These Airlines Have Banned Fabric Face Masks on Planes

[SheltieLover]

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/airlines-banned-fabric-face-masks-170556011.html

Snip

"The safety of our customers and employees is our first priority. Fabric masks are slightly less efficient at protecting people from infection than surgical masks," the company wrote in a statement.

Finnair isn't alone in banning cloth face masks. Air France and Lufthansa have each mandated medical masks be worn, prohibiting fabric masks and those with exhaust valves.

LATAM Airlines has also banned fabric and reusable face masks on domestic flights within Chile, allowing only surgical masks with three layers, KN95, and N95 masks. The carrier also requires doubling up on face masks for passengers connecting in Lima, even if they remain on board the aircraft.

Snip

While cloth face masks are generally allowed in the United States, several domestic carriers have restricted other kinds of face coverings with many banning features like exhaust valves. Delta Air Lines prohibits bandanas, scarves, masks with exhaust valves, and any masks with slits, punctures, or holes. Similarly, United Airlines bans bandanas and specifies a face shield alone is not considered adequate protection.

More at link.

Will schools and municipalities follow suit?

[marble falls]

1. Good information!!

[SheltieLover]

2. Glad you found the info useful

I wouldn't personally get on a plane or cruise ship for anything now, but many in our community do travel.

[GPV]

3. Thanks! Not sure yet which airlines younger green kid will be flying to the Netherlands.

[Treefrog]

4. Rec!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

5. Kn95 masks and N95

Masks have seriously jumped in price too.

Another way capitalism sucks.

[SheltieLover]

30. 1 yr ago this past Feb., I bought 1 box of 50 3M N-95s for $27

A couple of weeks later, the same box of 50 was selling rapidly for $750 online.

Sickening!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

45. Tell me about it

I'm limited income and the n95 and kn95 are quickly moving out of my price range.

Wish Biden would do something to limit costs for disabled people. We cannot pay 50 dollars a box,750 dollars a box is what I get paid for an entire month.

Starve,become homeless and not have meds I need to live or possibly catch covid is not a choice I want to make.

[SheltieLover]

47. They were out of my range shortly after I bought them both times

The trick is to be ahead of the curve, which doesn't help you now.

I watched what was occurring overseas & acted quickly both times.

I hear you. This stuff is expensive!

[pansypoo53219]

6. i went w/ a blue medical mask. better + not as hot.

[we can do it]

21. But they don't seal like the N95, KN94.

[Rhiannon12866]

39. That's the thing.

I'm also wondering if these mandates will start being enforced elsewhere. I could support it, but getting mask mandates at all is the tougher thing.

[LiberatedUSA]

7. The majority of those wearing masks have cloth.

If cloth masks are banned, I think a meltdown will happen. When this started, all the medical masks got bought out. Label cloth masks as not good enough, then the medical ones will all get sold out and nobody will be able to go in anywhere, as all they will have is the cloth masks.

Luckily, I have a box of 50 medical masks in case this happens.

[mwooldri]

8. I've gone to those surgical masks...

... because the province of Quebec banned us truck drivers from using the cloth type masks. Haven't gone to (K)N95 masks yet. Some of my co-workers are anti vax and anti mask. Idiots.

[SidDithers]

33. Great KN95 masks from Canada Strong Masks...

https://canadastrongmasks.ca/

They're not cheap - about $1.50 - $2.00 CAD each when shipping is included, but they're comfortable and look good.

Sid

[moonscape]

40. Shoot. Ordered some, paid with Paypal,

then the country choice was only Canada. They don’t ship to the US. I’ve been wanting some like these.

[beaglelover]

9. Wearing a KN95 mask on a long flight would really make

My ears hurt. I’m flying cross country in October and plan to wear a regular blue surgical mask.

[CottonBear]

16. KN95 masks are available with 2 straps that go around your head.

I have some that my work provided to me along with the kind with earloops.

[beaglelover]

17. Thank you! I will try to buy some of those before my trip!

[CottonBear]

18. You're welcome!

BTW, my first doggo was a beagle! ❤️

[Ms. Toad]

10. Bad idea.

By and large, the surgical masks I've seen have large gaps at the side and don't conform to the nose, leaving three large gaps through which unfiltered air both exits and enters. Banning cloth masks which, by and large, fit better is not an improvement.

"Slightly less" becomes "slightly more" when you take into account the average fit. (It certainly would be appropriate to require a surgical mask replacement for an ill-fitting cloth mask - but not a flat out ban. I have one medical facility I go to that requires a surgical mask. Can't make it fit without gaps (even trying the relatilvey complex pleat fold and criss-cross ear straps). So forcing me to swap a 2 or 3 layer cloth mask that fits tightly for a surgical mask that gaps between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch makes me (and those around me) less, not more, safe.

