Best metal for mask nose bridge?

[Digital_person]

I'm trying the build a reusable mask with a nose bridge that doesn't break or where-out as fast. I've been looking into using nitinol wire but it has a low fatigue strength. Do anybody have an idea of a metal that has a high fatigue strength. Aluminum might be the best option out there but I feel like there should be something better.

[Peterkin]

There are manufactured product for the purpose, suggestions for DIY, as well as instructions on line. https://hellosewing.com/flexible-nose-piece-materials/

I have used the nose-piece from a surgical mask, as well as a whole paper mask as liner for a fabric one. In one mask, I used the flexible metal tie from a bag of imported pasta, That's actually the best fit, as it's a little wider and holds its shape better than the bridge in a disposable mask.

 

[Phi for All]

I use a coated jumbo paper clip and some needle nose pliers. I curl the ends in a circle so they don't poke or catch, and it slips into a sleeve along the bridge of the nose. You bend it to fit the first time you put it on, and it keeps its shape well until you remove it to wash it. I don't think I've had one break yet, but I have multiple masks. 

[Peterkin]

2 hours ago, Phi for All said:

I have multiple masks. 

Do you spell them off by mood, outfit or occasion? 

I know that's off topic, I'm just curious. Masks have become such a fixture of lives, they feel like an indispensable accessory and one of our few means of direct communication. 

[Phi for All]

6 hours ago, Peterkin said:

Do you spell them off by mood, outfit or occasion? 

My sister-in-law found a good pattern and made up 3 or 4 each for family and friends over the last couple years. She used materials she had on hand (except the elastic, always had to keep re-ordering that), so I have some solid color masks as well as a couple that look like drapery or chair cushion material. If I'm doing more than a few errands, or going to the doctor/dentist, I have some disposable KN95 masks I wear beneath the homemade mask.

When we were actively making masks, I stopped at a grocery store I don't normally shop at, and they had a big round container filled with colorful, jumbo anodized aluminum paper clips. I needed some clips that big, but it hit me they might be good for the nose bridge on our masks. They're a bit long, but that lets me curl the ends to fit, and keeps it from sliding down the nose.

[studiot]

1 hour ago, Phi for All said:

My sister-in-law found a good pattern and made up 3 or 4 each for family and friends over the last couple years. She used materials she had on hand (except the elastic, always had to keep re-ordering that),

My wife did a similar thing, except she cut up some old tights for the material to make the stretchy ties at the back.

She has also been experimenting with the metal strips recovered from the hospital blue masks which are re-deformable.

As a matter of interest the blue masks survive trips thropugh the wahing machine.

[Phi for All]

18 minutes ago, studiot said:

My wife did a similar thing, except she cut up some old tights for the material to make the stretchy ties at the back.

We used shoestrings at first because you just couldn't get thin elastic after the craft/fabric stores ran out. I now have mad skills at tying/untying a bow knot behind my head, which should come in handy for future escapes and certain magic tricks. 

[Peterkin]

Mine didn't do so well in washing - survived the first round, but in the second, the weave started to come loose. The ear elastic on them stretches our or breaks after a while, too. That's when they get demoted to liners, just tacked to the inside of a cloth mask with a few stitches, easy to replace. They were cheap, 10 for $1 ( going for $1 each now) from the hardware store, that we always had for mixing garden soil or sanding wood.

We keep some of those by the front door and in the glove compartment for brief encounters and triple-layer cloth ones to wear for longer periods. These, I make from scrap fabric - originally intended to be funny, because everyone was so glum those first months. I use shoelaces for the loops, custom sized for the ears - also a means of gathering the pleats for better fit under the chin* - , plus a long one around the neck for convenient taking on and off.  I hang it on before we leave the house so i can't forget. 

(*was that worth an edit?)

Edited November 15, 2021 by Peterkin

[studiot]

2 hours ago, Phi for All said:

We used shoestrings at first because you just couldn't get thin elastic after the craft/fabric stores ran out. I now have mad skills at tying/untying a bow knot behind my head, which should come in handy for future escapes and certain magic tricks. 

I tied mine once nearly 2 years ago, to the correct tension and have not needed to tie them again.

The masks have now been through the wash at least once a week since then.

Edited November 15, 2021 by studiot