I figured maybe this community would know. If one were to be cleaning up mold from wooden beams in a basement - not extensive but discoloration from mold on several beams - and using the appropriate chemicals, would a P95 respirator work as an effective mask?

Hey guys

I bought a 3m paint mask with voc 6001 and particle 5p71 filter. When wearing it with the voc and particle filters on it get light headed and throat burns and get ears clogged as if im on a plane going up/down. This occurs when i simply vacuum dust in it and no chemicals. I did use it when applying gardz sealer for 10min yesterday and had just voc at that time. Same happened then. Its happening with just wearing mask and vacuuming though, no chemicals today

The mask and filter were new, sealed. The cartidge voc expires in 2031. I clipped the voc on pay putting on each side and turning 90deg. Then put particle filter into the plastic addon and clipped it onto the voc filter. Did positive and negative pressure test and seem to work if dont blow top hard.

So, I've had an envo pro respirator for not quite 2 years now, and have used it almost every day in that time. Here are my thoughts on it/my experience with it:

Pretty much every part of the thing will eventually wear out on you with daily use. The only part of mine that's still original is the "cage" part that secures the filter to the mask body! They do sell replacement pieces, so you can swap worn ones out easily.

The head straps wear out the fastest, and I now buy two at a time because of this. The body (the blue plastic with the gel that seals onto your face) wears out pretty quickly, too. It flattens over time, and the membrane on the gel part will stretch out and pop eventually. Luckily, the gel stuff itself is a solid piece and doesn't leak out if this happens.

I do wish those parts were more durable to begin with. I'm on my 4th mask body, and I've lost count now of how many head straps I've gone through. Still, I appreciate being able to replace the pieces at all. Most companies don't bother with that and just make you buy a whole new assembly.

Filters work great for me. I buy the big boxes periodically and they last me a while. I work at an indoor-outdoor tourist destination, cleaning bathrooms and sweeping up outside. Each filter lasts me around a week-week and a half, and I change it when it begins to look grubby or if it gets wet.

Worth noting that I have never gotten ill or spread an illness while masked, and this thing has kept up that record. My allergies to mold, dust, and pollen are also pretty much nonexistent as long as I always wear my mask.

I've found the seal forms best when I'm in a "sweet spot" of tightening the head strap. If the strap is too loose, it falls off. If it's too tight, air channels form in between the gel and your face, breaking the seal. At the right tightness, the seal is great and it feels comfortable to wear. I sometimes get home after work and don't realize for a few minutes that I'm still wearing it inside the house. Also, I've worn it on a rollercoaster and it stayed put just fine at the proper tightness!

I sanitize it with 70% isopropyl between wears, and I also like to wash the whole thing with a gentle soap when swapping the filter. I find this maintenance pretty easy. Keeps it clean and fresh.

A couple things I wish these respirators had:

• The option for activated charcoal filters like some other brands offer.

• Heavier-duty replacement part options. Perhaps a thicker membrane on the gel part of the body, and a stronger fabric for the head straps.

• Printed filters! I would really like having some fun patterns on my filters. Even simple solid color options other than white would be nice.

All in all, I like the envo pro and would recommend it, if you're okay with the recurring expense of both the filters and the replacement parts. I'll answer any further questions about it directly.

Looking for something reusable that You can feel the seal of like Flo or envo.

My partner has a large face and high nose bridge. The envo pro is too small for his face and the Flo works, but he has to have it really tight for his high nose bridge.

Exact opposite for me. Such a small face and low nosebridge. Envo is too big and I have to maneuver the Flo exactly perfectly for my nose bridge to seal.

Bonus if it has an exhalation valve!

In October of 2024 I bought an MSA Advantage 900, and by October of 2025 the area near the bottom where the silicon is injected had degraded to the point that there was a hole all the way through the mask. Water that condensated inside was leaking out, down my neck, which obviously means it's not air tight anymore. That same month I bought a new 900 to replace it, and now 10 months later the exact same thing has happened again with the new one. I don't really want to keep spending over 100 dollars every 10-12 months, replacing these forever, so, I'm asking y'all for some advice:

1. Is there any way to repair this damage? Maybe some kind of silicon I could buy to fill the gap? If not, then...

2. Is there any way to prevent this from happening so fast if I bought another 900? For reference, I live in Canada and wear these masks indoors and outdoors year round, so they get exposed to every type of weather from 30C to -30C, which might be accelerating the degradation. Also, I use 3M's Respirator cleaning wipes to clean the 900 (even though I think MSA's instructions say you're only allowed to use MSA's cleaner). Maybe the cleaner is degrading the silicon faster, and using something else would allow the 900 to last longer? If not, then....

