How do you get a good seal on your N95?

March 12, 2021 12:59 PM

I have tried a whole bunch of N95s and I cannot get a good seal over the (high) bridge of my (bony) nose.

I can always feel air coming out by my eyes, no matter how I bend the wire or how tight the elastics - they can be digging into my face and the mask still won't seal well at the nose. What do you do to get a tight seal?

(If you're looking for N95s, I got mine at Wellbefore. Things go in and out of stock but the masks seem to be authentic.)

posted by Frowner to Health & Fitness (20 answers total)

Are the N95s you've tried all the same design? Meaning, all the duckbill design? Maybe try something like this instead. (disclaimer: I neither endorse nor recommend that particular brand of mask, it's just what I found while Googling; I can't remember the name of the brand I have off hand but it's that kind of shape.)
posted by cooker girl at 1:03 PM on March 12, 2021

Response by poster: Sadly, I have a giant head. KN95s never fit, even the large size. I have tried domed N95s, those spun "cloth" ones, folding ones and the reusable Envomask with the gel seal.
posted by Frowner at 1:05 PM on March 12, 2021

Oh, sorry, I inserted the "K" when you didn't!
posted by cooker girl at 1:08 PM on March 12, 2021

What do you do to get a tight seal?

A band-aid or surgical tape across the bridge of your nose.
posted by mhoye at 1:09 PM on March 12, 2021 [5 favorites]

I use Nexcare sensitive skin tape to tape the mask to my face where there’s gaps. I then put on a pair of sunglasses to double-check that it passes the no-fog test.


I find that long strips taped vertically give the tape more space to stick to the mask.
posted by homodachi at 1:10 PM on March 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

Does it leak on every breath, and does it leak on both in- and exhalation? I think to some extent they're expected to leak on exhalation. Even the "testing your mask fit" guidelines from the CDC say "A successful [seal] check is when the facepiece is slightly pressurized before increased pressure causes outward leakage." (emphasis mine) If the mask sucks to your face a bit on inhalation that may be the best fit you're going to get with a consumer grade mask.

Tape at the bridge of your nose will help with glasses, etc., but the extra pressure will still have to go somewhere, probably out the sides or bottom.
posted by mskyle at 1:14 PM on March 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

Have you tried the over-the-head-straps types of masks rather than over-the-ear ones? I have some of these masks and their advantage is that they push the mask much more firmly onto your face. I have a narrow bridge and I find those have worked much better in getting a good across-the-nose seal.
posted by GuyZero at 1:17 PM on March 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

I've tried a number of KN95 and KF94 masks and even a real deal 3M healthcare N95, and none of them seal perfectly if I blow forcefully to check fit. In regular breathing, it's probably good enough, but if I were going on a plane flight, I'd probably tape the top to tell my anxiety to shut up.

I do find that shaping the nose wire with it off my face lets me make a shape that does better than pressing it against my face to bend it.
posted by advicepig at 1:18 PM on March 12, 2021

I have a similar nose and find that if I wear a new mask in the house for about half an hour it warms up enough to get a good seal around my nose. Trying 'cold' never results in a good fit for me. (I'm rotating masks so this isn't as much of a burden as if I were trying to break in a new one every time I needed to wear a mask)

I also wear mine further down the bridge of my nose than feels correct, but I get a better seal if it's not pushed all the way up by the bridge of my glasses.
posted by stellaluna at 1:20 PM on March 12, 2021

I have a large nose and head and most KN-95s/N-95s I've tried don't work for me for similar reasons. The one I've found that comes closest is the large size Respokare NIOSH N95 (link to Protectly.co, which has them in stock). (On preview, it's the same one GuyZero linked above.) It's still not perfect, and in fact the first time I put one on, one of the elastics snapped... but with reinforcements added to the elastics, it seals better than anything else I've tried. There's foam at the nose and a strong but bendable nose wire, which seem to help a lot.

The other option I've had some success with is medical tape across the bridge of the nose, but I find that sweats off after 20-30 minutes if I'm exerting myself at all.
posted by pie ninja at 1:27 PM on March 12, 2021

I don't know how you're wearing your N95, but you may want to try placing the upper elastic to the base of your neck, and the lower elastic so that it becomes the one at the top of your head at the back.
posted by itsflyable at 1:31 PM on March 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

I have to use some medical tape over the bridge of my nose because I can't get a good seal with mine either. Some brands are better than others. Powecom KN95s fit me better than BYD versions.

Hands down the best N95s that I've tried are the 3M Aura versions. There is actually a gray foam material that runs along the length of the upper part of the mask, and it really helps with both the seal and comfort. I used to wear them at work regularly for 4+ hours at a time and never had issues with fit.

Edit: Ordering a foam strip may help, I'm thinking of doing it too!
posted by extramundane at 1:31 PM on March 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

You can easily customize elastic straps using fabric glue and elastic purchased from a fabric store.

Having the bands the right tension and going around the back of your head should improve the seal a lot. In fact, I thought that real N95's all had around-the-head straps, but it wasn't authoritative info, so that might not be true -- but it does help me a lot.

For me, the fabric glue stuck much better than the from-the-factory adhesion between strap and mask -- it's worth getting some, for sure.
posted by amtho at 1:36 PM on March 12, 2021

Also - shaping the wire with my fingers, carefully, using trial-and-error, tends to give better results than just pressing the wire down around my nose.
posted by amtho at 1:38 PM on March 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

My employer has been making these mask fitters available and they are quite effective for me at least.
posted by teremala at 2:19 PM on March 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

Another option for this, which is approved by the hospital where Mr. Meat works, is a 3M reusable respirator. Some of them have valves, which you cover up with a surgical mask, but it can be more comfortable for long hours of wear.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 3:30 PM on March 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

3M 8210 plus?

I swear by their masks.
posted by Max Power at 5:04 PM on March 12, 2021

I have also been using the mask fitter that teremala linked to, and it works extremely well. As far as I understand it isn't designed to be used with N95 masks, though, so if you are only interested in ways to improve the seal of your current mask it probably wouldn't help you much.
posted by mydonkeybenjamin at 11:05 PM on March 12, 2021

Double-sided body tape (like this). You can cut it in half (lengthwise). Fold the nose wire in half. Put one strip of the body tape from the fold all the way along the top of the mask past your eye. The second strip similarly goes from the fold in the middle all the way out to the side of the mask in the other direction.

When you mold the wire to your face plus stick it to your face all the way out past your eyes on both sides, that really works.

FYI when I do this I find there is still a bit of fogging of my glasses. This isn't leakage but just warm air coming out through the upper part of the mask and swirling upwards. It doesn't go outwards/frontwards with quite the force it usually does, thanks to being slowed down by the mask fabric. Point is, you still might get a bit of glasses fogging, but that isn't leakage. Leakage from the top of the mask using this system is nil.
posted by flug at 9:05 PM on March 13, 2021

Hmm... In a healthcare setting the way we're fitting for these is we put a hood over our heads, then the tester sprays a little aspertame in the hood, then we jump around, bend down, talk, turn left and right, etc. if you taste the aspertame, they have you try a different mask size or style. Maybe a long shot but, I wonder if you can recreate a similar test at home, to see if you actually have a seal on inspiration (rather than expiration)?

Another other options is to experiment with a 3M dome shaped N95 but with juririgged/diy straps, so they don't have to fit over your head.

Final suggestion is look at respirators from the hardware store for some alternate designs with high filtration - some are n99 and they market to construction workers some of whom may skew toward large heads and faces.
posted by latkes at 5:42 PM on March 14, 2021