The best self made mask

[KentuckyWoman]

A bandanna
2 hair ties or rubber bands
cut coffee filter 4 x 6 inches if you can but mine are the 4 cup filters just cut in half

I add the coffee filter on advice from my husband's former therapist But she said white gift wrap tissue folded in half will work too. It will allow moisture and air to pass through but the tight weave of the paper will help trap some pathogens.

Get home, pitch the paper, throw the bandanna in the laundry and grab a new one for next time. I put the hair ties around a folded bandanna and keep in my purse almost all the time.

Easy to size for anyone's face.

No they aren't perfect. But it's easily accessible and in 3 years of regular use my husband didn't catch anything in public while on chemo. - and when I got a cold a couple times he didn't catch mine. Of course this was coupled with LOTS of hand washing, keep hands out of face, and keep house as disinfected as we could.

[mucifer]

1. Better than nothing. But it has no metal pinchy thing at the nose

[KentuckyWoman]

4. You could use a twist tie ... but

I tried it because my glasses tend to fog up... made it worse actually.

[BusyBeingBest]

7. A little strip of thin sheet metal sewed on--from Home Depot

or somewhere.

[drmeow]

2. Data suggests that the extra filter

Isn't likely to make it more effective but is likely to make it less breathable:

https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/disaster-medicine-and-public-health-preparedness/article/testing-the-efficacy-of-homemade-masks-would-they-protect-in-an-influenza-pandemic/0921A05A69A9419C862FA2F35F819D55

[not_the_one]

3. Cool! You can express your "identity" AND be fashionable.

Corona CHIC!

[Lars39]

5. Add a head band to sew buttons onto

to loop the elastic on. It saves the skin behind your ears from getting rubbed raw.
I saw this yesterday, sorry, can’t remember who to give credit.

[KentuckyWoman]

6. I have a friend who uses shoe laces instead and ties behind the head

I wear hearing aids too but I have big ears. There's room for the hair ties and the hearing aids.
For her the extra something behind the ear didn't work. ... She's not a dumbo like me.

Your idea of the headband with buttons is a good idea.

[msongs]

8. glad I stocked up coffee filters a few wks before all this started... nt

[SmartVoter22]

9. Use furnace filter material for masks...

Last edited Sat Mar 28, 2020, 02:47 PM - Edit history (1)

A coffee filter is not going to do much at all.
A homemade mask is a great idea, but you consider finding a fabric that can actually filter out small particles and droplets.
The filtering standard for masks is the MERV rating. (attached is a link to PDF of the MERV ratings). The N95 masks are MERV 15 or higher. Hey...furnace filters have a MERV rating! I checked mine at home, and they are MERV rated at 9.
I got one out and the fabric is pleated, so once you tear the filter apart to get at the filtering fabric; flatten it out to larger area, which you can cut out face masks. Maybe use the coffee filters as front and back covers over the furnace material?
I checked some pricing and a set of 3 filters about 20x20" is about $20. This material will actually trap virus carrying droplets.
Maybe make a back and front cover out of the coffee filters, draw on them to make your mask unique and or stylish??

Innovative thinking is what is great about this post, but try to improve on the filtering material, if you can.

http://www.mechreps.com/PDF/Merv_Rating_Chart.pdf

[mainer]

10. I tried it but can't keep it on because rubber bands slip off my ears

If you have a sewing machine, you'll do better with one that has actual ties.

[mainer]

11. Instead of rubber bands, nylon stockings?

Nylons are pretty stretchy, and if you cut old ones the right length, they might work and be very comfortable.

[KentuckyWoman]

12. I can't help it... I pictured this

?v=0

[2naSalit]

13. LOL!!!