Ever since the COVID shortages hit the hospitals and other first responder services. we are getting this question every other hour in our inbox or on phone. The masks which are made specially for hospital health care workers have special filtration for bacteria and viruses. They are rated differently than the vacuum bag be it a paper or synthetic cloth versions. But given the current situation where these masks are hard to find and are in in acute shortage, we are noticing that lot of people are making a DIY basic mask out of vacuum bags. This is just a a temporary solution and will not replace the N95 or any other medical mask. It cannot be guaranteed that all viruses are reliably retained by the filter material of a dust bag. Air permeability is reduced on highly effective HEPA exhaust filters, resulting in the wearer of a mask made from this material having to make an additional effort to overcome this resistance to air flow. Besides this, the filter materials used are not suitable for exposure to moist breath over any length of time. Plus the whole aerodynamics ( read fit and seal around the mask) of the surgical mask is quite different than what a home made mask will ever be.
If you are very inclined to make a mask of your own, only the vacuum bags which have HEPA, Synthetic Cloth, Allergen or 99.7% filtration should be used for this purpose. You may use a rectangular piece inside two layers of other cloth or make a complete mask from the synthetic cloth bags.

Note: You should always use a cotton fabric as a layer which faces your mouth to avoid having a direct contact with bag cloth.

Please feel free to contact us if you need suggestion on the vacuum bags to use for this purpose. We hope this whole situation gets thru quickly.

Until then, Stay Safe and Stay Healthy

* Just a handy chart of the filtration quality of various materials


Source



Check these bags out
Indiana University professor Jiangmei Wu used origami to make a mask out of this exact. We extend our sincere thanks to her for sharing this video

Here is the bag used in this video Envirocare F J M Microfiltration Vacuum Synthetic Cloth Bags

Check out her research about masks https://research.impact.iu.edu/coronavirus/face-masks.html


Here is a video by Texas A&M University Department of Biomedical Engineering making a mask with bag material using just staples.



Envirocare Vacuum Bags

Disclaimer:

  • This is not a medical advice.
  • For Adult use only
  • Not recommended for people with extreme or severe medical conditions.
  • Replace when soiled or damaged
  • These masks from Vacuum Bags are not FDA approved as it does not reduce the risk of contracting disease or infection. 
  • NOT NIOSH certified. NOT tested to NIOSH or FDA standards
  • If you have a medical condition which requires you to have the medical masks, please consult your doctor for what kind of masks to buy.
  • Do not use if hypersensitive to copper or zinc.
  • Some bags may contain latex