Who’s upgrading masks?

[Ausmumof3]

I know we’ve had a couple of threads but are you updating to a higher quality mask these days?  I’m wondering but I really hate the idea of disposable due to cost plus waste/environment concerns.  But I’m wondering if I’ll feel stupid about that decision if we get sick.  Is there a way to get higher protection without generating waste? 

[KSera]

2 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I know we’ve had a couple of threads but are you updating to a higher quality mask these days?  I’m wondering but I really hate the idea of disposable due to cost plus waste/environment concerns.  But I’m wondering if I’ll feel stupid about that decision if we get sick.  Is there a way to get higher protection without generating waste? 

I was devoted to the three layer plus filter cloth masks I made in 2020, but I upgraded in January when our cases really surged. We use exclusively KF94s and we rotate them rather than throwing them away. If I was working full time or otherwise out of the house a lot, I would dispose by about 80 hours of wear (based on studies showing them having a small loss in filtration capability by that point). As it is, that would take me a long time to accrue with rotating through masks, and I eventually throw away when a mask seems old or an ear loop breaks. We've probably thrown away about 10 by this point with almost a year of wearing them. I feel okay about that considering I cloth diapered all my babies and use we use cloth tp 😂. I do have some N95s that we use if we have a particularly high risk situation, like a medical visit. We do the same thing with those--it goes in a paper bag to air out and doesn't get used again for several days (usually several weeks since we don't need the N95s often).

[Ausmumof3]

21 minutes ago, KSera said:

I was devoted to the three layer plus filter cloth masks I made in 2020, but I upgraded in January when our cases really surged. We use exclusively KF94s and we rotate them rather than throwing them away. If I was working full time or otherwise out of the house a lot, I would dispose by about 80 hours of wear (based on studies showing them having a small loss in filtration capability by that point). As it is, that would take me a long time to accrue with rotating through masks, and I eventually throw away when a mask seems old or an ear loop breaks. We've probably thrown away about 10 by this point with almost a year of wearing them. I feel okay about that considering I cloth diapered all my babies and use we use cloth tp 😂. I do have some N95s that we use if we have a particularly high risk situation, like a medical visit. We do the same thing with those--it goes in a paper bag to air out and doesn't get used again for several days (usually several weeks since we don't need the N95s often).

Thanks.  It’s super helpful to have logistics for this right down to the paper bag.

[regentrude]

I've been using exclusively (K)N95s since the beginning of the semester for teaching and any high exposure situations.
I can reuse them many times before discarding.

[Pawz4me]

No. I’m still perfectly comfortable with our Enros and my one Happy Mask. Once they need replacing I might reconsider, but I figure they’re good until next spring. 

[KSera]

19 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Thanks.  It’s super helpful to have logistics for this right down to the paper bag.

I write the wear date right on the bag and then cross it out and put a new one the next time it's used. I've seen other people having a line of bags and just rotating down the line. That would work well for people who are out most days. Or a row of mask hooks that you rotate along and then go back to the beginning. Pushpins in a bulletin board work well as mask hooks without installing special hooks.

[prairiewindmomma]

We upgraded with the Delta variant and the return of our kids to public spaces. The masks we use are paper and will compost. I figure whatever waste we do generate (straps, metal nose pieces) is minuscule to whatever we would generate if one of us was hospitalized. 
 

ETA: we repurposed a plastic mail sorter and each family member has a shelf for storing masks that are in rotation. We mark them with washi tape to keep track of day rotation. Everyone has six masks in rotation—we usually only go out one weekend day.

Edited November 27, 2021 by prairiewindmomma

[Melissa Louise]

I haven't used cloth masks for months. 

Knot and tuck surgical for places other people are masking, P2 masks for places other people aren't masking. 

I don't know what to do about the waste generated. 

[itsheresomewhere]

Cloth masks are my go to still.  They are tripled layered and have a filter.  I refuse to use a paper mask after having a skin allergic reaction to some.  No idea on what they may have been contaminated with as the doctor’s office insisted I wear their masks.  They were individually sealed so I have a feeling it may have been in the manufacturing process and I never had an issue wearing them years ago working. I do have some n95 incase we need them. 

