health
The 7 Best Materials for Making Your Own Face Mask, Backed by Science
Apr
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has officially recommended that all Americans wear protective masks outside to help curtail the spread of the COVID-19 contagion. Previously, the CDC recommended that only individuals who were sick wear masks, but that was when far less data was available. There was also a serious concern that a run on masks from “civilians” would create a supply shortage for health care workers. Many do-it-yourself approaches for homemade masks have now popped up online, but if you don’t know your way around a sewing machine, then all hope isn’t lost. You can cut up household material in the pattern of a surgical mask as the next best option. But what type of material is the most effective for a face mask?
In a 2013 study from Cambridge University, researchers tested household materials to find out which ones did the best job capturing bacteria and viruses. Here’s how they rank.
1) A vacuum cleaner bag:-
A vacuum cleaner bag should be your first option of material to use to cover your face. It will require some clever cutting and rubber-band attachments to serve as a facial mask, but if you can figure that DIY part out, then know that it is 95 percent as effective as a surgical mask.
2) A dish towel:-
Next on the list of household items that you can fashion into a mask? The common dish towel. According to the Cambridge research, this material is 82 percent as effective as a surgical mask.
3) A cotton blend T-shirt:-
The cotton blend T-shirt also serves reasonably well as a protective material. A cotton blend shirt is 74 percent as effective as a surgical mask, though a T-shirt that is 100-percent cotton is slightly less effective at 69 percent.
An antimicrobial pillowcase clocks in at 65 percent as effective as a surgical mask. A normal, non-antimicrobial pillowcase does slightly less well at 60 percent.
5) A wool scarf :-
A woolen scarf is another decent alternative. The Cambridge researchers deemed it 62 percent as effective as a surgical mask.
6) Linen :-
Have a linen tablecloth you can part with? That’s another option at 60 percent as effective as a surgical mask.
7) Silk :-
If you have none of the materials above available, but have silk on hand, know that it’s 58 percent as effective as a surgical mask.
