Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

armbrustusa.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 250 posts

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#71

Post by lloydarmbrust »

wrycoder wrote: post #55
lloydarmbrust wrote: post #12

I've spent about 1,000 hours on this with my team using a very expensive (~$250k) lab and I'd love for this to be a great resource for people when choosing a mask. The heavy lift we are doing here is around our particulate filtration efficiency test in which we do either the NIOSH N95 NaCL (0.3 micron) test or the ASTM 0.1 micron latex particle test. I'd love HN feedback on how we improve the interface and make this…

Your filtration test appears to be only testing the mask fabric, but not the fit. I see a number of surgical masks over 95%. I don't think that would be possible in practice, because of leaks at the sides and top. I'd expect more like 50%. But, you don't appear to have the equipment to do a fit test. Refer to the 3M video on how to fit test an N95. I realize that N95 and surgical masks have different standards, but y…

A good mask needs both fit and filtration... most people can put a mask on, check for air gaps and see how well it fits, but they don't have a $250k mask lab to make sure the fabric is good.

We are just solving for the filtration and letting people figure out the fit.

But, you make a good point, in the videos I try to point this out but we could do better. Where could I add this to make this more clear?

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#72

Post by lloydarmbrust »

newman314 wrote: post #65
lloydarmbrust wrote: post #12

I've spent about 1,000 hours on this with my team using a very expensive (~$250k) lab and I'd love for this to be a great resource for people when choosing a mask. The heavy lift we are doing here is around our particulate filtration efficiency test in which we do either the NIOSH N95 NaCL (0.3 micron) test or the ASTM 0.1 micron latex particle test. I'd love HN feedback on how we improve the interface and make this…

Sorting by breathability is broken. It'd be nice if you had pop-up dialogs upon hover over each of the fields. For example, if I hover over breathability, explain what it is and how you measure it. Some color codes/gradient would be nice to help with the visual effect (Green for Pass, Red for Fail etc.) But please do include a toggle for color-blind mode if you do add color.

It's working for me, can you describe what's happening?

Good call on the color coding... I'm color blind so didn't think of this :)

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#73

Post by lloydarmbrust »

throwaway81523 wrote: post #38
lloydarmbrust wrote: post #12

I've spent about 1,000 hours on this with my team using a very expensive (~$250k) lab and I'd love for this to be a great resource for people when choosing a mask. The heavy lift we are doing here is around our particulate filtration efficiency test in which we do either the NIOSH N95 NaCL (0.3 micron) test or the ASTM 0.1 micron latex particle test. I'd love HN feedback on how we improve the interface and make this…

I looked at the linked page and it had a big list of masks, each of which linked to a page about that mask with a picture but no information such as test results. Was that intended? Could you just ditch all the fancy web design and have a big table with test results for each mask, with an ordering link for the models that you sell? That would be awesome. It would be great if you also sold the stuff you use for testin…

Testing masks is very specialized and all in I've spent about $250k on the mask lab. I just bought a new machine that costs about $90k. Here's an overview of the machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpjajJrDWBk

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#74

Post by dpark »

thro1 wrote: post #66
cpeterso wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the point of wearing a mask is to prevent you from unknowingly spreading COVID to other people. Many stores I visit have signs prohibiting vented masks.

If you can't catch it (but the mask does), you can't spread it..

Because of course people wearing vented masks wear them whenever they are near another human. It’s not like they have family or friends they spend time with maskless.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#75

Post by lloydarmbrust »

nobodytoseehere wrote: post #48
lloydarmbrust wrote: post #12

I've spent about 1,000 hours on this with my team using a very expensive (~$250k) lab and I'd love for this to be a great resource for people when choosing a mask. The heavy lift we are doing here is around our particulate filtration efficiency test in which we do either the NIOSH N95 NaCL (0.3 micron) test or the ASTM 0.1 micron latex particle test. I'd love HN feedback on how we improve the interface and make this…

Great work, thank you for sharing it with the world. I am very curious about country stats and have 2 questions. First, I found this one randomly: https://www.armbrustusa.com/blogs/mask-review/kf94-try-mask-... The country of origin on your page says China, but the photo's box says Korea. Is this a mask repackaged and exported from Korea that is actually from China? Second, does "China" also include Taiwan? If so, I…

Ah! You caught a mistake. Thank you it's fixed.

China and Taiwan are separate (they make very different masks) but I haven't been able to find any from Taiwan to test.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#76

Post by causi »

jader201 wrote: post #67
causi wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest issue with surgical masks is most of the nose strips are pathetically thin so they bend out of place and stop you from getting a good seal, which means they're a nightmare for glasses wearers.

> which means they're a nightmare for glasses wearers More importantly, it greatly reduces their effectiveness. Fogging up glasses is, by far, the lesser issue of the two.

Depends on whether you're the type of person for whom fogged glasses means a mistyped line of code or the type of person for whom fogged glasses means blowing up a lab or getting your arm ripped off in a machine.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#77

Post by lloydarmbrust »

jader201 wrote: post #67
causi wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest issue with surgical masks is most of the nose strips are pathetically thin so they bend out of place and stop you from getting a good seal, which means they're a nightmare for glasses wearers.

> which means they're a nightmare for glasses wearers More importantly, it greatly reduces their effectiveness. Fogging up glasses is, by far, the lesser issue of the two.

Yes. Look for masks with a double nose wire. We make one and many find it does not fog their glasses... but there are plenty of others that make them too.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#78

Post by GavinMcG »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #70

The page claims over 99% filtration by some dinky earloop surgical masks, which seems impossible unless they are only measuring the fabric and not the mask as a whole. It definitely seems like the testing method can't possibly account for side leakage, which IMO makes the measurements basically useless.

Useless? It still tells me that the US-made masks I bought from a reputable manufacturer aren't up to spec.

Eliminating the ones that fail regardless of fit is extremely helpful.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#79

Post by lloydarmbrust »

nopenopenopeno wrote: post #47
lloydarmbrust wrote: post #12

I've spent about 1,000 hours on this with my team using a very expensive (~$250k) lab and I'd love for this to be a great resource for people when choosing a mask. The heavy lift we are doing here is around our particulate filtration efficiency test in which we do either the NIOSH N95 NaCL (0.3 micron) test or the ASTM 0.1 micron latex particle test. I'd love HN feedback on how we improve the interface and make this…

Table only shows mask names on mobile. Don’t be surprised if your announcement doesn’t have the impact you wanted it to. You need a website that does its job on mobile.

Ahhh... good point. The search will work but you are correct that the full version is better on desktop.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#80

Post by [deleted] »

lloydarmbrust wrote: post #71
wrycoder wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your filtration test appears to be only testing the mask fabric, but not the fit. I see a number of surgical masks over 95%. I don't think that would be possible in practice, because of leaks at the sides and top. I'd expect more like 50%. But, you don't appear to have the equipment to do a fit test. Refer to the 3M video on how to fit test an N95. I realize that N95 and surgical masks have different standards, but y…

A good mask needs both fit and filtration... most people can put a mask on, check for air gaps and see how well it fits, but they don't have a $250k mask lab to make sure the fabric is good. We are just solving for the filtration and letting people figure out the fit. But, you make a good point, in the videos I try to point this out but we could do better. Where could I add this to make this more clear?

[deleted]
Post reply on HN