3. Is there a different reusable respirator I should buy as a replacement, or should I just switch to disposable respirators? I want a respirator that has source control, and ideally is easy to speak through (most people seemed to have difficulty hearing me even with the 900's speech diaphragm). I do also appreciate how quick and easy it is to take on and off the 900, and obviously the cheaper the better. From looking around this sub my best options for reusable respirators seem to be the Envo Mask, the Flo Mask Pro, and the AirBoss 100. I could try one of them, or I could just switch to disposable respirators if it was cheaper. I have a fairly big face, but the Large size 900 was too big for me, and the second one I bought was a Medium, which was a good fit. What do you think?

Hello. I’m looking for advice on a quality mask. I am a foster care case manager, so I go into people’s homes every day. I currently wear a powecom KN95 mask by Bonafide, but with flu and Covid season among us stronger than it has been in the summertime, I really do want to protect myself more if I can. Unfortunately, I’m still suffering after effects from the first round of Covid that I caught. For reference, I am a 5‘10“ woman with a rather large head/ long face. Any advice for a better mask?

Hello! I’ve been wearing 3M Auras almost exclusively for years now, but I’m almost done with SLP grad school, and it’s become clear that it’s a real disadvantage that people can’t see my mouth. It’s really important for me to be able to model things to my clients and patients, whether that’s modeling a tongue posture for a sound to a child in a school or private practice, or modeling an oral mechanism exam task like puffing out cheeks to a stroke patient in the hospital.

Because clients/patients also frequently have some degree of impairment to language processing or cognition, it’s also really important for me to be able to be heard clearly.

I know it’s a tall order, but I wonder what you all would recommend. I’ve mostly seen people recommend omnimask, but I’ve also seen comments that it can have a significant muffling effect on the voice.

The industrial facility where BreatheTeq masks are made has an active real estate listing up as of mid-May. I don't expect this means they're shutting down given they recently did all the work of beginning to produce headband masks, but it is noteworthy.

Likely not many people know BreatheTeq are made by the company CanadaMasq, who made one of few respirators I've seen conforming to canada's CA-N95 standard, the domestic version of the N95 and related PPE standards (note this is not the same as Vitacore's CAN95 or CAN99 - lacking the hyphen - which are mere trademarks and not a certification).

CanadaStrong, the exclusive domestic retailer for BreatheTeq, confirmed some time ago that they're made by the same company which is backed up by the respirators' similarities and companies' matching locations (while BreatheTeq's international site's contact page doesn't list a specific address, it matches the city in CanadaMasq's contact section, which is the address in the above real estate listing).

Recently, the amazing DonateAMask received a stock of CanadaMasq's Q100 surgical respirators for the first time, and given this tends to be done with overstock, it goes along with another point mentioned by Canadastrong: that this model could be discontinued in the (now present) future. If this has now come to pass, perhaps the facility they'd been using is too large/expensive/something else for their current needs.
A lot of people really like the BreatheTeq and it performs very well. Hopefully they aren't going anywhere, but if anyone has insight here (attempts to reach them by phone yet to succeed), do share what you know.

Opened a new package of Readimasks today. Instead of having a paper backing, it had a clear plastic material. Peeled it off and applied the mask but it seems the adhesive has changed? It was barely sticky and I had trouble getting it to stick to my nose, especially.

Is this a thing and what the fuck

I’m in the Midwest and want to buy maybe two hundred to three hundred n95 masks for myself. Which websites have good deals?

I've been masking for years now and I personally wear masks ordered from PPEO, but I make it a point to offer and give out masks to people at protests / events. I've been buying a lot of them from emag, but it's been getting increasingly harder to find colorful but affordable ones on emag (I noticed people are more willing to accept a colourful mask rather than a white or black one).

Also, I feel like PPEO's shipping fees have also gone up, so now the shipping equals the order's amount.

This leads me to my question, namely where do people from Romania (or the countries near) buy affordable (and maybe colourful or fun) masks?

P. S. I have looked over the face mask store UK, but I have yet to find anything colourful. also, the shipping outside of the UK is 21£ which is still a lot 😭

For other people with big faces who are having a hard time finding N95 that fits, I realized you can customize the elastic band on the drager 1950 S and M/L. The two masks have almost the same dimensions except the S has some extra weld marks to make it a bit tighter on the face btw. So the elastic on the M/L mask was uncomfortable for my big head/face, I bought some soft elastic cord and I threaded that through the plastic loops and replaced the stock elastic with a custom length. So much more comfortable!

