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Dust Bee Gone Mask for Covid

The Dust Bee Gone masks are cloth masks with no exhalation valve. They are not NIOSH or OSHA approved, but neither are the homemade masks so many people are wearing, and they are most likely much better than the bandanas you see all the time. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be acceptable.
 
I have a Dust Bee Gone Mask I bought many years ago. Frankly, it sits in my shop gathering dust. After a few uses I decided it didn’t do a good enough job on the dust that could really harm my lungs, just on the nuisance dust.

It’s weave is pretty open so I’m not sure it would perform as well as cloth masks or surgical masks. For price you can’t beat a cloth mask (if your wife makes them like mine :). I’ve heard surgical throw-aways are more comfortable for longer times.
 
Hard to pin down the virus particle size, but saw one definition saying a naked virus particle is from .06 -.14 micron. Particle size created by breathing and talking can be 1 micron because it is bound to water and mucus. That should slide right through a 3 micron.
 
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The desired function of the mask is to significantly reduce droplet transmission from the wearer. You are not hoping for a 1 micron-tight seal. You are looking to reduce gross contamination (excuse the phrasing). In addition, even a partial reduction in inhaled virus can reduce overall viral load if one were exposed. At its most basic level, something is better than nothing. It's not a question of N95 level filtration, NIOSH, or any other certified standard. Air will unavoidably leak around the edges. That doesn't change the overall value. Yes, a properly fitted N95 mask will filter more effectively, but them's hard to come by, and not necessary, if one of the lower level masks is combined with social distancing. Meanwhile, the people who really could benefit from N95 (think frontline healthcare providers with daily exposure to the virus) would be eternally grateful if their supplies were more robust. Let the general public do what's both effective and efficient in terms of resources by distancing with generic masks, and leave the N95s to the people whose lives depend on them.

I would think the Dust Bee Gones would be happily employed under the current conditions, since they aren't really that effective for the dangerous ultra fine dust particles in a shop.

I'm a former RN married to a family practice doc.
 
Most of the time in the workshop we are wearing the dust-be-gone with a face shield so it should be sufficient in the workshop. and being used to it makes wearing a mask easy. here in South Africa wearing a mask is compulsory outside your house. (and having a daughter who is an Emergency Physician makes it double compulsory for my wife and I)
 
I didn't use mine much in the shop because I could smell the wood I was working on, which I heard once upon a time, meant that it was not getting the fine particles out. With this virus thing, I do use it. I can run it through the washing machine. I like the 2 strap system, in particular The velcro bottom strap. When walking around the local Farmer's Market, I can loosen it up and eat cookies or berries, but still having it cover my mouth if I sneeze. It does have a good bend thing to fit around the nose, but nothing seals around my beard, unless I use a positive pressure mask.

Some one needs to invent a mask that you can actually talk through... I never realized how important my lip reading skills were in helping me understand people, and I don't have lip reading skills.... Maybe I should get hearing aids...

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
Some one needs to invent a mask that you can actually talk through... I never realized how important my lip reading skills were in helping me understand people, and I don't have lip reading skills.... Maybe I should get hearing aids...
Click to expand...


I was in the hearing clinic recently, to have hearing aids fitted, and the specialist was wearing one of these masks with a clear window:
iu


-----odie-----
 
robo hippy said:
I
Some one needs to invent a mask that you can actually talk through... I never realized how important my lip reading skills were in helping me understand people, and I don't have lip reading skills.... Maybe I should get hearing aids...

robo hippy
Click to expand...

I guess I'm not the only one! :(
 
Actually, you may indeed have lip reading skills all right, you just aren't aware of how much you use/need them.
I first realized how much my "hearing" was depending on my eys when I noticed that I lost half a sentence every time someone would scratch his nose or adjust his glasses.
Good thing about it is that the hearing aids may give you 90% back of what you lost. Did you know that birds sing? :)
 
Yea, it is difficult to understand you when some one is talking to the floor or wall or ceiling, rather than directly to you. Must be lip reading, again...

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
Yea, it is difficult to understand you when some one is talking to the floor or wall or ceiling, rather than directly to you. Must be lip reading, again...

robo hippy
Click to expand...

It is called projection. That is the reason speakers talk to the people and not to the screen behind them.
 
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