Show me your face mask...recommendations

[ShastaBeast]

I have to attend an event and wear a face mask for around four hours. I’m asthmatic and wear glasses. I’ve been searching a while for options but there’s nothing that seems exactly right, I’ve searched posts here and there isn’t much detail or good reviews to back it up. Major retailers don’t seem to be making their own, just cheap Chinese imports or disposable surgical style.

Has anyone found a mask that isn’t too hot, works with glasses and doesn’t make breathing harder? Oh and isn’t going to hurt the back of my ears after a while.

I don’t have time to fix my sewing machine and make my own, which seems the most popular answer on mumsnet. Even then I don’t know if that would be the answer and what fabric etc.

I’m not worried about catching it, just being able to attend. Although I think I did catch it attending a related appointment in March! But no public transport this time.

What’s wrong with the disposable surgical ones?

I wore one about 9 hours total over the course of a day recently (except for eating and drinking).

If you wear glasses I think the disposable surgical ones are better. Press the wire flush over your nose and cheeks, and sit your glasses frames over the mask so there is a slight overlap. If you’ve done it properly they won’t fog up.

I’ve heard the disposable ones aren’t great, often too big for women’s heads and the elastic round the ears hurts. Not to mention the environmental impact, but I only need a few at most. The reviews for all masks I’ve seen are mixed. I’ll buy a few and see as I have time.

Do you or do you know anyone who crochets? They could make one of these to use with the mask- bellacococrochet.com/ppe-mask-adaptor-pattern/

I just got a pack of three from Boden for wearing on the tube. They are making them from the end of their material rolls. They are so much nicer to wear than the disposable ones and some of the money went to charity. They have the wire for your nose for a close fit too.

I have bought some washable ones from Superdrug. They are a couple of pounds, and I've got white ones and pink ones.

I am also asthmatic, and they are the most comfortable for me both for my breathing and my ears. I could wear one all day long.

The disposables don’t hurt my ears at all. No one I know has mentioned ear irritation and where I live, everyone wears masks everyday when they go out. (I’m in Asia). If you hold fabric ones up to the light and you can see the weave, or light getting through they’re not effective.

If you insist on fabric, denim (double later, with a filter insert) is best. And as an asthmatic that won’t work for you.

I got some adidas ones for my kids, seemed fit well

Put your glasses over your mask. That solved the problem with the homemade cotton ones I bought.

I'm getting on well with the ones I got from Baukjen (pack of 5 for £25 cotton, made from fabric offcuts). They have a wire bit to adjust over the nose and if you fit it properly your glasses shouldn't steam up

If you have long hair, tie your hair in a bun and loop the ear loops around the bun. It takes pressure off the backs of your ears!
I got my mask from ‘Binge’ I love it. They have a huge range of patterns and they’re well made, bespoke for you. It was about £8.
Try an anti fog spray for glasses but if you have it fitted over your nose and cheeks securely it shouldn’t happen.

Ones with tie strings rather than elastic solve the ear problem.

The papers type ones are supposed to be changed if they get damp, which is at least every hour.

I have a big stack of washable ones. Then I line them with a piece of kitchen roll folded in half then in thirds. I'm not asthmatic but I don't find it more difficult to breathe through it than I do normally. Use a new mask every time I go out, but they do steam up glasses, so I wear contacts when I'm going out. The ones with the wires would probably be better for glasses.

@sanitygirl

I'm getting on well with the ones I got from Baukjen (pack of 5 for £25 cotton, made from fabric offcuts). They have a wire bit to adjust over the nose and if you fit it properly your glasses shouldn't steam up

I second the Baukjen ones, they don't make my glasses steam up and they are comfy.

I have worn a variety of masks and the disposable ones are the best. Not for preventing transmission, just the best in terms of easy wear.

The heavy duty hard-case ones make marks on the face and are awful to breathe in. I have a variety of washable fabric ones but I do find they get 'soggy' much quicker than the paper disposables, the fabric (however thin) is definitely thicker to breathe through, even without a filter. And they are not good if the weather is hot.

The paper ones are now everywhere, cheap to buy (I even saw cheap packs of them in Sainsbury's) and easy to wear. I have never found they pull on the ears....it must depend on face shape, obviously, but the elastic isn't tight at all, unlike some of the elasticated cloth ones.
As others have said the disposables with a small metal strip are the best to wear with glasses, you just bend the metal to fit round your nose and put the glasses over the top...it stops misting and stops the mask riding up the face.

What I would say is, if you haven't worn a mask until now, yes, it does feel odd and claustrophobic when you first put one on. But after a while that feeling wears off, especially the second and third time you wear a mask, and then it doesn't really feel odd at all. So practice with a couple of disposable ones beforehand just to get the feel and you will be surprised at how quickly you adapt.

Could you ask the event if a face shield is an acceptable alternative, especially considering the asthma? Some places are fine with them as long as they go around the sides of your face and others want masks only.

There are a range of stiff and flexible ones that - though if it's outside and you get one of the times connected to a hat, hat pins might be needed (or you may end up as I did my first time and spending far too long holding the back of your head). We have both cloth masks and flexible face shields on hats, they both have pros and cons and I think each work better in different situations, and in yours, I'd consider a face shield if it was an option.