect too much.
 
TB mask

I believe the tuberculosis type masks I used to use occasionally in the operating room are rated @ N-95. These were the disposable type & had elastic bands which quickly were stressed to the point that the masks could only be re-used (for dust purposes) a few times.
Don't know if they are available from a regular medical supply for the general public, though.
 
I'd suggest skipping the surgical masks completely and snagging a nice 3M or similar respirator from Home Despot. Only cost about $30, comes with organic vapor cartridges and felt pads for the dust. The pads cost about .5$ to change and can be vacumed out many times. The cartidges last forever as exposure to solvents and vapors is relatively limited. Good investment with minimal effort, and you don't have to worry bout whether the surgical mask is leaking at the sides.

IMHO
Dietrich
 
dkulze said:
I'd suggest skipping the surgical masks completely and snagging a nice 3M or similar respirator from Home Despot. Only cost about $30, comes with organic vapor cartridges and felt pads for the dust. The pads cost about .5$ to change and can be vacumed out many times. The cartidges last forever as exposure to solvents and vapors is relatively limited. Good investment with minimal effort, and you don't have to worry bout whether the surgical mask is leaking at the sides.

IMHO
Dietrich
Click to expand...

You can get them even cheaper at HF but the problem is they still get in the way of a face shield.
 
mine fits fine under my shield. It's the 3M type with the trapezoidal filters. They don't stick out much and conform to the face pretty good.

Dietrich
 
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