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Marietta company making, giving away mask filters

Photo provided From left, Kevin Akindojutimi, an employee of Skuttle IAQ Products and Davis Powers, owner, cut filters into pieces that are 24 inches long by 16 inches wide to be used in cloth masks.

Skuttle IAQ Products are giving away filter sheets that can be used inside of cloth masks.

This filter material is a MERV 11 filter which is made for reducing dust in the home and filtering out particles that are as small as 1.0 microns, but is not as effective against the coronavirus particles as an N95 mask.

According to Davis Powers, owner of Skuttle IAQ Products in Marietta, by itself, it isn’t enough to block the COVID-19 virus which is at .13 microns.

“If you put this filter in your cloth mask it will help to make the cloth mask filter out particles more efficiently, reducing your exposure or someone else’s exposure to you,” said Powers.

The rough dimensions of these filters are 24 inches long by 16 inches wide.

“We cut and prepared these filter sheets using face masks and sterile gloves. The filters are put in a clear plastic bag and then put into another outside white envelope to maintain sanitary transfer,” said Powers.

This filter material is being given out for free in the main office of Skuttle at 101 Margaret St., Marietta.

When entering the office, Powers asks that people stay at the front door and call 740-373-9169.

Powers says the material is not washable, and does suggest changing it out after a couple of weeks.

Powers said that the idea for putting filters in the masks came to them after trying to figure out if they could just turn the filters into masks.

“We wanted to use what materials and skills we possessed to help the community in some way during this outbreak,” said Powers.

According to Powers, their filter was too porous to completely block the coronavirus particles on their own, but combined with the cloth masks that people are making, it will decrease one’s exposure.

Madeline Scarborough can be reached at mscarborough@newsandsentinel.com

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