How Much Have You Spent on Masks?

[Snow mom]

Back when cloth masks were acceptable we were lucky in that my seamstress MIL sent us tons of homemade masks (a new bag for each holiday/season.) I bought DS a box of the kids masks at Costco which he will occasionally wear and DD is now wearing. We just started buying KN95s although we have yet to receive anything to see if it fits. We've probably spent $60 total so far. By the time masks arrive our omicron spike will be done but I still want them for flying in February and who knows what is to come.

I wondered the same on testing. We spent about $120 on home tests and about $150 when the kids needed to be tested to return to school. I'm holding back on buying reimbursable tests waiting to see what the insurance company says. I don't want to end up with a bunch more $$$ out thinking I'm going to be reimbursed.

[lizzywednesday]

I've probably spent about $100 on DD's masks - she primarily used fabric ones from ON for camp and was remote for most of the 2020-'21 school year. She's bitten through most of those, so we have a bag full that she's designated as teddy bear masks.

On top of that, I guess we spent another $45 or so on fabric masks for me.

We got some KN95s from my brother during the summer of 2020 because he'd gotten a large stash for work. I keep a small box in my car for emergencies, but usually use fabric ones. Of course, with Omicron's increased transmissibility, the fabric ones aren't going to cut it for much longer, so we're dipping our toes into KN95/KF94 or equivalent. DH just bought some N95s from Home Depot, but none of us like them. (I think we're going to keep them as emergency/backups.)

[mikala]

Oh man, I don't even want to think about it. Definitely upwards of $500 for 5 people.

>$150 on cloth, filters, elastic, etc while sewing my own at the beginning
>$150 on Enro and similar reusables
>$250 on pleated and n95 disposables
We seem to have at least 3 different sizes going in our family and the kids faces have grown so we've had to adjust over time to keep up. Some masks don't seem to fit anyone in the family well.

[Kindra178]

Way too much! Between cloth and high quality (astm 3 surgical) for 5 people plus friends, I would estimate well over 1000 dollars since the pandemic started.


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[essnce629]

Yikes, I don't think I want to know! And that's with DH working from home since March 2020 and me being a SAHM. I've spent $127 in the past month on KN95 masks that we haven't even received yet! DS2 has used a box of Ecoguard surgical masks every month for the past 9 months which have ranged in price from $18-$25 so that's about $200. DS1, DH, and I were pretty much just using cloth until December. My mom is a dental lab tech and is able to bring us N95 masks from work so that's what DH and I use when going out now. DS1's school is supplying them with N95 masks as well so he's ok for now, but wants me to get him some earloop KN95s since the N95s are all the headband style that's hard to put on with his giant hair. So we've probably spent a lot less than those that have been working out of the home this whole time. We've probably spent a few hundred dollars on cloth masks as well (I spent $30 on 1 mask for DS2 to try at soccer)!

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[carolinacool]

DS2 has used a box of Ecoguard surgical masks every month for the past 9 months which have ranged in price from $18-$25 so that's about $200. DS1, DH, and I were pretty much just using cloth until December.

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Since this whole thing began, I've had the hardest time finding surgical masks for DS, who's 12. He's between kid and adult sizes, and the knot and tuck thing doesn't work for him. You mentioned Ecoguard a couple of weeks ago. When I was on the Amazon page, I clicked on the kids version and read many reviews that said they seemed to run big. I placed an order, and they fit great! The ear loops are definitely longer than most kids version, and it works for DS now. I know surgical isn't ideal now, but it's a step up from his Athleta cloth, so thank you!

[hellokitty]

Too much. I bought dozens of cloth masks, my mom sent us over a thousand disposable masks from a group order with her friends. I'm not even factoring that in. Since Xmas we've been ordering n95 masks I also never buy antibacterial wipes, and that is something we have done since covid. So, we've spent more than a couple hundred.

[essnce629]

Since this whole thing began, I've had the hardest time finding surgical masks for DS, who's 12. He's between kid and adult sizes, and the knot and tuck thing doesn't work for him. You mentioned Ecoguard a couple of weeks ago. When I was on the Amazon page, I clicked on the kids version and read many reviews that said they seemed to run big. I placed an order, and they fit great! The ear loops are definitely longer than most kids version, and it works for DS now. I know surgical isn't ideal now, but it's a step up from his Athleta cloth, so thank you!

You're welcome! DS2 really likes the Ecoguard and refuses to wear the free N95 masks my mom brought home from her work. The Ecoguard are 4 layers so hopefully that helps. He wore them the entire time at his 2 day indoor volleyball tournament and managed to not get Covid (he's PCR tested weekly) so that's good!

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[Globetrotter]

Way too much.. And we have mostly been virtual, aside from Ds in college, so I can’t even imagine what it would be like if you had to work or study in person. Dh Goes in 50% of the time and they provide surgical masks, though I’ve asked him to wear kn95s. we were using cloth masks for the most part, Usually combined with a filter or at times surgical. But for certain high risk activities and now with omicron we are using (and reusing) kn95s all the time. I’m hoping we can go back to wearing cloth with the filter at some point…

I hate to think of the environmental impact of all these disposable masks and test kits. I recently learned that VIDA has a recycling program for their masks- I haven’t tried those.
So far my all-time favorites are mama seamstress. They work well for all four of us… And powecom kn95s, though to be fair I haven’t tried other KN95s. I really don’t like the N95s but we have some on hand. They’ll come in handy for fire season in the future. UGH.

[JBaxter]

No clue but masks are not required here except for Dr offices. I have a few vera bradly that hang on my turn signal in the truck and I think there are a couple of the costco 360 masks around still. DS3 like the black paper masks last year but I got a few packs on amazon cheep.