Which Mask is Best? How to pick the fit, material, and type!

In order to keep ourselves as well as the ones around us safe, we have been advised to wear masks when out in public. But, there are so many different kinds of face masks to choose from! So which mask is the most protective, but is also fashionable? Let’s take a look at different masks to choose the best one! Also, you can read our tips for wearing a face mask in warm weather (like now!)

Material

There are plenty of masks on the market that are made with all sorts of different materials. A lot of popular reusable face masks are made from a synthetic polyester type material that is comfortable and breathable as well as trendy and stylish. However, scientists and researchers have found that masks that are 100% cotton have proven to be the most effective in stopping the spread of respiratory particles escaping out into the open. While doing experiments to test which material best prevents the spread of particles, scientists at MIT found that while synthetic materials provided for a smoother mask, cotton displayed a 3-dimensional structure that helped to provide an extra barrier. 

Fit

When wearing a mask, you should ask yourself two questions: 1. Is this mask comfortable? And 2. Is this mask too tight or too loose? In order for the mask to be effective, it should fit comfortably around both your mouth and nose as well as be tight enough that there aren’t any large gaps between your face and the mask. Since the mouth and nose are the most common as well as the easiest route of entry for the virus, the best way to protect these areas is to make sure that the mask that you are wearing fits perfectly. 

In order to better protect yourself, consider getting masks that have nose clamps. They make it so that your mask fits snuggly and securely against your face, as well as close the gaps that are sometimes prone to occur when your mask is too big for your face. Another option to consider, if you don’t have nose clamps, but your mask is too big, is to tie a knot on each ear strap close to the masks, that way it makes the straps shorter, which in turn also makes the mask sit tighter against your face.

Now that we’ve looked at which types of materials are best for protection as well as how to best fit the mask against your face for ultimate protection, let’s look at the different kinds of masks that you can buy and which ones are the best and which ones are not as good.

Reusable masks

Now that it has been almost 5 months since the mask order has been implemented in most states as well as by large corporations, it might be a worthy investment to get some reusable face masks. Reusable masks provide a lot more protection than the cheap throw-away masks that are available at the grocery store and they will also end up saving you a lot of money in the long run. They are also incredibly easy to make if you need a new home project and have some cute fabric laying around. Buying or making a good set of 100% cotton face masks will also help to reduce the waste that you are creating since you won’t be throwing away your masks once you use them. Just wash and dry them as you would with your clothes and they are ready to be used again! 

There are many different kinds of reusable face masks, some that are just 100% cotton, some that have pockets to add disposable pockets, and some that are thinner and are worn when people workout or play sports. If you’re looking for an option that is stylish, reusable, but also provides extra protection, you should consider looking into face masks that have pockets for filters. These are usually 100% cotton, but provide an extra layer of protection from the filter that you add inside of them. You will, however, have to be responsible for changing out your filters after every use, as there currently are not any reusable filters.

Surgical masks

Surgical face masks are the masks that are most commonly found in the supermarket or at the pharmacy and are typically one-time use only masks. This means that once you use them, you throw them away. These masks typically come in a box of 80-100 face masks and are cheap, however in the long run, it might cost you more as supplies run out. That being said, these face masks are good at protecting against the virus and are typically worn by healthcare professionals. Since Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is already scarce and doctors and nurses are having to reuse a lot of their PPE, it is best not to buy large quantities of these face masks so that there are more for the people that really need them.

N-95

N-95 face masks are heavy-duty masks that are most often worn by healthcare professionals. They contain multiple layers that act as barriers between the person wearing them and the potential droplets in the air. These face masks, while they are the best at protecting people from large respiratory droplets, should be reserved for healthcare workers only, since they are most likely to be in direct contact with the virus. These face masks are also in very high demand but there is such a low supply of these masks which is why they should be reserved solely for healthcare professionals.