Done
2,231 karma · joined August 12, 2009
I get as low as 80% and as high as 99% on my face.
Fit is a big deal because it's personal and hard to communicate. I think it was Amazon that found when scanning their workforce that they discovered 29 different face shapes!
Notes should be live in about 275 of them hopefully today.
Thank you!!
It measures the air outside the mask verses inside the mask.
https://tsi.com/products/respirator-fit-testers/portacount-r...
If someone doesn't label the mask correctly...are they even reading the standard?
The gb2626-2019 standard is 57 pages and in it you have to do a lot of very technical testing. One test requires several days of testing in a lab and is very expensive, but it's designed to make sure the mask performs under actual use (called the loading test).
If the manufacture isn't willing to put some simple words on a mask, do you think they did this complicated several-day test? Probably not.
IMO it's the brown M&M or canary in the coal mine test.
I learned so much though about how different manufacturers do things, where they cut corners, where they invest.
One crazy thing I learned was that almost all of the KN95s on amazing were not following the GB2626-2019 ("KN95") mask spec.... even though it's not that hard. So I decided to make a KN95 that followed the spec! Great way to really get into the product.
For example an ASTM 2 or 3 surgical mask fabric has a filtration of 98%+
On my face I have a leakage of about 21% or PFE of 79% when worn normally.
With an ear saver, it jumps to 91%.
With a mask brace, it jumps to 98%.
So it really is about the fit.
If I put leakage % it would vary from person to person and many people would be mislead by this.
That said, I have also noticed this... if a manufacturer in China makes a great adult masks, their kids mask is likely to fail standards for filtration AND be harder to breath.
Having made both adult and kids masks I can tell you that there is way less of a demand for kids masks and because of that less attention gets paid to them on the manufacturing floor. Theory: People are just lazy and make worse masks for the kids I think because kids are not paying attention.
Furthermore, kids don't care that it passes standards, they care if there's a dinosaur on the mask or not. Even my own kids tell me my kids masks are boring! So manufacturers put their time on making it fun and not on protection.
We test both kids and adults to the same standards, use the same fabric, etc. Boring but effective :)
Also tested my kids minion pillow case which beat the gaiter :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK_WryN-Y40
Yes we are adding those notes now... most of the KN95 fails are the incorrect markings on the mask. To pass the GB2626-2019 standard (where the KN95 lives) you have to put the manufacture name, standard name (eg, "GB2626-2019"), and mask type (eg, "KN95"). About 90% of "KN95s" on amazon are fake because they do not include this... I image because the manufacturers are just trying to make a quick buck and didn't ever read the 57 page standard.
If a KF94 fails it is usually because it's not made in South Korea where all official KF94s are made.
You need both filtration AND fit to make a good mask.
China and Taiwan are separate (they make very different masks) but I haven't been able to find any from Taiwan to test.
Good call on the color coding... I'm color blind so didn't think of this :)