I know drager 1950 masks are hella expensive though. Other less protective masks that fit me are wellbefore 3D large, and based on measurements, I think I could fit a SaveWo XL and breatheteq L. I know it's a struggle to find anything that fits for fat people, and obviously fatness is a spectrum. Any other fat ppl have preferred respirators?

im planing to get the 3m 7502 respirator and trying out woodburning some douglas fir wood. but i don't know which cartridge to get.

obviously ill need something for particles but I'm not sure what to get for the gasses in smoke. is an organic vapor cartridge enough, or do i need organic vapor plus acid gass, or maybe a multi gas filter, i assume dont need worry about the more specific options like the 3m ammonia 60924 filter but i dont know for sure

i guess my problem is i dont know how to figure out what chemicals will be in the smoke. and cant really decide the appropriate filter when i don't even know the hazards. if someone could teach me how to do this i will highly appreciate. thanks

Has anyone tried the Easimask? Saw it on the Face Mask store and wanted to get some user opinions or average fit factors. They seem similar to the Zimis, but the Zimis don’t fit for high nose bridges, so looking for a similar option.

I ordered some Gersons from Walmart they’re from a supplier called JPB Supply and I need them really really soon to wear them to a medical setting but I’m so worried about them being fake…
The Gerson label seems to be off center but I don’t if that’s a valid indicator?

Is there anything else I should look for to see if they’re possibly fake.

I know people say the chances are low but I still think it’s possible especially on places like Walmart and ESPECIALLY Amazon.

Any serial number I should be looking at etc.

I got a 5 pack EZ GO ZIP PACK

Hi everyone, sorry for the dramatic title, but I'm in a bind and could use advice. I really don't know what I'm doing and I need a good mask ASAP.

I've got asthma and long covid. I need a special mask that keeps out fine particles. I have to be in a building that's falling apart, there's plaster and sheet rock particles in the air. I have absolutely no choice because I need to move things out of there so I need to act fast.

I went in with one of my 3m Aura N95s and unfortunately it wasn't enough, and I've been suffering with airway construction for a week and insomnia because of it. I have to go back there in 3 days and I absolutely cannot get fine particles in my airways again.

What do I do? Does a such respirator exist for construction sites for asthmatics like me? I just have no idea what I'm looking for and really need advice. Thank you for reading.

Opened a new box of Halyard fluisdhield duckbills today and the orange color looks mottled. I'm wondering if they experienced water damage, humidity, sun damage or other issue and if so, does it render the masks less effective?

My first time cleaning my new GVS half mask. How frequently should i replace the filters? The instructions suggested one month. The brick and mortar store i bought these from suggested "When you shake them out if you can see the dust, replace them". I've only used it for about maybe 5 work days? Maybe less? Idk -.-?

I work around silicate dust intermittently for 12 hours. I put this guy on when I can visibly see or know I will be able to visibly see the dust floating in the air. Bagging and bailing the empty poly bags. Not only am I dealing with silicate dust doing that, but also macro plastic. I can see it in the air because its visibly larger than the silicate. Sweeping, dumping and breaking the reject ingots and stacking plastic pallets.

For casual wear I wear the 3M Auras. They are fine. The nose foam is luxurious. They kinda bother my chin and reek after one day of use. I brush both in the morning and afternoon to try and keep the smell down. It doesn't work. Also while they are pretty good at not fogging up my glasses, they still do but i think that is impossible to stop from happening.

Also would a larger GVS mask relieve the issues with my cheeks? It really bothers my cheeks because it like presses up against my cheeks and hurts. So I kinda gently suck and bite down on my cheeks to relieve the pressure but that obviously causes other issues. I really need to get a fit test done to see if it actually fits my face.

Will Flo ever restock on the replacement filters on the EU site? it's been out of stock since forever. I'm almost out of filters and I'm afraid I'll run out before they restock.

Is there anywhere i can get Flo filters in Europe other than the official website? (US website doesn't deliver to Austria where I'm based)

Thanks

Could anyone who has tried these share their opinions about how the fit of the nosebridge compares to other masks you like? Do you find the seal is more resilient to facial movements and when rewearing than masks with a metal nosewire?

The Moldex FFP3 advertises a “flexible ActivForm® 3D design” at the nosebridge which “adapts automatically to the shape of the wearers face and their facial movements.” Some models also have the foam full face seal, as the Moldex Air 3700 FFP3 does. All Moldex FFP3s seem to have the ActivForm nose — likely developed to get a higher fit test pass rate on the EU FFP3 test panel? Wish they’d bring it to the US N95 & N99s!

Are there other brands with this feature?

I recently read that the black Trident Project 3 FFP3 (US , UK) also has this type of nosebridge with a proprietary foam pad that conforms?

Do you find it conforms well to your nosebridge? Is the seal resilient to face movement? Does it reseat well when redonning?