As the coronavirus is spreading across the world, countries have taken increasingly aggressive measures to fight it, telling citizens to wear masks, even if they’re homemade.
It’s important to note that wearing one will not guarantee protection against COVID-19, however, face masks can reduce the spread of coronavirus by blocking outgoing germs from coughs or sneezes of an infected person.
So, since commercially made face masks have become so difficult to find, a Russian team lead by Evgeny Maslov created a cardboard design with a replaceable filter and showed how everyone can make it at home.
More info: bumask.ru
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
The creators claim their mask “doesn’t require technical skills and is extremely fast to produce anywhere in the world. Filter replacements can be made of available materials,” they said in a statement.
However, even though the team say people can recycle the mask as standard cardboard waste, the World Health Organization (WHO) advises discarding all face masks immediately after use in a closed bin and cleaning your hands afterward with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
“After coming to Moscow for a few days in March 2020, I ended up having to stay for weeks,” Maslov said. “First, because of quarantine, then because of flight cancellations. After that, I made a conscious choice to … put all of my knowledge to use. That lead me to [start] a non-commercial project-lab [with] a goal to put together … lead designers for quick creation of … necessary objects which can greatly benefit society and provide designs to manufacturers in critical situations.”
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
The designers are distributing the blueprint of their invention through open file access along with detailed instructions for its production.
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
Scientists around the US have taken it upon themselves to identify everyday materials that do a better job of filtering microscopic particles. “In recent tests, HEPA furnace filters scored well, as did vacuum cleaner bags, layers of 600-count pillowcases and fabric similar to flannel pajamas. Stacked coffee filters had medium scores. Scarves and bandanna material had the lowest scores, but still captured a small percentage of particles,” Tara Parker-Pope wrote in The New York Times.
If you don’t have any of the mentioned materials, a simple light test can help you decide whether a fabric is a good candidate for a mask.
“Hold it up to a bright light,” Dr. Scott Segal, chairman of anesthesiology at Wake Forest Baptist Health who recently studied homemade masks, said. “If light passes really easily through the fibers and you can almost see the fibers, it’s not a good fabric. If it’s a denser weave of thicker material and light doesn’t pass through it as much, that’s the material you want to use.”
Image credits: Evgeny Maslov
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