Posted
"How do you make a face mask?" is one of the most-searched questions in Google right now.
And
it makes sense. You're stuck at home over a long weekend, you need a
craft project to keep the boredom at bay, and there's a pandemic going
on. But there's a lot you need to know before you dust off the sewing machine.
Here's the Australian advice about masks
Currently, the advice for Australians is not to wear a face mask unless you're sick or in close contact with a sick person."I must remind Australians that the wearing of masks down the street of the CBD is really an inordinate waste of valuable resources," Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone told a press conference on Wednesday.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said face masks were crucial protective equipment for health workers, but "not recommended for the Australian public".
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has similar advice.
"If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV (COVID-19) infection," the WHO website says.
"Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing."
But in the US, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention advises people to wear cloth face coverings in public areas like shops where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
The CDC website even features its own video tutorial on how to turn a T-shirt into a mask.
Holly Seale, a senior lecturer in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of New South Wales, says there's no harm in wearing a homemade face mask.
But she follows that up with a stern caveat.
"Putting a single piece of T-shirt material in front of your mouth will probably have a very, very low impact in stopping things."
Stay up-to-date on the coronavirus outbreak
- Download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest on how the pandemic is impacting the world
- You can also get up-to-date information on the Federal Government's Coronavirus Australia app, available on the App Store, Google Play and the Government's WhatsApp channel.
A mask is not a magic shield
Craig Lockwood, a University of Adelaide associate professor of implementation science at the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI), says it's important to remember masks are only effective when used with other infection-control methods."A mask by itself doesn't protect you," he says.
"What has worked in some settings is the use of homemade masks plus really intensive hand hygiene and other safe practices."
So don't think that, just because you've got a mask on, you're safe.
"We look at brief video clips from overseas of people walking around in a mask, and you might think that's all we need to do," he adds.
"My sense is a lot of those people are practising really good health hygiene and social distancing and they do a whole raft of things.
"But what we see is just the mask."
And don't forget your eyes
A face mask may stretch over your nose and mouth, but that doesn't mean you're fully covered.Your eyes are also a potential point of infection.
"If you have contact with [contaminated] surfaces, people rubbing their eyes might be putting themselves at risk," Dr Seale says.
She says rubbing your eyes is an unconscious thing that's difficult to stop.
Fabric is important
There's a clear hierarchy of masks in terms of effectiveness.Homemade masks are right at the bottom of this — they're never going to be as effective as a surgical mask or a respirator.
"All the evidence says that homemade face masks are a last resort when you're working with people who are a known risk or a known diagnosis of respiratory infection," Dr Lockwood explains.
Here's one of JBI's best-practice recommendations for mask use, which were published in March:
"Cloth (eg cotton or gauze) masks are not recommended under any circumstances, to prevent the transmission of respiratory infection in low-risk community settings."That's because the weave in the fabric that makes up a mask needs to be tight and complex enough to ensure that the droplets don't pass through it.
And we're talking tiny, invisible-to-the-naked-eye-sized droplets here, not globs of spit you can see from a few metres away.
"Single pieces of material that are not tightly woven are not going to have a lot of impact," Dr Seale says.
So, if you're still thinking about making your own mask, think hard about the fabric you use.
"Getting your nanna to knit you a mask out of wool is a bad idea," Dr Lockwood says.
Think about filtering
"Tea towels rate well for filtration if they're double layered," Dr Lockwood says."Everything else is a bit lower down the list."
Dr Lockwood says a 100 per cent cotton T-shirt would also be up there in terms of filtration.
But layering is key, so at least two pieces of fabric would be needed.
Getting the right fit is crucial
Even if your fabric is optimal for mask-making, the final product won't be all that effective if it doesn't sit snugly on your face."A mask needs to be tight around people's faces and as tight-fitting around nose and mouth as possible," Dr Seale said.
Masks have to practically form a seal around your mouth and nose.
Sealing off the mouth is easy enough if the mask goes all the way under the chin, but there can be gaps around the bridge of the nose.
Surgical masks combat this with a small piece of metal that allows the mask to mould around the wearer's nose.
But that's hard to pull off at home.
What the experts are saying about coronavirus:
You can't wear them for long
Don't think that a single homemade face mask will last you all day.As you continue to breathe into the mask, the moisture in your breath will gradually dampen it.
And that's not good.
"As soon as they become damp, they lose their effectiveness," Dr Lockwood says.
"Once a cloth material loses its dry character, it becomes permeable — it's easier for the virus to pass through."
There's a procedure for putting it on and taking it off
It's a face mask, how complicated can it be?Well, you have to follow some basic rules when you're putting it on, otherwise wearing the mask is pointless.
"Apply it by only touching the strings," Dr Lockwood says.
"When you take it off, only touch the strings. When you take it off, wash hands with soap and water."
In short: touch your mask as little as possible.
But not touching your mask is hard
"Anyone who's worn a mask for long periods knows that they're not very comfortable to wear," Dr Seale says."People need to be conscious that you're going to want to scratch your face, your glasses will fog up. You're going to want to adjust that mask, or your glasses.
"It's just human nature that we're going to want to touch that mask."
That's where things get risky.
Photo:
Touching your face is human nature, so it's a tough habit to break. (Pexels: Daria Shevtsova)
If you touch your mask with your hands, the germs will be on your hands and then whatever you touch will be germy as well.
Dr Seale has a simple rule to follow on this front.
"Assume your hands are dirty and assume that mask is dirty — you need to be washing your hands every time you touch that mask."
Your questions on coronavirus answered:
Can I reuse the mask?
That depends.If it's an all-fabric mask, you can wash it at home.
Dr Seale says it must be cleaned with detergent in a hot wash cycle in a washing machine.
It also needs to be air-dried, and completely dry before it's used again.
Making sure it's hung out in the sun for a few hours would be your best bet after a machine wash.
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