dust masks for spectacle wearers?

From my diving days, the standard ways of preventing your mask from steaming up were either to gob in it or smear it with soap or washing up liquid.

I'm not sure how useful any of these are in DIY, though!

Reply to
Huge
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Snot works better (clear, not aspirated), and you can even do this by wiping a slug on the inside of your facemask.

Bristol's Department of Mucus Studies is just up the road, and you can learn all sorts of stuff from them. From people obsessed with fondling slugs, admittedly. Say hello, but I wouldn't want to shake hands.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

I never cease to be amazed at the things one can learn in this newsgroup... although there I some things I suspect are better unknown!

Reply to
John Rumm

Bout the right era. But I remember it from about ten years earlier.

Dave

Reply to
Dave

Muff? Sorry, couldn't resist.

Dave

Reply to
Dave

Sadly, those days are over also.

Reply to
Huge

Basically - anything that lowers the surface tension

Reply to
geoff

Some time ago I was asking about dust masks that didn't steam up your glasses. I had read some old posts here in which the late Mr Hall recommended replaceable 3m filters, but I was confused about which of the many filters I needed, so I never got round to buying any.

Then John Rumm recommended this 3m mask:

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I haven't replied sooner. I have been using it occasionally for a couple of months now and wanted to say that now I have had some experience of it, I thoroughly recommend it. Just as John said, it will not steam up your glasses, so anyone who, like me, was not sure about spending the money, do go ahead and buy one.

It does look a bit strange when you get it out of the bag: there's a funny head strap that goes on top of your head but in use, the mask is very comfortable.

The only "problem" I have had is that there is a second strap that fastens around the back of your head and I sometimes find it is too low and presses on my neck. I wish I could work out how and where you are supposed to fasten that comfortably.

HTH

Reply to
Fred

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> Sorry I haven't replied sooner. I have been using it occasionally for

Is it any good for dusty conditions, or only for gaseous hazards? [The SF blurb doesn't seem to mention dust].

Reply to
Roger Mills

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Thanks for the report and link - wish I'd known about this a month ago! Just been getting the old insulation out of the loft. The cheap, valved masks work (judging by all the crap on the outside) but my specs misted up and the goggles over them had water actually trickling down inside! I just couldn't get the mask to seal fully around my nose; it seemed to be OK for inhaling (good thing) but air came out and into the mask.

Bit late now, but I'll get one of the 3M ones. One of the reviews mentioned prefilters but I couldn't see any on the page.

Reply to
PeterC

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>>>>> Sorry I haven't replied sooner. I have been using it occasionally for

Its designed for particulates and vapour - so yes its good with dust etc.

Reply to
John Rumm

I think it is supposed to go around your neck. The trick is to set each strap to a loose setting, put it all on, and then pull them tight enough to get a good seal, but not so much as to make it uncomfortable.

Reply to
John Rumm

I don't have that mask but do have a 3M half mask. The lower strap does go around your neck but very high up pretty much at the base of the skull.

And the mask needs to be the right size for your face as well. If you block up the inlets(*) and breath in the mask should stay on your face without any straps. Yes, they do come in different sizes but finding them in the retail chain isn't easy. Arco list the 3M 6000 and 7500 half face masks in the three sizes.

(*) Might be tricky if the filter units don't detach, which I don't think they do on the Screwfix 3M one as it's "maintenance free". This also means that it should be disposed of a month after starting to be used. A mask with replaceable filters, only the filters need replacing.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

It works with dust; that's the reason I bought it. I have used it when wall chasing, drilling into brick walls, sawing and it has worked perfectly in my experience. I didn't know it worked with gases. Perhaps there's a layer of carbon hidden inside to trap vapours? What gaseous hazards does a DIYer encounter: paint fumes?

Reply to
Fred

I forgot to add to my earlier reply that I also used this mask to work with insulation and plaster dust.

I had exactly the same problems as you. If I wore glasses and valved paper mask then my glasses steamed up and I couldn't see what I was doing. That left a difficult decision: remove the mask and choke or remove my glasses and still not be able to see what I was doing! I struggled with the paper filters for far too long and wish I had bought this one sooner. It looks huge when you remove it from the bag but when you wear it, you almost don't realise it is there.

Reply to
Fred

Thanks. I guess I just need to slacken mine a little so that it doesn't press so hard.

I did consider a mask with replaceable filters but Arco was the only seller I had heard of and I was nervous about buying from an unknown company. I think the sites I found (via google) were selling boxes of thirty filters, which might be ok if you wear the mask every day and need to change filters regularly but it seemed over the top for DIY use. Also there were so many different filters to choose from; I wasn't sure which ones to buy. What do you fit to your mask?

The fact that this is a disposable filter made me delay buying it because it seemed expensive to buy it and throw it away a month later but I think the monthly rule is only for business use and if business users are wearing it every day then it's probably a good idea to replace it then. I am hoping that for DIY use it will last longer, only I am not sure when I will know it is time to replace it. Perhaps the strap will fall off or the filters will be black and I will know it's time to buy a new one!

Reply to
Fred

Or paint striper fumes. I wore my particulate/organic fumes mask when nitromosing a door in the garage with the up and over door open. Didn't detect any niff at all inside the mask, took it off for a cuppa and first breath of the "atmosphere" inside the garage had me dashing for the outside double quick...

A proper half mask really is the business for dealing with dusty and with the right filters fumey enviroments. Any of the paper things are next to useless, they'll keep some dust out but they never effectively seal to the face so leak around the edges.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Just needs to hold the bottom of the mask against your chin to seal, no need to be tight.

Arco are hardly "unknown" they are big supplier of PPE to industry for a long time (est.1884) with warehouses/trade counters in many places.I think there has been a bit of move to more "retail" selling in recent years.

That is a bit of a snag. The box I have "expired" in 2002 but they are in sealed plastic bags (well those that haven't started to biodegrade are...) and my main use is for dust protection rather than fumes.

3M 2128, these are P2 particulate and "nuisance level" organic vapour and acid gases. A google will probably find what size particulates a P2 or P3 filter deals with and what the other filter codes mean.

Yes that is the H&S rules that really only apply to business use. Common sense in the DIY enviroment. If I was to do something "fumey" I'd chnage the filters for new ones from one of the sealed bags and pay attention for any detectable niffs whilst in use.

The plastic frame of mine has snapped in a couple of places, stitched back together and taped up, failed again. SWMBO'd has replaced it with two bits of flat elastic.

Only if your dust is black...

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

I think for business users they save some paperwork regarding the COSHH regs.

I am on my second one in about 4 years of casual use.

Reply to
John Rumm

Sorry, perhaps I didn't type that as clearly as I could have. I have heard, and indeed bought, from arco and I would have been happy to buy from them if only I had known what to buy. Google found several other sellers that I hadn't heard of and it was those that I was reluctant to buy from.

I hadn't realised my disposable filter also did fumes; I'll remember your advice about wearing it when using nitromors. Like you say, you can tell when to renew the filter when smells start to pass through but I don't know how you would tell when the dust filter was ready to be changed. As you pointed out, if it's not brick red or black dust, the colour won't change visibly.

Reply to
Fred

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