Breathing Easier With The Dus-T

I've been writing this blog a long time -Today - My first product evaluation. As you know I've been consumed by my house renovation and have not done much else for about 15 weeks now. I am a moderately skilled do-it-yourself-er but there is one thing I know. The proper tools make for the best quality job.

I never fall for those As-Seen-On-TV ads or gimmicks. I found the Dus-T(click here) on the History channel show Invention USA. The hosts really put this product through its paces including setting it on fire and dousing it with pepper spray. If you saw my last posting, you may have noticed the mask I've used for years. Not bad for some light painting, sanding, and sawing but I've been renovating a house for months now. The consumer mask I've been using was just not cutting it. I had one huge ceiling left to sand. I had to give the Dus-T a try.

The shirt fit like a glove and with the dust mask tucked in the collar, it looked no different than a regular t-shirt. I wear contacts but for sanding a ceiling, I need to switch to glasses. The first thing I noticed with the Dus-T was my glasses didn't fog up hardly at all. With the regular mask I've used for decades, exhaling goes straight up causing major fogging problems. Making constant adjustments brings dust in from around the edges. No such problems with the Dus-T. A complete ring of protection slides up from the collar and if you want to really lock it in, use the ear loops.

The only time I moved it was to roll it down to get some water. Sanding overhead is exhausting so I decided to rest my arms a bit by chipping some tile off the kitchen floor. I didn't bother to take the mask off which was a good idea since these tiles had years of water damaged and had a pretty strong moldy smell as they popped up. Looking straight up or at the floor made no difference. The Dus-T stays in place.

The fit is snug and you will know you are wearing a mask but in a few moments you won't even know its there. With the old mask, dust would sneak around the edges as I moved or talked and go straight down my lungs. Breathing hard just sucked the mask to my face. With the Dus-T I was going flat out, non stop. By the end I was panting like a dog yet still breathing easy.

Due to my poor skills with the joint compound, I had an excessive amount sanding. Some at pretty close range to where I breath. At the end of a very long day, I had not a drop of dust where I was masked. Not as lucky with the goggles. Dust got in the tiny vent holes on the side and into my eyes.

Dus-T in action

Was this shirt worth the $40.00 price tag? For just this weekend - Absolutely. With the old mask it took me three days of start/stop sanding for the first coat and that was with a sander on a pole and goggles so fogged I could not tell what I was even sanding.

With the Dus-T I was right up on the ceiling with the hand sander and only stopped when my arms were about to fall off. Still only took half a day.

If I did this work for a living, I would have one for every day of the week. I think of all the times in my life I've choked up something from a project I was working on or the years I created my own personal dust storm running my farm tractor mowing or spraying pesticides. The Dus-T is as cool looking as it is effective. The old bandanna tied around the back of the head was never really either.

Now for the best part. This is an American invented, American produced, and an American sold product. I am proud to support anyone who can get a product to market in this country these days. I still have some dusty work in my own house and just told my sister I would hang a ceiling for her for some painting. I know I'll be breathing easy with the Dust-T in my tool box.