French health service do not recommend fabric masks

Back when we were sewing for Scrubs Up, we were given a pattern for a 3 layer mask, and it was described as being 'NHS visitor standard'. I have checked and it still is.
It is of course, easier for NHS clinics to give you a mask they know to be of the correct standard than to check yours, but it is still a decent standard for ordinary interactions.

Callistemon

I'll try to rethink my masks if I go to France.
Which may not be for some time.

Zut alors! That's that idea down the drain then!

I'll try to rethink my masks if I go to France.
Which may not be for some time.

I've made 3-layer masks which DH and I wear regularly, as do family members.

The outer layer is cotton, various patterns, the inner layer is an old 400 thread cotton sheet and between them is fine viscose interfacing.

Immediately after use I soak them in Dettol laundry cleanser (other makes work, too) then they go in the next hot wash. I'm happy with them and I'm not adding to the plastic pollution by using disposable one, although I do have some for emergencies.

welbeck

www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/about-face-coverings.html

www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/guidance-on-masks-has-been-lacking

Thanks for this welbec, very helpful. We wear three layer cotton masks so looking good ?

I use Brilliant Masks which were designed by a consultant at Alder Hey Children's Hospital and raise funds for them - some lovely designs and they fit properly over nose and mouth and dont move about. I wash mine daily in 60degrees and bio detergent. I shall throw the current lot away and have some new ones I think just to refresh properly.

Cloth masks are pretty much the norm here and they certainly seem to have stopped the spread. Before we all wore them it was spreading everywhere

Strange this .. our royal family, when out and about, all wear the fabric ones, some very pretty and colour co coordinated.

Nana if you want to stay pretty wear a surgical one underneath that’s what I do and it doesn’t feel any different Quitw comfortable in fact

welbeck No, I mean a cloth mask of two layers where you put a replaceable, flat filter in between the layers.

www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/about-face-coverings.html

www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/guidance-on-masks-has-been-lacking

I wear my home made ones, too. Some protection is better than nothing and I wash them every time they have been worn. Besides, they are all different colours to match my clothes, got to have a bit of cheer in this life ! My husband wears them, too and he was not so impressed when he ran out of ‘boy’ colours one day and had to wear one of mine with little fairies all over it.

FarNorth

How about fabric masks with a filter insert?
That's what I use.

do you mean with a round valve, if so these are not recommended for general public use, because they concentrate the exhalations and can propel them farther.
so might be ok for wearer but more risky for others.

I'm struggling with wearing a mask as I have lung disease. I find the disposable ones easier to breath through than the fabric ones. Checked with the nurse and she said people with lung disease are having problems. I could go exempt but really don't want to do that as it's so unpopular atm. So just making short trips to shops and no browsing just in and out quickly

Surgical masks only on planes.

I think they are right though Monica why couldn’t another country have the right advice
you don’t see any Far Eastern countries wearing cloth masks and they seem to be conquering it better than we are

Its recommended by organisations in this country Monica. From the beginning I have followed the advice of other countries.

My daughter has told me this all along
I wear a surgical one under my pretty one

Just because the health service of another country recommends doing or not doing something, doesn't mean they are right and we should follown them.

I shall wear my 3 layer masks (as recommended by medical experts and the Welsh Government), one layer being a non-woven fabric.

I arrived for my hospital appointment already wearing a surgical mask. They still made me change it for one of theirs even though I told them I had only been wearing mine for 2 minutes.

How about fabric masks with a filter insert?
That's what I use.

I'll be sticking with my homemade masks too. They were made to fit us, they have three layers, and we can breath much more easily through them than the plastic, throwaway masks we used to wear.

I am sticking with my material mask, it fits better and is thicker, I used quite thick material for each layer. The interior is cottton curtain fabric.

We have always known though, havn't we, that the masks are not 100% effective, and if wearing them does a little bit towards protecting others, I see no reson to re think .