With all the news about protective equipment, this caught my eye

[csziggy]

Today I was at a lumberyard that also sells various home improvement stuff, but mostly to contractors.

They had stuff set up across from the information desk and checkout - Tyvek suits, masks, gloves, etc. All was the normal items that workers use when they are spray painting houses, or working with materials that they do not want to get on themselves.

Every bit of it could be used in a hospital for PPE and would work better than garbage bags and improvised masks.

it's not as if the display was new - it was all dusty so obviously had been there a while. Has anyone thought of using items other than N95 masks for medical PPE rather than for construction work?

[Frustratedlady]

1. I had some extra face masks left over from sanding projects and use them for protection, now.

They are heavy but not made for women's hairdos...more for butch haircuts. However, they were available and I feel safe using them.

[Tumbulu]

2. It's what I need to wear on my farm and supply to anyone working

I can’t figure out what the differences are between these and medical grade masks. But I feel much better when I do go out in public wearing mine. Plus I have one made of cloth that I was and wear. It has filters that one inserts.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. My Home Depot was completely out of masks when I made my last

trip there in early March.

[csziggy]

4. That's why this display stood out

It's a small locally owned builder's supply store on sort of a back road so it doesn't get the casual drop in traffic of the big box DIY stores. That's probably why their inventory has not been decimated.

But those Tyvek suits would be perfect for nurses and doctors. No, they are not completely impervious, but they are very good at blocking airborne stuff. If you don't know what Tyvek it, it was developed to be used as house wrap and was a great improvement over tar paper, which was the original house wrap material. Now it is used for all sorts of things, including those big envelopes that are impossible to tear.

Tyvek can also be washed, at least by hand, so there is a possibility these suits could be re-used, unlike the paper sort of things I have seen in hospitals.