Designers work to make best face masks to stop coronavirus

Designers work to make best face masks to stop coronavirus

It takes less than 5 minutes!

There are a lot of reports about the best materials to use in your homemade mask!

And one group in michigan set out to find the best one.

They sent masks with different filters and fabrics to the people who test n-95 masks - where they were tested for efficiency.

Waay 31's casey albritton joins us with which one came out on top - and the best filter options you may already have at home!

Casey?

According to the founder of the "michigan mask response" - creating a mask using two layers of 100 percent cotton and one layer of a furnace filter - like this one - is about 80 percent efficient-- and pretty breathable.

Tiffany watkins/ delivers masks "i would love to see the community continue to come together, wear their masks, and work on their social distancing."

Back in alabama - tiffany watkins organized the group 'north alabama mask makers' on facebook.

She delivers hundreds of masks a week to people who need them "lately i've been out and about 6 days a week, dropping off supplies and picking up supplies."

She says the masks she delivers are made of 100 percent cotton - but they don't put a specific filter inside.

"we have a pocket in all of our masks for a filter.

There's a lot of different information and a lot of studies about what different filters are good."

The founder of the "michigan mask response" said she wanted to find out the best option for people making homemade masks.

So - she sent her masks to the company "t-s-i."

They certify n-95 masks to make sure they meet osha standards.

Of the 20 materials tested - the most efficient mask was made of one later of filti fabric and one layer of cotton ripstop.

But those - may be hard to find.

They found that the next best thing is two layers of 100 percent cotton and a filtrete furnace filter.

The next best is a combination of cotton, a vacuum bag lining, and swiffer dry sheets.

If you use these items by themselves without combining them with other materials -- they may be less efficient.

Materials at the bottom of the list are a 100 percent cotton t-shirt, a coffee filter, and paper towels.

But even those block between 7 to 15-percent of particles used in testing.

Either way, watkins says people need to be wearing something protective whenever they leave home.

"this is not a situation of 'okay, we've worn this, curved the numbers let's stop.'

It needs to be a continued thing or we will see those numbers rise again."

For more information on the testing -- go to our website at waay tv dot com.

Live in huntsville, casey albritton, waay 31 news.