Can I paint an N95 mask with watercolors?
April 4, 2020 3:26 PM Subscribe
And have it still more or less work?
I have two paper N-95 masks left over from sanding and painting the floors in my house a year ago. They are the kind you used to be able to buy very cheaply in packs of three or so at the hardware store. They are not pristine - at least one of them was worn towards the end of the floor sanding and they both were knocking around in a toolbox for a year and look it.
I would like to make them look a little more cheerful and less grubby and be able to quickly tell them apart. If I paint the outside lightly with diluted watercolor, will the masks still work? If watercolor is a bad idea, what might work? Fabric dye? Food coloring? Colored pencils?
I have two paper N-95 masks left over from sanding and painting the floors in my house a year ago. They are the kind you used to be able to buy very cheaply in packs of three or so at the hardware store. They are not pristine - at least one of them was worn towards the end of the floor sanding and they both were knocking around in a toolbox for a year and look it.
I would like to make them look a little more cheerful and less grubby and be able to quickly tell them apart. If I paint the outside lightly with diluted watercolor, will the masks still work? If watercolor is a bad idea, what might work? Fabric dye? Food coloring? Colored pencils?
Your worry would be about "blinding" or choking them so the air doesn't filter through the mask so much as seep around the edges of the mask.
A typical 3M N95 mask is a one use thing. Designed to be discarded.
I work with these masks and respirators with cartridges etc daily. For most they are about ease of airflow so when they get , as 3M calls it, saturated, air finds easier access routes as you breath.
Around the edges usually over the bridge of the nose or under the chin.
3M N95 masks do not disintegrate with water as far as I have observed, lacquer thinner is another thing.
posted by Max Power at 4:31 PM on April 4, 2020
A typical 3M N95 mask is a one use thing. Designed to be discarded.
I work with these masks and respirators with cartridges etc daily. For most they are about ease of airflow so when they get , as 3M calls it, saturated, air finds easier access routes as you breath.
Around the edges usually over the bridge of the nose or under the chin.
3M N95 masks do not disintegrate with water as far as I have observed, lacquer thinner is another thing.
posted by Max Power at 4:31 PM on April 4, 2020
No
posted by chiquitita at 5:04 PM on April 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by chiquitita at 5:04 PM on April 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Both the masks made for medical personnel and for consumer purchase require a once-obscure material called melt-blown fabric. It's an extremely fine mesh of synthetic polymer fibers that forms the critical inner filtration layer of a mask, allowing the wearer to breath while reducing the inflow of possible infectious particles.Coronavirus Spurs Demand For Face Masks — But They're Surprisingly Hard To make : Goats and Soda : NPR
The N95 mask: The untold origin story
I looked into this a few days ago because I also have a P100 mask that I've used for ages for allergies/sanding/workshop type uses (non-sanitary and no health care worker would want it). Does it seal? Yes. Can I breathe through it? Yes. Over and Done Better than Nothing. The more clogged it gets (as long as it doesn't leak unfiltered air...) the better it is.
Bonus: the 95 means that it filters 95% of 0.3 micron particles. The 100 would mean well, 99.8% of 0.3 micron particles. The N means that it's not oil-resistant, an R means that it is oil-resistant, and a P means that it's oil-proof. My P100 is suitable for oil refinery work, or it just doesn't degrade when expose to oily petrochemical things....
Respiratory Basics: N95 vs P100 - PK Safety Supply
I have totally been contemplating drawing some cat whiskers on my mask. It's not a surgical sterile sort of thing, but a glorified best-effort droplet guard.
If you can breathe through the mask and not leak around the edges... You're reducing the chances of sucking up someone else's cough/sneeze or vice-versa.
posted by zengargoyle at 5:14 PM on April 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
If watercolor is a bad idea, what might work? Fabric dye? Food coloring? Colored pencils?
In hospitals some health care workers are using washable cotton overmasks.
If you just need to tell the masks apart, just sharpie "Alpah" and "Beta" on them on one edge.
If you just want to do stuff, get some of the white silk scarfs for dyeing that textile artists and enthusiasts use. Use proper fabric dyes, don't muck around with fine-art paints - you don't want to press cadmium yellow up against your face.
posted by sebastienbailard at 5:39 PM on April 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
In hospitals some health care workers are using washable cotton overmasks.
If you just need to tell the masks apart, just sharpie "Alpah" and "Beta" on them on one edge.
If you just want to do stuff, get some of the white silk scarfs for dyeing that textile artists and enthusiasts use. Use proper fabric dyes, don't muck around with fine-art paints - you don't want to press cadmium yellow up against your face.
posted by sebastienbailard at 5:39 PM on April 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
Try washi tape wrapped around the very edges where the straps are if you must decorate. My surgical masks are hung out for reuse after 72 hours. The fabric masks are truly easy to make with YouTube instructions and if you have a pretty pillowcase, that’s more than enough fabric for several.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:00 PM on April 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:00 PM on April 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
Work? As in maintain the same level of filtration? No.
As in filter better than nothing? Yes.
N95s work primarily through electrostatic attraction. Any moisture can affect this. Hand sanitizer, bleach, water will ruin this in the affected area. Instructions for use includes discarding it if wet or contaminated.
Even in the age of COVID-19, hospital protocols for extended use/re-use, and/or recycling via sterilization, state that the N95 should be discarded on doffing if wet or contaminated.
Source: my hospital system, which is beginning to sterilize masks for re-use, has such a protocol (extended use/re-use of them is a given). You may also find Nebraska Med/UNMC's guidelines here, last updated on 3/21/2020, last checked just now.
Edit: rather than do anything to the front of the mask, how about affixing something to a strap? Nothing that might damage it, of course. Maybe a colored rubber band tied the part that goes around the very back of the head?
posted by herrdoktor at 10:01 PM on April 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
As in filter better than nothing? Yes.
N95s work primarily through electrostatic attraction. Any moisture can affect this. Hand sanitizer, bleach, water will ruin this in the affected area. Instructions for use includes discarding it if wet or contaminated.
Even in the age of COVID-19, hospital protocols for extended use/re-use, and/or recycling via sterilization, state that the N95 should be discarded on doffing if wet or contaminated.
Source: my hospital system, which is beginning to sterilize masks for re-use, has such a protocol (extended use/re-use of them is a given). You may also find Nebraska Med/UNMC's guidelines here, last updated on 3/21/2020, last checked just now.
Edit: rather than do anything to the front of the mask, how about affixing something to a strap? Nothing that might damage it, of course. Maybe a colored rubber band tied the part that goes around the very back of the head?
posted by herrdoktor at 10:01 PM on April 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
The more clogged it gets (as long as it doesn't leak unfiltered air...) the better it is.
No, but to expand on that: The more clogged it gets, airflow is reduced and it becomes more likely that you breath the air around the edge of the mask instead of through the mask.
posted by chiquitita at 6:25 AM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
No, but to expand on that: The more clogged it gets, airflow is reduced and it becomes more likely that you breath the air around the edge of the mask instead of through the mask.
posted by chiquitita at 6:25 AM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Liquids may damage the electrostatic innards that trap germs, so, No. You can wear a scarf over it, make a mask to go over it, or, if you have tiny binder clips, clip a painted coffee filter to it. The 'handles' of binder clips are removable.
posted by theora55 at 9:57 AM on April 5, 2020
posted by theora55 at 9:57 AM on April 5, 2020
If you use binder clips, don't clip anything to the filter itself. It needs to form a seal against your skin.
posted by herrdoktor at 11:17 AM on April 5, 2020
posted by herrdoktor at 11:17 AM on April 5, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:07 PM on April 4, 2020 [4 favorites]