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Dust Masks

4K views 32 replies 23 participants last post by  Karda 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Looking for any recommendations on a good set up. I'm still all stuffed up from working this past saturday in my garage and it's making me sick thinking about how much fine dust I inhaled.

An air cleaner is on the list of things to get, but in the meantime I want to get a dust mask. Seems most go with the 3M 7500, but I see a few people now wearing those neoprene ski mask looking things.
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have one of those neoprene masks. It's ok,
reasonably comfortable to wear.

The Dust Bee Gone mask looks pleasant to wear.
I've never tried one.

There's a snorkel style respirator that puts the
weight of the filters at the back of your neck.
Mask style respirators can be hot and sweaty
and I've found the weight of heavier ones
hanging off my face annoying.
 
#5 ·
I generally use the N95 type filters with the exhaust valves. They do a good job and with the valves don't fog up my glasses or face shield as bad and the ones with no valve.
I also have the Dust Be Gone mask and it works well and is washable and reusable. I bit on the pricy side and it does sometimes fog up my glasses (when the shop is cool).
If you are having allergic reactions I think you will want one of the Elipse P100 type filters and get or make a shop air cleaner soon. You can make one using an old HVAC squirrel cage blower and furnace filters (hepa type) Check your local heating contractors for used blowers.
Be careful with allergic reactions they may get worse with more exposure. If you notice that happening talk to your Dr. about getting an epi-pen just in case. Personally I react to some wood sawdust like walnut and fir but not others.
 
#6 ·
I've used those N95s and I had issues with them fogging up my safety glasses too. But then I read on here somewhere, that if your glasses are fogging up, it's because there isn't a good seal at the nose area. So once I cinched down the metal nose piece, the fogging up was reduced drastically.

I don't have any real allergies, but I can definitely tell that my sinuses didn't enjoy all the plywood that I cut.

Thanks all for the reviews
 
#8 ·
Sure like my 3M 7500. It fits well and I forget I'm wearing it and sometime find myself going "why the heck do I still have this on?"

Remember it comes in three sizes, so be sure to get the right fit.

Does the Elipse also have VOC (or whatever you call it) filters? I was laminating a counter top and using the good old fashion solvent based contact cement. Put the organic cartridges in my 3M 7500. Couldn't smell a thing during the whole job. Was thinking the cement must not be a stinky as I remember. Finished up, took the respirator off before heading out of the shop. Felt lucky to reach the door before passing out (ok that's a bit of an exaggeration), but actually could feel myself getting a bit light headed in just those few moments without it on. I was dumbfounded how well those cartridges worked.
 
#9 ·
I like the 3M 7500 series half mask respirator, especially because of its quality, it's comfortable, and because the exhale vent faces downward, so it doesn't fog up my glasses.

https://www.amazon.com/3M-Facepiece-Respirator-Respiratory-Protection/dp/B00AR63G12/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1519339581&sr=8-4&keywords=3m+7502

They come in three sizes, and the attachments depend upon the material you are using. The pink disk-shaped filters provide 95% (P95) or 99.97% (P100) dust particulate filtering. There are those out there that suggest wearing a good particulate respirator even with a dust collection system. They also have filters for use with organics (oil based paints/stains/...). I find the choices of filters sort of confusing, but if you look on line 3M has pdf's with descriptions of the filter options.
 
#10 ·
I've been using a washable cloth dust mask from Breath Healthy. I think that I originally found the best deal at Home Depot's online store but the price has fluctuated. You you can find them at Amazon too. I've rinsed it out at least a couple dozen times and washed it with soap a few times as well. It is not going to be as good as the 3M masks but it definitely keeps most of the dust out of my nose and lungs and is much more comfortable than the heavier plastic or rubber ones.
 
#14 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have had the 3m 7500 for a long time.

I personally found when I started using a respirator over a dust mask that none of them felt right, I just forced myself to put it on every time and before long you get used to it. As someone else posted, I forget I have it on sometimes.

I like the 7500 because I can swap out the filters, p100 most of the time (no reason to use the 95's in my opinion the price is not that much higher and I can't detect a difference in the airflow). It is then very easy to swap out to canisters for finishing or anything else that I don't want to breath in.
 
#18 ·
If you wear typical sized baseball style hats, then I'd guess that a medium would likely fit you. From what I read the mediums are sized to fit the vast majority of users.

If baseball hats are way too big, then maybe a small. If baseball hats never seem to fit on your huge head (my case), then likely a large.
 
#22 ·
What do all of you with beards do? I have to send folks from my facility to the local safety center to get fitted for masks for some of our operations. That said, they all have to be clean shaven. I don't want to shave my beard just to get a "good seal" (had to do that many times in the military on gas chamber day). I also don't want to hear arguments like "you should just not wear one". I know there are dust mask users out there with beards…

Not trying to start a debate on beards vs no beards or dust protection vs no dust protection.
 
#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
It probably depends on what you are trying to filter. If you are just trying to keep from breathing dust, your beard won't interfere too much and not much dust will get in through the edges. On the other hand if you need chemical filtering, you probably need a really good seal and the beard may allow more to get by than you may want to breathe. Tightening may help but you will have to experiment for your situation-could be pretty uncomfortable for long periods. A compromise you might consider is a goatee or Van ******************** instead of a full beard so that the beard doesn't get in the way as much.

Edit: Another option, as long as you aren't a mouth breather, is that you could add these nasal filters underneath your dust mask to possibly get anything that gets around the edges of the mask.
 
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