DIY-face-masks

a selection of easy reusable face masks to make

View the Project on GitHub adulau/DIY-face-masks

DIY-face-masks (Work In Progress)

French version

A selection of reusable face masks to make yourself easily. We don’t want to make a single design or perfect design but we want to provide a set of design depending of the capabilities of the user.

Homemade face mask are not to substitute to surgical, N95, FFP2/FFP3 masks, but they may help to prevent the propagation of a virus.

Selection of raw materials/fabrics

The selection of raw materials can be performed based on the filtration efficiency and hydrophobic capabilities.

Filtration Efficiency and Pressure Drop Across Materials Tested with Aerosols of Bacillus Atrophaeus and Bacteriophage MS2

We read different papers (such as Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks: Would They Protect in an Influenza Pandemic?) and we provide a table of the most efficient fabrics based on their filtering capabilities. The table might be updated based on new references or scientific papers. If you want to reuse fabrics from old clothes, check the composition and take by priority fabrics listed higher in the table below. A lot of face mask design allows to have different layers of fabric.

Priority Fabric type Reason
1 Non-recycled polyester fabrics Hydrophobic
2 Recycled polyester fabrics Hydrophobic (fiber less compact than virgin polyester)
3 Mixed/blend cotton - Poly Cotton Partially hydrophobic
4 Acetate - 100% Some good filtering capabilities but depending of the fabric quality
5 100% cotton Cheap and accessible but less efficient than the above listed
10 Silk Not recommended (too thin at fiber level) but still better than nothing

How to use and clean your masks

There are also alternative cleaning solution such as hydrogen peroxide but these solutions might not be accessible to everyone.

TODO

Designs

Design 1 - mask with sewing at nose/center level - sewing pattern made from the hand

Original design of masks by Julie Foucre. The video below describes all the steps to build your own masks with you have some sewing experience and the required equipments.

Masque COVID-19 by Julie Foucre

sewing pattern made from the hand

Face mask result from the pattern made from the hand

The face mask uses rubber bands for hair.

Design 3 - mask folded fabrics without sewing at nose/center level

Based on DIY Covid-19 Fabric Mask (with Filter Pocket) Sewing Tutorial, simpler than the previous ones to make but also requires an iron to make the folds and pliers to hold folds during sewing. Cover the face well but go up too much on the nose and let air pass up at the level of the wings of the nose. You can add a small metal clip to pinch the nose and avoid the mask to move.

Mask folded fabrics prototype 3 Mask folded fabrics prototype 3

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome if any amelioration is made on the patterns, techniques and the project in general

It is also possible to directly ask on twitter via DM:

Feel free to open issues to ask questions or add more references.

Feel free to add any patterns or design too, by pulling a request. Translation is also welcome, in target languages of the country you live in. Support low-cost open hardware, share and clone the repository. We list other open source initiatives, don’t hesitate to share those with us.

We also keep track of failed design patterns. If you want to share your failed designs, we are also interested.

License

All is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal

References

The effectiveness of wearing mask in general public

Face mask models

Straps to support mask rubber bands

Simple methods to build masks without equipments

Filtering and fabrics