Banning unfiltered exhaust valves, bandanas, scarves, etc. and shields is definitely appropriate.

[CottonBear]

14. Tie a small knot in the ear loop at your earlobe to make the mask fit.

Criss-crossing creates a gap.

Over the medical mask with the ear loop knots at the earlobe area, add a full coverage cloth mask with a nose piece that contours to the nose and full coverage over your cheeks and the medical mask. Add a face shield and you are good to go. That’s what we do.

[Ms. Toad]

42. It's not the cris-crossing that creates the gap.

It is the construction of the mask. A rectangular pleated mask, without special shaping to create a snug fit is always going to gap.

The cris-crossing combined with adding a box pleat is supposed to create a good fit, but it does not.

Putting the medical mask under the cloth mask creates gaps unless it is tucked completely inside the cloth mask - and I have yet to see a surgical mask (aside from a child's mask) that is small enough to do that without edges poking out and creating small gaps around the poked out parts.

I have one mask with a pocket, and the only way I have found that gets any benefit from a surgical mask is to fold it into a stretched octagon and insert it inside the well-fitted cloth mask.

[CottonBear]

44. I have several brands of full coverage cloth face masks.

String King (LA, CA) and ones from Aldi (metal nose strips, filter picket & full coverage plus those ear loop adjustor doodads)

[Lars39]

29. My doctor was wearing a surgical mask under a close fitting cloth mask.

Kinda surprised me ‘cause I thought she’d be wearing a N95.
It looked like she had a good fit though.

[Ms. Toad]

41. I have 3 styles of cloth masks

Every single one of them fits more snugly than any surgical mask I've tried.

Currently, I'm inserting a surgical mask into the pocket on my cloth mask, since that's the only way a surgical mask does me any good.

I do what your doctor did at the one facility where they require surgical masks - and the fit is not as good as with just a cloth mask.

[Lars39]

43. I don't know how she did it,

but she somehow managed a tight fit. Wished I’d asked her about it.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

46. I wear a cotton

3 layer mask with an insert and double mask with a surgical mask inside the cloth one with a filter in it.

That's the best I can do on my measley income.

[Ms. Toad]

48. As long as it fits snugly, that should be good. n/t

[I_UndergroundPanther]

49. They are snug

And it covers my goatee with no gaps.

I adjusted the straps and sewed them to fit me and I use a click connector to make it go around my head tight,and to make it easy to get on and off.

It takes the sore ear problem away.

Turns earloops into an around the head strap.

However when I put it on I gotta move my gauges out of the earloops.

[womanofthehills]

51. All my cloth masks have pockets for PM 2.5 filters

If I have to go into Walmart, I wear a N95 with a valve but over that I wear thin cloth mask. A few months ago, when things were looking up and cheaper I bought 20 N95s, a bunch of KN95’s, blue surgical masks and lots of on sale very pretty floral masks with filter pockets. Also lanyards -I’m set in the mask dept.

[Ms. Toad]

52. I make all of my masks (and make some for others, as well)

I had moved away from pockets, since no one was using them (and in the area of the pocket it breaks up the double layer). I'm definitely breaking out the sewing machine and may redesign them to include a pocket.

I favored the strap around the neck (rather than over the ears) when I had hair down to my bum, but cancer in December (and the inability to use my right arm to wash it for more than a mongh) pushed me to cut it. It's at most 3" long now, and it's about time to cut it again. I hadn't realized how much my long hair was helping keep the straps in place - so I'll have to shift to an over the ear model, which will require an additional re-design since the close fit at the sides depends on the outward angled straps, rather than parallel or converging toward the ears.

[qazplm135]

11. no because cloth masks are good enough

and there's no way you can make THAT many surgical masks for 330 million people to use indefinitely.

[Celerity]

37. +1

it is the cold, hard reality of the situation

fully vaxxed and basically any sort of actual mask, worn properly (none of this 'nose exposed' bullshit) is the around the best we can hope for

btw, the purists on here will not even accept this:

and there's no way you can make THAT many surgical masks for 330 million people to use indefinitely.

they are demanding N95 level for all

which is simply not going to happen

[KentuckyWoman]

12. A mistake.

I will put my well fit personally sewn cloth masks up against a poorly fit one size surgical mask any day.

[pnwmom]

13. They don't make surgical masks in sizes to fit kids. n/t

[CottonBear]

15. You can get disposable kid sized masks at Aldi. NT

[pnwmom]

19. The question is whether the airlines would accept those as a substitute for surgical masks. n/t

[CottonBear]

22. Good point.

I believe that a properly fitted and worn (nose piece adjusted/bent and ear loop knots made if needed, with a full cover cloth mask over the child size medical mask would be sufficient. Add a face shield and your child would be fairly well protected.

