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

armbrustusa.com

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

#211

Post by lloydarmbrust »

nier wrote: post #112
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…

Greetings from Germany. Of course my local interest lead me to the one and only product tested that originated here. https://www.armbrustusa.com/blogs/mask-review/surgical-medte... The accompanying video is informative and I can add that the way the earloops are attached is wide-spread in Germany. Also confirmation from my side that the strings rip right off with this type of attachment regardless of the actual manuf…

If it helps 100% of my grandparents are from Germany :) might be obvious by my last name.

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

#212

Post by bagacrap »

lloydarmbrust wrote: post #200
divbzero wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On my face I have a leakage of about 21% or PFE of 79% when worn normally. > With an ear saver, it jumps to 91%. > With a mask brace, it jumps to 98%. I had no idea it could vary so much for surgical masks. I’d be curious what range of leakage people could typically expect for other designs such boat-shaped KF94 or flat-fold KN95 masks. Fit seems important enough to deserve a mention in the intro paragraph at the t…

Okay I put a disclaimer right on the front and we are typing up an explanation right now. Thank you for this feedback! https://www.armbrustusa.com/pages/mask-testing

thanks! all the notes about fit will be very helpful, including how to use the extra accessories you mentioned above.

For example I found this study on beard length which made me reconfigure my facial hair: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-021-00337-1

The charts in that paper also make it seem that n95 *typically* has a much better seal on the face which is worth noting.

I also wonder if the breathability you're measuring affects filtration, given imperfect fit. I would imagine that worse breathability would cause more air to flow around the mask rather than through it.

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

#213

Post by lloydarmbrust »

pimlottc wrote: post #208
newman314 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Sorting by breathability is broken. I'm seeing this too; I think the single entry [0] that includes a percent sign in its breathability score is screwing up the sort. 0: https://www.armbrustusa.com/blogs/mask-review/surgical-beixi... > 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. If…

Nice! Fixed

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

#214

Post by GavinMcG »

anotheryou wrote: post #144

Why is one pass one fail here? https://www.armbrustusa.com/blogs/mask-review/kn95-powecom-f... https://www.armbrustusa.com/blogs/mask-review/kn95-allmed-fl... isn't the passing one worse actually?

From elsewhere in the thread (and on the site's methodology information) it looks like the one that failed was not marked with the information required by the standard, so it fails to meet the standard.

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

#215

Post by lloydarmbrust »

formerly_proven wrote: post #159
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…

Being able to filter the list by pass/fail or minimum PFE and/or maximum breathing resistance would be nice.

Adding this to the feature list

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

#216

Post by lloydarmbrust »

watersb wrote: post #161
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…

My budget is limited, but I just purchased a $50 shipment of your masks because this is awesome. Thank you.

Thanks! Honestly didn't do this to directly sell masks... according to shopify we have made a whopping $248 from this post

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

#217

Post by lloydarmbrust »

jmpman wrote: post #186
lloydarmbrust wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a PG quote....

PG? The up and right = better guidance came from a sales guy that I didn’t initially have a lot of respect for. But, he was right. People naturally assume up and right is better on any graph, so present your data in that way. So, 1/resistance versus filtration? Or how much air is passed through the filter (cubic meters per second) given a fixed amount of lung power.

Paul Graham

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

#218

Post by lloydarmbrust »

bee_rider wrote: post #108

I was lucky enough to find some of those 3M Auras at a local hardware shop. They are like $2 a pop, but everything about them is nice -- materials feel great, I find the inside volume is enough that I can breathe easily, they don't stick out like a beak (IMO having the beak style ones in my field of view is annoying). 10/10 mask, still hope to not need them sooner or later, but given the state of the world would buy…

great mask would recommend

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

#220

Post by lloydarmbrust »

jcims wrote: post #132
lloydarmbrust wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it took us a long time to get it right... manufacturing is hard but that's why we have an earloop guarantee. Write support@armbrust.com and they will refund you or get you a new order.

Appreciate you replying. I think I found your company by a video you (?) posted about the magic of the meltblown process which sent me down a pretty entertaining rabbit hole. I had some issues with import masks previously so I went deep with an order of the denim colored masks thinking this would get us squared away. It was extremely frustrating when I couldn't get a single one to hold together and wasn't sure if I j…

Yes! Use these: https://www.armbrustusa.com/products/armbrust-ear-savers

Screenshot this post and let support@ that I said to include a pack for free with your earloop replacement.

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