Now masking has become a way of life for all of us, the advent of a second lock down scheduled to commence from this Thursday 5th of November shows how important it remains in the fight against the spread of Covid-19..
Masks do not protect directly against infection from the Virus itself but they do reduce the airflow when talking, sneezing, or coughing. They also discourage individuals from directly touching their faces particularly the mouth and nose; the areas nearest to the mucous membranes.
In Asia, the wearing of a mask is more commonplace. It’s seen to be less about self-protection and more about being a courtesy to others.
Now that wearing a face-covering has been made mandatory in the UK from the 15th of June on certain types of public transport, the vast majority of the masks used will not be “medical masks”, but simple, less tight-fitting, more comfortable fabric masks.
At this point, the DecoTex fabrics available from DPM meet these requirements:
- The fabrics can be printed on both transfer and direct. These dyes are already used in the clothing industry. Please check the skin compatibility dyes with your supplier.
- Knitted construction, easily cut with no fraying.
- With automatic cutting equipment, the mask can be cut to include the ear bands, which will mean no sewing is required.
- The finished product is washable at up to 90° C (and considered sterilised at 75° C).
- All fabrics are tested and meet the STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX product class 2 (Safe for Skin contact).
- Vision mask meets class 1 (Safe for skin contact, even babies and toddlers)
- DecoTex AM 7048 is anti-microbial and has a bacterial reduction rate of 99.9%
The following items are already used by our customers:
- Vision Mask – (Class 1)
- Vision Soft Coated Display – Our Soft 212gsm Polyester (Class 2)
- Vision Botex – Very Soft with a brushed side for comfort while wearing (Class 2)
- Vision Elastic – Lots of stretch in all directions (Class 2)
For all fabrics, we recommend washing the finished masks before wearing, both to improve comfort and for hygiene.
We are also currently working on the development and certification of additional antiviral materials – update to follow.
Please contact us for further information and data sheets for the products.
