Safe Face Mask Near You

MagiCare was founded to provide reliable, high-quality personal protection products. Our made in USA face masks and goggles have been used all over the world in the global fight against COVID-19. 

Testing face masks:

What keeps you safe and what's clearly dangerous. All the athletes wear these. So, 60% nylon, 30% polyester, 91% hemp, 100% cotton, 100% polyurethane. So many masks. So many types. They're everywhere. A mask vending machine. Now I have literally seen it all. And with so much out there we want to know, do some masks work better than others? How do you think this would do? Not sure. Nine months into the pandemic we still have no standards for consumer face masks. That's why we're buying more than 20 different types. And taking them to the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana school of public health. They're going to see how effective these masks are when it comes to sealing and fit. They'll also test the material using the same standard for medical masks like the N95. The salt air is going to come out of here. We know the coronavirus can be as small as 100 nanometres. About 1/1000th the width of a human hair. The test will measure how many of those tiny nanoparticles are getting through the mask. Then we close the box, so we seal in all the air. It's one of the toughest tests out there. And then it all gets measured in the computer down there. COVID spreads primarily through the air, attaching to the droplets you exhale. And as they become smaller aerosols, they can travel great distances. Now notice with a mask how it slows or stops the spread of those particles, protecting others around you. But new science shows masks can protect you, too. Monica Gandhi is an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco; she's at the forefront of this research. The hypothesis, masking leads to fewer deaths and more asymptomatic cases. But there's still lots of confusion out there. That's what we've asked the University of Toronto to find out. James Scott is a Bioaerosols professor. He's overseeing our test. Fair to say, there were some surprises. There were lots of surprises. First up. This single-layer polyester gaiter mask. What was the deal with this? Get 3 ply face masks made in USA near you.

If you look at that fabric, it has very large pores in it. Air can simply sail straight through it. Turns out not this mask is not very effective at filtering out those tiny particles. These bandanas don't do so great either We actually tested a bunch of these masks. Anything about what these masks are made of catches your eye in terms of being better than say something else? They all kind of look the same, but if I were to choose one, I guess I'd go for either the bandana or this white one here. I wouldn't use the bandana one, it looks like it has a thin material and a lot can go through that. So happy you mentioned the material. So, this bandana yes, super thin material did not do very well. Same with the gaiter. The thinner weave didn't do so hot. Wow, talk about learning something new every day.  Now, What about those valve masks? Ok, so this is something you guys did to sort of illustrating the issue with the valve mask to us. And there it is. It's just sort of pouring out of there. Why do we want everyone to wear a mask? Well, we want everyone to wear a mask because we want to reduce the potential for there to be this virus in the air. This doesn't do any of that at all. We find it does a poor job of filtering particles. And could even further spread infectious diseases. Health Canada warns not to use them. But seems not everyone is getting that message. Spotted in Ottawa, the parliamentary protection service, wearing valve masks. They tell us they're phasing them out. But many other places still offer them for sale. Without warnings. The masks that perform best? MagiCare is one of the best mask importers in USA.

Disposable surgical-type masks with non-woven polypropylene. You can see no holes at all in that. Yeah, it's like a wall. That fabric pulls out lots and lots of particles. Far more than the other fabrics that we've looked at. And get this. A three-layer mask with non-woven polypropylene between two layers of cotton works as well as the gold standard, a medical N95. And it's way more comfortable. That is remarkable. It certainly performed honestly almost as well as N95. Perfect, that's really good to know. I'm looking at buying new masks and now I know what to look for. 100% cotton masks though were an interesting story. These three-layer cotton masks didn't do so well but these ones with only 2 layers did much better. Hmm. What does Scott think is happening there? Well, when it comes to cotton, quality makes a big difference. The high thread count cotton masks we tested, 600 thread count and above, performed very well. The higher thread count cotton, when it's woven together has smaller and smaller and smaller pores. As air moves through, it needs to travel a circuitous pathway and that's what's really responsible for trapping particles. So, there's more of a chance of those little coronavirus guys getting stuck on something like this and even more of a chance if there's more than one layer of this. Exactly. Bottom line, look for masks with multiple layers. And the higher the thread count cotton, the better. But that can be tough to find out. It's probably not on the label. Because manufacturers don't have to put it there. The higher the thread count, the better the job it does in terms of filtering those potentially harmful particles. Wow, that's interesting. But that's not the most important thing when it comes to selecting a mask that's right for you. Fit is the first thing. No matter how good the mask is if it doesn't fit your face, then put it back. There's barely any leakage coming from this mask. Now check this out. This is the unsealed mask. If the mask doesn't fit your face, then air will simply move around rather than through the mask. If your glasses fog up, your mask doesn't fit very well. See how it's sealed? But now watch this one. Oh wow, yeah. There is smoke everywhere. -Fog and steam. -Oh, yeah. Leakage. Does any of this change what masks you'd get in the future? Oh, absolutely. It makes you think before you put one on. If your glasses fog up, it's a sign your fit over your nose is not tight enough. So, I think I need to change my mask.