In Dire Need-
Deaconess Hospital in Indiana recently called on home sewers to make washable fabric face masks.
According to the CDC, fabric masks are a crisis response option when other supplies have been exhausted. “Prior to modern disposable masks, washable fabric masks were standard use for hospitals,” said Dawn Rogers, MSN, RN, FNP-C, Patient Safety & Infection Prevention Office. “We will be able to sterilize these masks and use them repeatedly as needed. While it’s less than ideal, we want to do our best to protect our staff and patients during this pandemic.”
They aren’t the only hospital. Providence in Seattle has the 100 Million Masks project, focusing on medical grade masks, and Stillwater Hospital in Oklahoma is requesting home-sewn masks for non-clinical or worried-well patients not related to COVID-19 . In Detroit, McLaren Macomb is looking for home sewers, but they supply the materials.
This got me thinking about who else might use washable fabric face masks. Certainly health professionals working with infected persons would want medical grade masks, but workers in non-clinical settings, offices, nursing homes, health care facilities, cancer treatment centers, etc. Providing masks to the “worried well” might be also useful.
If you want to make masks for anyone beside yourself, however, be sure to check with that facility before you buy materials!
Research Data on DIY masks
Cambridge University Researchers compared homemade masks to surgical masks, and found homemade to be quite effective. A surgical mask captured 97% of 1-micron bacteria. A mask made with a cotton blend shirt captured 74%, and the 100% cotton shirt captured 69%. Those numbers are nothing to sneeze at 🙂
A Shortage of Elastic
From all my various sewing projects, I have scads of cotton fabric, but no elastic.
I know it’s hard to find toilet tissue, hand sanitizer, disinfectant and isopropyl alcohol (fresh eggs, too, I later learned)… but elastic? I found only about half a dozen packages of 1/4″ elastic at JoAnn. And another shopper was in the aisle looking for the very same thing! At the register, the befuddled cashier exclaimed that narrow elastic was in high demand, so I told her about the article I’d read. Apparently home sewers are snapping up elastic (sorry for the pun) to sew masks.
Two How-To videos:
The link to Deaconess Hospital’s Face Mask Instruction PDF is HERE. Personally, I find the written instructions difficult. Watch the video (below). It’s much better.
I actually like this mask (Below) better. For one thing, the elastic isadjustable. For another, it’s all one piece:
How many layers?
Don’t assume that three layers, or that materials thicker than a cotton shirt are better.
Based on particle capture and breathability, Cambridge University researchers concluded that double layers only provide about a 2% boost in effectiveness. Plus, how easy it is to breathe through your mask is an important factor that will affect how comfortable it is. And comfort isn’t merely a luxury. Comfort will affect how long you actually wear your mask.
Thank you for visiting!
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist:
Multi-finalist award winning novel: In the Context of Love,
Picture book: Gordy and the Ghost Crab,
Poetry chapbook: Sleepwalker,
Linda’s social media links: LinkTree