Quote Originally Posted by Katia View Post
Well, the jury is still out on the elastic. I put it in one of my masks just in time for my biweekly grocery-shopping trip. I'm not sure if I like it or not. It's a bit more comfortable than the wire, because I don't have it gripping all the way down both sides of my nose so there's less pressure (and, I have found wearing a mask makes my nose want to run but at least the elastic does slightly less, for that same reason). But, that extra space on either side of the nose where the fabric is not fitting close also allows more air to escape and fog my glasses (but, it's not completely horrible). I feel like I possibly could have sewn it tighter-- I initially stretched and sewed just the ends of the elastic and then tried it on, and it seemed more tight then than it did once I was done. But, I can only do so much; it's hard to stretch the elastic while also hand-sewing it and I think I got it pretty well stretched. (Or maybe I needed a longer piece of elastic; the one I used was roughly 2.25".)

Someone who doesn't wear glasses, or possibly someone with a small nose (unfortunately, my father was generous enough to gift me with his large-nose genes), would have no problem with this method.
The issue with elastic is that it pulls in a straight line and with a mask we are trying to get the cloth to take a shape. I've used four wire types, all about 6" in length with the ends bent back and crimped:
electrical - being copper and coated, the individual wire is less likely to oxidize with washing, but its too thick
pipe cleaner - very comfortable, but will it rust?
jewelry wire - shapes light cotton nicely, but very thin and a bit of a job to fix it in place
aluminum craft wire - not thin, but extremely pliable. holding shape and comfortable... longevity?