Lifts and separates
Mar. 9th, 2021 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrAfter a year wearing them, I find I really like the duck-bill style masks best. They fit tight over my nose and chin, don't gap on the sides, and do a better job of keeping my glasses from fogging. (Not a great job, mind you, but better than the standard flat-with-folds variety.) The only problem is on the inhale, when they flatten up against my mouth (chronic sinusitis means I don't breath through my nose much). In cold, damp weather, it's like being smothered with a wet wash rag.
I've seen plastic inner supports for sale online, but face it, I'm cheap. Why buy what you can jury-rig yourself? I always say.
So I've been retrofitting my masks with internal supports. Start with a cloth mask and a couple of 11-inch zip ties, available at your local BiMart. Clip the lock end off of the ties.
Using a seam ripper, carefully open up about a half inch top and bottom of either side seam. Tuck in the cut ends of the ties, angled to intersect the opposite corners. Restitch the entire side seam, sewing right over the ties. You may have to force the needle through by hand, if you don't have enough momentum. Bend the ties to follow the curve of the mask, then clip the other ends to length, tuck them into the open seams and sew the other side closed.
You end up with a flexible criss-cross bridge on the inside of the mask that's firm enough to keep it away from you face as you inhale. I've run my masks through the washer a couple of times and they seem okay, though I'd hang-dry them.
I've seen plastic inner supports for sale online, but face it, I'm cheap. Why buy what you can jury-rig yourself? I always say.
So I've been retrofitting my masks with internal supports. Start with a cloth mask and a couple of 11-inch zip ties, available at your local BiMart. Clip the lock end off of the ties.
Using a seam ripper, carefully open up about a half inch top and bottom of either side seam. Tuck in the cut ends of the ties, angled to intersect the opposite corners. Restitch the entire side seam, sewing right over the ties. You may have to force the needle through by hand, if you don't have enough momentum. Bend the ties to follow the curve of the mask, then clip the other ends to length, tuck them into the open seams and sew the other side closed.
You end up with a flexible criss-cross bridge on the inside of the mask that's firm enough to keep it away from you face as you inhale. I've run my masks through the washer a couple of times and they seem okay, though I'd hang-dry them.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-10 05:06 am (UTC)that sounds familiar
Date: 2021-03-10 02:48 pm (UTC)Frank, if you have not yet done so, please consider a CT scan of your sinuses. It led to easy-if-scary surgery and being free to breathe through my nose ALL. THE. TIME. And I was using oxymetazoline 12 out of every 24 hours a year ago.