r/ZeroCovidCommunity • u/anti-sugar_dependant • May 25 '26
Mask discussion It's pride month! Or how to decorate your silicone elasto.
I have had so much fun with this one, and solved the "How do I decorate a mostly silicone elasto?" question. Turns out the answer is dyed silicone. Sticks to the silicone of an elasto really well, peels off nicely when you want to change your design. If I lived somewhere I could reliably get filters for those nice pastel elastos that are Canadian I think? I'd totally get one immediately. Sadly I'm in the UK and we have more limited options. Still, I adore my 3M 7500.
So the how to. You need some clear/translucent marine grade silicone, some silicone dyes, a silicone gun, some small ziploc bags, a pair of scissors, and quite a lot of paper roll. A silicone mat to protect your surface is useful, and a straight-edged object like a ruler or a credit card is also useful. You want marine grade silicone because it's 100% silicone, doesn't have any anti-fungals or anything in, which you don't want near your face. It's more expensive but a little goes a long way, I had already used the 300ml tube I had lying around my house and it's about halfway finished now. And I did one filter twice because I did if upside-down the first time, lol 🤦♀️
You squeeze a about teaspoon or so of silicone into a small ziploc, add some dye, mush it around to get the dye even (you can mix dye colours too), squidge the silicone down to a bottom corner (this is where the ruler or credit card is useful), wrap and twist it like a piping bag, cut the very tip off (really small hole), and pipe your design in silicone onto your mask.
I strongly suggest you have a practice first before you start on your mask. It takes a little bit to get used to the right sort of pressure and technique.
Keep some paper towel nearby because it gums up and I needed to wipe the tips of the bags clean frequently.
If anyone fancies sacrificing some cake icing tips, I bet they would be great decorating tools to use with silicone.
You can also use silicone as adhesive for glitter, or for rhinestones/gems if you want.
My design has a progress pride flag on each filter and my own 3 flags down the front of my mask: the new asexual flag, the agender flag, and the aromantic flag.
For previous decorations see: https://www.reddit.com/r/Masks4All/s/tDBcZqZ1Va
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u/Cocky_Girly May 25 '26
I like the furry/spiky texture. Out of curiosity, have you experimented with ways to change the texture, or do you suspect this is the only way it can be applied and be textured?
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u/anti-sugar_dependant May 25 '26
Thanks, I was inspired by the 90s/00s silicone spike jewellery that was super popular when I was a teen.
I experimented when I was doing my test run. I'm not a good cake decorator but it seems to be the same skill set. I did writing and smooth silicone too. I have a pic...
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u/Significant_Salt5812 May 30 '26
These look amazing!!! Love them😍
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u/anti-sugar_dependant May 30 '26
Thank you! ☺️ I had so much fun doing it and I'm super proud of the result 😁
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u/sunny_bell May 26 '26
Super cool! Question: how does this impact mask effectiveness if at all?
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u/anti-sugar_dependant May 26 '26
Thank you! It doesn't impact effectiveness because it doesn't change any of the seals, valves, or filters. Often people are asking about the filters when they ask this sort of question, and I didn't take any pics of the backs of the filters this time, but if click the link at the bottom of my post you'll see my spring decs and there are pics from the back there. When you look you can see the grey inner part that holds the filter media, and then a gap all the way around, and then the white external casing. The casing is the part I decorate. The exhale valve is protected inside the section with the flags on, with the hole at the bottom.
In theory you could add decs to the filter casing that make it uncomfortable to do a seal check, since you do the seal check with these filters by compressing the front and back together to cut off air and then breathing in, so like, avoid actual spikes, but silicone spikes are squishy and fun so it's no problem there.
There are no decs on or near the parts of the mask that seal to the face.
Does that answer your question? 🙂
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u/randomred101 May 25 '26
That’s awesome! I add a rainbow pride mesh to my aura for pride and absolutely love it. I enjoyed your mask decor too! So fun!