You mentioned Airgami. I bought the Airgami a few weeks ago and love it. Easy to breathe, easy to talk, easy to fit --comes in 4 sizes-- available with either head straps or ear loops, various colors, and it doesn’t suck in or fog my glasses. Washable and sterilizable. And it’s an N95 respirator, filtering viruses, which cloth masks don’t do. Totally worth the price.
I started off with cloth masks, then assorted disposable masks but they all pulled in toward my face and fogged my glasses, even with nose wires and even with a plastic frame inside.
Cloth masks are probably fine for mask expected or required situations that are actually relatively low risk (like quickly dashing in and out of an uncrowded grocery store in a highly vaccinated area, assuming you are vaccinated and do not have heightened risk due to other medical conditions).
But yes, they are generally inferior in both protection and comfort (particularly under physical exertion) compared to many other masks (though typically better in protection, particularly of others from your viruses, than no mask). Their main advantage is washability and reusability, so if you frequently go into mask expected or required low risk situations, they may be worth using for those situations, while you keep your better masks for high risk situations.
However, it does seem that most parent-age forum posters see themselves as high risk all the time (as evidenced by wanting additional vaccine doses as soon as possible), so they may not have any reason to use cloth masks.
Not with the variants. I get what your saying but as everything points to not wearing cloth masks, this pops up. Sure it’s better then nothing but too many articles like this one with research…
Personally, I’ve switched from cloth to disposable masks with the Delta variant and increased hospitalizations and infections. It just seems like a good idea to have the most effective protection possible.
I use the Inex small/medium for a child and myself who have small faces. Adjustable at the ear. No filter but stays off the face and after a year of use still going strong. I know the KN95 better overall but I feel no air coming out of these, there’s a plastic liner. We live in Virginia and mask is still comfortable in our humidity.
I bought a few from Kohl’s for 99c, they are very comfortable. In the past month, I’ve tested negative for COVId 3-4 times already. I’m in London riding the crowded train with people breathing down my face without mask, it must be effective.
I also use disposable masks and sometimes will pair a disposable with a cloth. It is convenient to have a couple of cloth masks in my purse if I don’t have a disposable on hand.
I expand my question to DISPOSABLE masks that seem to fit better for those with a small face and/or that doesn’t nearly block vision!!!
Actually, that page is more like saying “There’s one kind of mask you should be wearing: N95 or equivalent”. But that is kind of like an all-or-nothing approach that does not account for variations in situations, or that many people using N95 masks do not wear them tightly.
No question but the thinking is turning due to Delta and other varients coming… A surgical type mask is just better protection then cloth. I know all the studies so you don’t need to repeat them as this has been discussed multiple times on other threads. Just saying don’t get fooled into wearing a cloth masks and think your helping your condition. That’s all. I get all the other factors. I would rather see people put the nice looking cloth over something that will give them protection and that double masking is much better then a single cloth anyway. That’s all.
I have tried dozens of masks and probably have 50+ cloth masks in the house. The ones I have liked the best are by BeauTies beautiesltd dot com. When I need to travel on a plane though I wear an N95. I find the medical disposable do not fit me very well.
A coworker buys childrens dispoable masks at Costco. They fit her face very well.
We are still using the couple of boxes of these BYD CARE masks we bought at Costco a year ago. They are excellent for travel because they fit my and Mr.’s round faces well and yet are relatively breathable.
So this mask just came out from 3M. I wore it tonight. It hasn’t been officially certified at N95 but it is one. Very light and comfortable and breathable. My friend works for 3M…
@Knowsstuff — mask looks nice but seems sold out on Amazon and Target. Hard to know how to acquire it and at Target it was $3/mask, which adds up for a disposable mask.
I do not think it can be certified as N95. It has ear loops meaning it does not have the required tightness of fit. But ear loops are way more comfortable than those nasty rubber bands that dig into your skull amd wreck hair.
Well with the little plastic thing it does indeed fit tight and sorta suctions to your face without leaving marks. I was surprised. It was a very tight fit without fogging up glasses which was awesome.
@HImom… I will ask my friend tomorrow when I see her about availability. I am getting mine directly from her but that doesn’t help others so I will find out.
That was why I really appreciated Aaron Collins spreadsheet, where it IDs sources for buying as well as evaluates different factors about the masks he evaluated.
I use the Outdoor Research mask https://www.outdoorresearch.com/us/face-mask-kit-283298 It has adjustable elastic earbands, a wire for the nose to help prevent fogging of glasses and give a better fit, and paper inserts that give an extra layer of filtering. I bought it at REI
