- Technology innovation by IIT Bombay Duraprot Face Mask is a breakthrough in making the Cotton Fabric Hydrophobic
- Manufactured by Meemansa provides breathability which is less than about 8.8 pa/cm2 resistance against a 30 to 40 pa/cm2 of an N95
- Meemansa women-led social entrepreneurship empowers rural women, upcycle garment waste and won many accolades for their unique initiatives
In a country where women are worshipped as God, three women are playing a critical role in fighting the pandemic for the last couple of months, answering the prayers of many including health workers across the country. The story of Meemansa Duraprot Face Mask is about an enterprise led by Women getting collaborated by another women Innovator from India’s premium institute for tackling the most challenging problems of COVID19, Masking India! Face Masks are not new to humans, but the pandemic is forcing everyone across the globe to wear masks protecting them as well as people around.
Meemansa the leading garment design and manufacturing house run by Priyanka Bapna based in Mumbai, and Rashmi Kothari at Anand, is giving wings to the technology innovation by Professor Rinti Banerjee from IIT Bombay, bringing out Made in India Duraprot and Duraprot Plus Mask which redefines the way people are wearing and using Mask today. The job doesn’t end with technology innovation, or with manufacturing the best face mask, but ensuring the people know how and why to use a face mask, making the initiative of this trio very challenging and interesting.
The real question today is are we wearing the face mask today to comply with the regulation or actually safeguard us from COVID19 or any other seasonal viruses which is beyond the control of available medicines and treatment. In May 2020 during the pandemic Team, Meemansa collaborated with IIT Bombay becoming licensees of Duraprot, and in September 2020 of Duraprot Plus. This was a natural extension of the social cause Meemansa took as a garment manufacturing company initiated in the initial days of the COVID19 pandemic hit India, manufacturing and donating masks from its available textile.
What is Duraprot Technology by IIT Bombay?
The Duraprot technology is unique, unlike the other masks which use synthetic or plastic non-bio-degradable materials as the main fabric. IIT Bombay innovated a solution that embeds in the weave of cotton fabric, the Duraprot technology used in manufacturing Meemansa Face Mask. With the help of the Research & Development team of Rhino Machines headed by Manish Kothari, the Duraprot Face Mask went into commercial production from 1st July 2020 in the manufacturing facility at Anand. Development and scaling up of fabric processing was achieved within just 4 weeks.
During July IIT Bombay continued and provided a breakthrough in making the Cotton Fabric Hydrophobic, which changed the entire story. The tests were done in July, the patent filed and by September the process was stabilized and handed over to Team Meemansa under an extended license. The design team of Meemansa with its two decades of experience in textile manufacturing, with the technology from IIT-B coupled with best quality cambric/ cotton fabric, the shape which provides sealing required of a respirator (similar to N95), options of ear band, headband, colors, and sizes.
What makes Meemansa Duraport Face Mask lies in its properties of filtration. More than 98% which are retained for about 200 to 400 hours of wear, much more than some of the available premium masks, provides breathability which is less than about 8.8 pa/cm2 resistance against a 30 to 40 pa/cm2 of an N95, informs Team Meemansa. The wearing comfort coming out of the excellent breathability and soft feel of the cotton wearable fabric makes the mask wearable for 8 hours without removing and offers protection throughout work or exposure.
A Face Mask which Deactivates SARS-CoV2 Virus
What a Duraprot mask gives you is beyond what is available around us and it’s also a unique innovation from India – 100% bio-degradable fabric, self-disinfecting properties which deactivate SARS-CoV2 virus tested with the surrogate virus in Intertek Lab as per ISO, EN, and IS test standards, deactivates bacteria, and the Duraprot Plus prevents 99.99% viral penetration.
In a time when the Indian Textile industry was getting in trouble, and all production getting stopped, the women power behind Meemansa have been able to sustain the livelihood of their employees, associates, and give a sustained source of income to karigars, added 60 workers on their muster with PF and compliances in the past 4 months and providing access to livelihood. Every 100 masks sold are sustaining one family, and every mask is protecting an individual and the community around them.
Meemansa is one of the only textile manufacturers who have registered the Face Masks as a Medical Device on CDSCO and has a Cotton Mask meeting Medical Device standards with all the required tests and reports validated by IIT Bombay and International Laboratory. For more details, visit www.meemansa.in