In this blog post, we go over some of the most recurrent questions we receive.
Question 1: Does your mask follow Canada's public health guidelines?
Answer 1: In short, YES. We use the following guidelines from Canada's public health page: Non-medical masks: About - Canada.ca . Notably the following points (quoted from website on Feb 15th) on Materials, construction and fit "be made of multiple layers, including: - at least 2 layers of tightly woven fabric, such as cotton - a third middle layer of filter-type fabric, such as non-woven polypropylene. Use materials that are breathable" Regarding filters: "Using a filter as a middle layer in your non-medical mask adds an extra layer of protection against COVID-19 by trapping smaller infectious respiratory particles." Regarding fit of mask: "A well-fitting mask should: be large enough to completely and comfortably cover the nose, mouth and chin without gaps. fit securely to the head with ties or ear loops. be comfortable and not require frequent adjustments. maintain its shape after washing and drying"
We'd like to add our personal comment around this: We began providing this mask back in April 2020 at a time when wearing masks was not yet broadly recommended across Canada. Since then, masks have become ubiquitous and easily accessible from dollar stores to gas stations. If you've used one of our masks, you probably also tried other ones on and you are likely to have felt the difference. We continue in priding ourselves on the quality of our masks. Since April 2020, we've adapted to offer 2 improvements: (1) offering filter pockets on all masks, by popular demand and (2) moving from a universal (medium-ish) size to 2 sizes: Large and Medium that are better adapted to North American sizes. Our family packs are back in different sizes as well: FAMILY PACK of 4 x PREMIUM REUSABLE MASKS + 16 X FILTERS - PAQUET FAMI – ultraeclat
Question 2: What's an N99 filter? Is that even a thing?
Answer 2: Like an N95, the "99" denotes the % capture of particles. Now this can seem confusing because different standards exist. After all, what particles are we talking about? What size? to adress this, specific and standardized testing methods exist. When a product "passes" these standardized tests, they can wear specific standard names like PM 2.5, N95, KN95, FFP2 etc. In the case of these filters, at the development stage, filters were submitted to an air flow containing pathogens: influenza, staphylococcus, candida, klebsiella pneumonia bacteria (ATCC 10231 ATCC 4352 ATCC 9027 and ATCC 4352). During testing, using the AATCC 100 protocol, a performance of N99 was returned on those tested pathogens only. We want to specify that the filter will not "turn your mask into an N99 mask" and we do not recommend the use of these filters for medical purposes, the takeaway is that the quality of these filters are high and that used properly, they offer a level of protection that is greatly superior to that of a simple cloth mask. Our filters are available here in packs of 4, 10, 20, 40 & 50 filters: ANTIBACTERIAL FILTERS FOR REUSABLE MASKS - FILTRES POUR MASQUES RÉUTIL – ultraeclat
Question 3: Are your filters washable?
Answer 3: This one is a little trickier. The filters are nonwoven polymer fabric. Rather than a mesh of cloth, we ought to think of the filter as "spaghetti" of fibers that offer less direct passages for particles to pass through unencumbered. Nonwoven filters are generally recognized as superior filtering agents that meshed filters. Washing the filters are likely to alter their integrity and thus affect their performance. To what degree? Hard to say. We can logically conclude that a washed filter might still be better than no filter alone, however the properties of the filter are likely to have been affected. Our personal comment around this issue is that this mask, with its 3 layers, design that "seals" the face (we have seen the latest backlash on surgical masks that leave wide gaps to the side), is already above and beyond the surgical mask that was recommended for so long and that a washed filter would still offer some level of protection. If you want to be extra careful around this issue, then we might recommend following procedures developed for N95 masks. N95 masks have much the same issue and cannot simply be washed with soap and water or doused in alcohol. How to clean and reuse an N95 mask (msn.com)
Question 4: You mention that your masks are anti-microbial, does that mean they kill viruses?
Answer 4: Let's disambiguate a little, first off, there's a fundamental difference between viruses and microbes but we won't get into the biology of it here. The "antimicrobial" aspects of the mask itself simply means that the fabric used slows down the growth of bacteria that might otherwise develop. It's a feature often seen in some sportswear. In this specific case, the mask integrates silver fiber on the outer shell that is well-known bacteriostatic agent. To the user, it simply means that the mask will be less likely to develop a foul smell and feel fresher longer.