In any industry, the more experience and resources you have, the more successful you will be. If you have few resources or little experience, there is a high probability that you will fail. During the 2019-nCoV, we didn’t have enough time to learn and gain experience in this particular industry of face mask making machine.

If you’re in the business to produce a competent mask, it’s best to learn from others’ experiences to avoid getting into the trap of mask production, so that you can cut corners and accomplish your goals efficiently. Here I tell you the most critical and the hardest to detect traps in the mask manufacturing process.

The trap of mask production: experience in purchasing mask raw materials 

There are four kinds of raw materials involved in mask production: melt-blown nonwoven fabric, spun-bond non-woven fabric, nose bridge wires, and earloops. The most important and most expensive material is a melt-blown nonwoven fabric. If you are worried about purchasing the raw materials of masks and don’t know how to make a decision, the following experiences will surely help you.

1 Meltblown fabric filter efficiency can not be judged by the feeling, not by the naked eye, must be tested.

The filtration efficiency of meltblown cloth usually occurs in two cases, one is not up to standard, one is up to standard, but soon after, the filtration efficiency will be rapidly reduced. There is no instrument to detect, only by feeling, or there is a test, but not the right test, these are the key reasons for buying substandard melt-blown fabric.

It’s certainly better if you have your own testing equipment and you know how to do it properly, but what if you don’t? We should look for well-known companies that have their own quality standards, a laboratory, quality control processes and capabilities, formal packaging, and labeling specifications, etc. Because of their years of experience, we don’t have to worry at all about the damage that can be caused by having something we don’t understand. And some suppliers, because they do not understand, may not even know whether their products are up to standard, so the price is very low, easy to attract others to buy more, but actually buy more losses.

2 The relationship between filtration efficiency and respiratory resistance of melt-blown fabric

The filtration efficiency of the meltblown cloth and respiratory resistance is usually directly proportional to the relationship, the higher the filtration efficiency, the higher the respiratory resistance, the more difficult to breathe, which can easily cause lung damage. Therefore, in the purchase of meltblown cloth, we can not only pursue the standard of filtration efficiency but also test the permeability of meltblown cloth.

3 Effect of the size of meltblown and spunbond nonwovens on respiratory resistance

During the mask making machine manufacturing process, we found that when R is too large, the inner layer of the non-woven fabric is under too much pressure, and the fabric is subjected to pressure for a long period of time resulting in poor breathability, which can lead to greater respiratory resistance of the mask. If the R is too small, it can lead to excessive fabric tension, resulting in an unstable mask size and the need for frequent, time-consuming fabric changes. Therefore a reasonable R is also a key factor in the stable mass production of qualified masks.

4 Packaging, storage, and transport of nonwovens

Packaging: Product packaging materials should ensure that product quality is not damaged, easy to transport.

Transportation: The products should be protected from light, water, moisture, pollution, breakage, and extrusion during transportation.

Storage: The products should be stored in a dry, ventilated, light-proof and clean environment, away from fire and flammable materials.

5 Suppliers to have their own standards for raw materials for masks

If there is no uniform standard for the raw material of the mask, Some non-woven fabrics are thicker, some are thinner, some nose bridge strips are thicker, some are thinner, some earloops are looser, some are tighter… The mask produced in this way may cause the size of the mask to vary, the length of the earloops straps, etc., which will result in the waste of material and the production of substandard masks.

Only by regulating the standard of raw materials for masks can we ensure maximum stability in the quality of masks and produce qualified masks.