Alternative to N95 masks - Paint Respirators

For those having trouble locating masks I just wanted to point out a possible alternative source that may go overlooked, painting respirators. These are reusable partial or full faced masks with cartridge filters (variety of filters available, which need to be purchased separately).

Here is an amazon search to give you an idea:
[link to www.amazon.com (secure)]


These are generally sold from industrial supply houses or chains like McCarr or Grainger, but are available in a lot of home depot like stores too. They will probably be available a lot longer than other types of mask simply because people don't know what they are or where to look.

A couple of points on these, however:
1) Technically you should be professionally "fit" for one of these to be 100% effective. This includes shaving any facial hair in the area around the seal of the mask, and getting one that fits your face.

2) These are dangerous to those with respiratory and cardiac problems, so they should only be worn with a doctors consent. At my former business we used to disqualify people form jobs because they failed the medical risk portion of the fitment.

PAINT MASKS and SURGICAL MASKS can't fit the face of a small child or teenager.

They are also NOT an alternative to a hazmat suit.

YOU NEED N95 MASKS.

Not surgical masks

YOU NEED N95 MASKS.

Not surgical masks

YOU NEED N95 MASKS.

Not surgical masks

YOU NEED N95 MASKS.

Not surgical masks

YOU NEED N95 MASKS.

Not surgical masks

YOU NEED N95 MASKS.

Not surgical masks

I hate to burst your bubble but you would need a full a suit not just a mask. Did you know your ears have a small canal to your mouth or that your eyes have small passage ways to through your nose and throat. Granted yes the mask will help but you will no be 100% safe. Best bet is to buy a torch and leave a wake a fire

I owned an auto body shop for 20 years and the painters only used N95 masks.... they are industrial quality 'paint masks' and have strick Federal standards that most pacific rim manufacturers don't meet

We had an emergency meeting at church last night to discuss preparations for the arrival of this virus in our small town. We figured we will all end up exposed to it eventually.

Some topics of discussion included:
community distribution of colloidal silver,
obtaining several months supply of prescription meds,
how to create a quarantine room in your home,
improve your diet now, especially cut out sugar to increase immunity and improve gut health,
how to grow salad greens to have fresh food to supplement canned/freeze dried food preps,
should keep cash on hand,
wear wrap-around safety glasses in public places,
we will stop shaking hands in church,
make sure children and adults cover coughs and sneezes,
coordinate with our town emergency planners.

Don't shake hands but handling cash and change is okay?

N95 masks will NOT protect you from a virus! I work at a company who sells these. People buying them like crazy, but these will not stop a virus!