BTW, this is how I outfitted my child for doctors and dentist visits before he got his vaccine this summer. He wears the double mask to school.

[orleans]

20. masks can be a mixed bag (description with emojis)

i have a thick, several layered, cloth mask that has a great close fit over the bridge of my nose & next to my nose, and on the sides of my face. it gets a bit hot sometimes and after a few hours it starts bothering the back of my ears but other than a N95 i think it is the best bet to protect the kids i work around and to stay protected from the kids i work around

medical masks don't always fit well around the nose and are usually loose on the sides (at least mine are and the ones i have seen on friends and others)

a lot of parents get thin nylon crap masks for their kids

i had a kid come in the other day with this colored but sheer nylon piece of shit mask and i could see their mouth thru it (but this kid has already had covid so parents don't think their child needs to be masked--it was only when it became mandatory that put a mask on the kid)

some cloth masks are thin and show the big wet spot some kids produce...and the longer they wear it the bigger the spot gets

some masks are absolutely delicious and the kids push them in their mouth to suck or chew on them

gators have waned in popularity with the older kids (thank god) b/c those drove me crazy

one of the kids came to class and appeared to be wearing a PURPLE N95 (i tried to find it on amazon but i can't. i loved it)

[Beringia]

23. Maybe they ban because cloth masks are not all the same, or have the same specs

Cloth masks are not a standard quality as surgical masks are.

[luckone]

28. +1 & some are really bad but cheap so they get purchased

[Liberty Belle]

24. I wore a cloth mask on United flying cross-country yesterday.

I had a K-95 but just couldn't stand wearing it for so many hours. I am vaccinated, but have some sinus issues. Surgical masks fit too loosely on me, since I have a small face, so I wore an adjustable double-layer cloth mask.

That said, while my return trip was fine, I did worry on the trip out 10 days ago when I had the misfortune to be seated next to an unruly brat not yet 2, who squalled nearly the whole flight, threw water bottles, and when he finally turned red in the face after a tantrum and started coughing, I demanded to be switched to the only empty seat in the plane. I began to regret not having the better mask handy, but fortunately didn't get sick.

I am fully vaccinated, and haven't caught COVID despite at least two known close exposures. If you can stand an N-95 or KN95 mask, or at least a surgical one, I advise wearing it on a plane.

I would NOT get on a cruise ship for anything right now, and frankly with the FAA would figure out a way to require masks for children under 2 on plane flights or else seat all the families with young children together in one section away from the rest of us.

[samnsara]

25. someone needs to make fashion N95s!

[CaptainTruth]

26. Good to know! We have a trip booked to Italy on United, but in the past we've been bumped...

...to Lufthansa if there were flight delays.

We have a big box of KN95 masks & a smaller box of N95 masks.

[ZonkerHarris]

27. I'll put my tight fitting cloth gaiter mask up against these loose surgical masks I see everywhere

oh wait I do put it up against them and I haven't caught Covid

[FakeNoose]

31. A paper "disposable" mask can be safety-pinned inside a cloth mask

It's perfectly safe, fairly comfortable, portable and reusable. I gave up on trying to purchase my own N95 masks because I'm not a medical professional, and I really don't want to take them away from the people who DO need them.

I'm retired, I only go out shopping once or twice per week. Low usage for me, and low danger. I live in a city that's about 70% vaccinated and most people are still masking in public here in Pittsburgh.

That being said - I don't think I'll EVER fly on an airplane again in my lifetime. With or without an N95 mask, I don't believe I'll ever do it.

[NH Ethylene]

32. That's what I did when I was teaching last year.

Double masking was difficult because 2 loops over each ear would hurt after a while. So I pinned the surgical mask inside the cloth one.

[FakeNoose]

34. Yes I sympathize with teachers

It's very difficult being a dedicated teacher these days. All the crap you have to deal with, and now worrying about Covid too? Totally unfair!

[NH Ethylene]

35. I retired at the end of last year, my sanity barely intact.

It was almost that time anyway, but I had always enjoyed teaching and knew I would miss it, so I was putting off retirement.

Not anymore. I shudder at even the idea of going back for another year.

[FakeNoose]

36. God bless you! I totally understand

I have many friends who are teachers, several have retired in the last year.
It has been horrible. You've earned your brownie points for Heaven.

[zeusdogmom]

38. So many kinds of masks, many of them poorly fitting

I have several styles of disposable masks but mostly use the cloth masks I have made for myself. Two layers of good quality quilting cotton ie tightly woven, with a layer of fusible interfacing or Oly a fabric similar to that used in surgical masks. Can’t blow out a candle while wearing one, no day light when held up to a light. Are they as good as a real N95? Probably not, but certainly better than loose fitting surgical mask.

[Maraya1969]

50. Some of those really thin fabric masks seem like they wouldn't be much help. eom