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I can't figure out whether to buy a certain kind of mask or not. They come recommended by a person of my acquaintance for allergies and for being able to wear them all day while keeping a seal. (Good to 1 micron, says the company. They make claims to be antimicrobial, none re antiviral.) There's a honeycomb fabric purported to be especially good for use while being active, they have a spiel about being moisture wicking, and they come in child sizes, which I need, for fit. And they reportedly remain effective through hand washings.

But is $25 a reasonable price? I really don't have a good idea of going rates or relative quality. It would also be all I've got to hand and the list of other things that need paying for isn't particularly short.

OTOH, I have out of town — still regional but from one end of a sparsely populated rural area to the other — medical appointments coming up soon where I will be in transport and needing to wear a mask without breaks for half the day. My current solutions get hot, damp, and difficult to breathe through long before that, not to mention the glasses issue. And I'm feeling pressure also because they are low in stock.

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kathmandu

I've seen other people discussing anywhere from $6 to $15 per mask, but those were just regular cloth masks, no claims for special seals or down to one micron or moisture wicking or anything. So that probably is a reasonable price for a specialist mask? And there is a lot in favor of having a mask that remains useful and comfortable all day. Especially when you need to be out all day.

If your current solutions are other masks that don't fit well, recent work showed that ordinary fabric masks fit much better, filtering more of your air, if you put a section of nylon stocking around them to hold them close to your face. Here's a link to an NPR article with photograph of the arrangement.

For the glasses-fogging issue, with scarves I've found it helps to fold the edge down a couple of times over the bridge of the nose, set the glasses on top to hold it in place, and let the fabric uncurl on its way to the cheekbones. Fills in that gap around the nose. But I've only tried that for up to an hour.

And several people have recommended medical adhesive tape (or in a pinch, just cutting the adhesive sections off a band-aid) and taping down the top edge of mask/scarf to keep breath from fogging up the glasses.

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Thank you for the reply and info! I have been using thin neck gaiters (aka buffs) over makeshift cloth masks against the fogging which I suspect is akin to the nylon workaround but I will have a looksee. I do overheat easily and also have difficulty breathing in high humidity which makes the layered solutions I've tried thus far challenging when I'm doing stuff or it's hot or I'm out for long periods. I know everyone is dealing with these things, to their own extents and particularities.

The fancy tech masks *are* worth it, I think, especially if I can use it steadily for a good while. $25 for a breathing aid good for a year or more [note to self: must not lose the thing]... sounds less frivolous, at least. It's just that I can't know if one will for sure work for me until I try it and it's a gulpworthy expenditure. But if it does work, it solves a lot of problems including maybe my pollen-induced itchy eyes. I will report back.

Again, thank you for such a thoughtful comment. I will trial the scarf thing for sure. ♥

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I sewed a long narrow rectangle of cloth into the inside top of my mask to make a little horizontal sleeve, open at one end and corner, across the bridge of my nose; into it I slide a strip of twisties, like for plastic bags, to make a lightweight adjustable nose clip. I just take the twisties out to wash the mask. Could something like that help?

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^5 (high five) Another fine tweak of "how to nose conform" and "washable" for sewing brigade.

Have you seen the barrel of monkey ear saving? (It's for masks with a loop on either side, as opposed to the particulate mask tiered loops.)

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Barrel of monkey? Uh, no, I have not -- what is it?

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First of all, I don't know if Barrel of Monkeys is a toy well known internationally. But, it's a toy that's existed for a very long time. One arm hooks up, one arm hooks down, and at least on a mask that's been used and reused, it's enough to hold the elastic at the back of the head instead of pulling at the ears. Which might already be sore from eyeglasses trying to share space for too long.

(The monkey naturally comes with a barrel of compatriot monkeys, unless you've got small children who may gift you with them/give them to others. Fishing them out in chains, it's like pick up sticks, jacks or Jenga.)

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Not sure if it's nose shape (a sort of bumpy blade) head size (my latest hat acquisition is advised for four to six year olds and has a whale on it!), ear situation (er, uneven), or just general haplessness but, no matter how I play with wires I can't get them to hold and keep an air-excluding shape along the entire line. Most commonly a gap re-forms along the perilous slope down where my nose joins my cheekbones. Maybe I need more industrial strength wire... or new piercings cum mask attachments?

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Do you know the trick of using a chunk of pantyhose to hold a mask tightly to your face?

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/22/840146830/adding-a-nylon-stocking-layer-could-boost-protection-from-cloth-masks-study-find

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Uh, whoops, which was actually linked earlier in this thread!

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Better to mention it twice than never at all! And something along those lines has indeed been most effective for me thus far :)

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For a reusable, thoroughly performance item, $25 does seem fair and a wonder of a modern supply chain.

I did find that the seal across the bridge of the nose is the most important to preventing fogging. (I've got no frames bottom style glasses) Fortunately my eyesight is such that if I fog, I can just stow my glasses and continue to walk. I just cease being able to read signage.

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I'm pretty helpless without glasses; well, I can keep traveling but where, who knows, and hopefully nothing else is moving.

Thanks for the price feedback. I don't ever buy anything new, you see, nor really seek an item out rather than have a list and hope things on it might show up in a thrift store or for trade, etc. So I'm out of the loop on proper costs and this also feels hugely splurgey even if reasonable. But, calming the anxiety response down, yeah, I can see how a longlasting specialty product would need to be priced a bit higher than... any other wearable item I own, lol.

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