Safety Equipment / Respiratory Masks

Make sure you’re breathing clean air when you buy a respiratory mask from Sydney Tools.

Pick up masks for the whole crew with 10-packs and 12-packs in a range of protection levels including P1, P2, N95 and P3, so you don’t have to worry about breathing in hazardous dust even on the messiest demolition or clean-up jobs.

You’ll find trusted brands in safety equipment like 3M, Raptor, Drager and Pro Choice, and heavy duty powered respirators from AWS.

If you’re not sure which mask type you need, read our buyer’s guide below, or head into one of our stores in any of Australia’s major cities to speak to our staff.

P2, N95, P3 masks: what do the different mask ratings mean?

So what are the differences between respirator mask ratings? What do the numbers mean?

There are a few different ratings for respirator masks, with the most commonly found being P1, P2 and N95.

P1 masks filter at least 80% of airborne particles and protect against airborne debris such as that created by cutting, grinding, drilling and sawing. 

P2 masks filter at least 94% of airborne particles and offer improved particle protection over P1, plus protection against thermal particles such as welding fumes.

N95 rated masks filter at least 95% of airborne particles, thermal particles such as welding fumes, and viruses and airborne bacteria including COVID-19.

P3 masks filter at least 99.9% of airborne particles, and this rating is achieved only by full-faced or powered respirators.

Tips for keeping the air clean on the work site

When you’re doing carpentry work indoors, it’s important to always set up a dust extractor so the air doesn’t get filled with sawdust which then gets breathed in. 

If you need a backup option, you can connect your shop vac to a saw or thicknesser for a temporary solution, although this of course puts you down a vacuum and will be much noisier and less effective at filtering air than a dedicated dust extractor.

Make sure you check out our huge range of dust extractors which includes H Class, L Class and M Class units.