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, itsheresomewhere said:

Cloth masks are my go to still.  They are tripled layered and have a filter.  I refuse to use a paper mask after having a skin allergic reaction to some.  No idea on what they may have been contaminated with as the doctor’s office insisted I wear their masks.  They were individually sealed so I have a feeling it may have been in the manufacturing process and I never had an issue wearing them years ago working. I do have some n95 incase we need them. 

Yeah that is the other thing.  My cloth are much more comfy.

[Eos]

I did upgrade in July. KN95s for all indoor things: shopping, post office.  We haven't gone out to eat or in people's homes yet but will use cloth if I'm standing and chatting with someone outside.  I bring a cloth with me when I hike in case I have render aid to someone. I guess I should upgrade that. 

I had a wave of overwhelm two days ago so will try to stay out of sight of people for a few days and pretend this isn't our lives.

[Carrie12345]

I just got my KN95s this week. I already had some smaller ones for ds, who has been out much less frequently but wasn’t vaccinated.

I had been rotating but, even with that, my cloth masks were beginning to get frayed from use and washing, and nose pieces distorted. It was time to get some replacements anyway. 

In complicated times, “waste” is no longer my priority. Just like I’d use disposable dinnerware in a power outage, disposable masks during high transmission of disease seems reasonable to me. Hey, I’m burning a ton less fuel, so… 😉 

[Laura Corin]

I upgraded to a Cambridge mask for work, when I might be sitting with someone at close quarters.  I still use a cloth mask for shopping trips.  If Omicron turns out to be very much more transmissable, I might start using the Cambridge in all situations.

[MEmama]

10 hours ago, KSera said:

I write the wear date right on the bag and then cross it out and put a new one the next time it's used. I've seen other people having a line of bags and just rotating down the line. That would work well for people who are out most days. Or a row of mask hooks that you rotate along and then go back to the beginning. Pushpins in a bulletin board work well as mask hooks without installing special hooks.

This is what my DS at university does. He just rotates throughout the week.

We all started using KF94s exclusively this fall when we went to Ireland. DS is in public every day of course, and there is an indoor mask mandate in Ireland so he wears his constantly. DH and I rarely go out so masks last a very long time. I’m just now thinking I’ll replace the couple I’ve had in rotation since September.

I'm pretty careful about unnecessary waste, but truly a couple masks here and there isn’t really contributing to the problem. Like someone said upthread, it’s minuscule compared to the waste generated by actually getting sick/hospitalized.

[ktgrok]

We upgraded to KF94 or whatever they are - the boat shaped ones. Honestly? I leave them in the car when done wearing them, and I figure in Florida the heat of the car disinfects them, lol. We don't wear them more than once a day, usually every few days at most, so just wear one until ear loops are stretching or it is dirty, etc and take out a new one. 

[73349]

We use N95s for high-risk situations (which are never more than an hour at a time for us), and reuse them. It's been a policy of mine since long before Covid to consider anything that keeps people out of the hospital good for the environment. In a hospital everything is disposable--they will give you ice water in a styrofoam cup with a plastic straw, use new gloves every time they touch you, use single-use IV bags and tubes and gobs of tape and bandages, etc. (Similarly, anything that prevents unintended pregnancy is good for the environment, in that it will not make as much waste as another person.)

Cloth is fine for small groups outdoors.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Carolina Wren

[Not_a_Number]

I'm upgrading to KF94s at this point. We have Happy Masks, and we haven't been going inside much so I've felt like they were more than good enough, but I'd like to have something better for indoor stuff. 

[TexasProud]

10 hours ago, ktgrok said:

We upgraded to KF94 or whatever they are - the boat shaped ones. Honestly? I leave them in the car when done wearing them, and I figure in Florida the heat of the car disinfects them, lol. We don't wear them more than once a day, usually every few days at most, so just wear one until ear loops are stretching or it is dirty, etc and take out a new one. 

Yes. I think we have a mixture of K95/N95.  That is all I ever wear. I don't wear my cloth ones at all anymore since I learned they were not effective. 

[AmandaVT]

At this point, I've been a close contact more times than I can count and my happy masks have protected me so far, so I'm sticking with them. They fit me well and I have had some very close exposures and have tested negative after every one. With the vaccine and my air purifier, I am feeling, well, not great, but at least not as badly as I did last year.