{"id":9780,"date":"2026-03-09T10:35:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T02:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/?p=9780"},"modified":"2026-03-09T10:35:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T02:35:22","slug":"best-materials-make-diy-masks-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/best-materials-make-diy-masks-virus\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are the Best Materials and Fabric for Making DIY Masks?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the shortage of masks during the coronavirus outbreak, individuals are resorting to what some scientists term as the “last resort”: the DIY mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data shows that DIY and homemade masks can effectively capture viruses<\/a>. However, if we find ourselves in a situation where we need to create our own masks, then the next question will be “what materials are best suited for making a mask?” As the coronavirus swept through China, netizens shared innovative ideas <\/a>for crafting masks from materials such as tissue paper, kitchen towels, cotton clothing fabrics, and even oranges!<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Best Material for Making a Homemade DIY Mask<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Researchers at Cambridge University<\/a> tested a wide range of household materials for homemade masks. To measure effectiveness, they shot Bacillus atrophaeus bacteria (0.93-1.25 microns) and Bacteriophage MS virus (0.023 microns in size) at different household materials.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Particle<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

They measured what percentage the materials could capture and compared them to the more common surgical mask.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Homemade<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Not surprisingly, the surgical mask performed best, capturing 97% of the 1-micron bacteria. Yet every single material filtered out at least 50% of particles. The top performers were the vacuum cleaner bag (95%), the dish cloth (“tea towel” in the UK! 83%), the cotton blend shirt fabric (74%), and the 100% cotton shirt (69%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homemade Masks vs. Viruses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The test above used bacteria that were 1 micron large, yet the coronavirus is just 0.1 microns<\/a> \u2013 ten times smaller. Can homemade masks capture smaller virus particles? To answer this question, the scientists tested 0.02 micron Bacteriophage MS2 particles (much smaller – a fifth the size of – COVID-19).<\/p>\n\n\n

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On average, the homemade masks captured 7% fewer virus particles than the larger bacteria particles. However, all of the homemade materials managed to capture 50% of virus particles or more (with the exception of the scarf at 49%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Are we missing a material you want to see?<\/h4>\n

Check out our second round of homemade mask tests with 30 materials<\/a>! Or vote for a material<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Are Two-Layered DIY Masks More Effective?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If the problem is filtration effectiveness, would the masks work better if we doubled up with two layers of fabric? The scientists tested bacteria-size particles against double-layered versions of the dish towel, pillow case, and 100% cotton shirt fabrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Overall, the double layers didn’t help much. The double-layer pillowcase captured 1% more particles, and the double-layer shirt captured just 2% more particles. Yet the extra dish cloth layer boosted performance by 14%. That boost made the dish cloth as effective as the surgical mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the data, the dish towel and vacuum cleaner bag were the top-performing materials. However, the researchers didn’t choose these as the best materials for DIY masks:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Pillowcase<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Instead, they concluded the pillowcase and the 100% cotton t-shirt are the best materials for DIY masks. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What DIY Mask Materials Are The Most Breathable?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The answer lies in breathability. 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 influence how long you can wear your mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, in addition to particle effectiveness, the researchers tested the pressure drop across each type of fabric. This gives us a good indication of how easy it is to breathe through each material. As a benchmark, they compared breathability of each DIY mask material to the surgical mask.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Breathability<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Although the dish towel and the vacuum bag captured the most particles, they were also the hardest to breath through. <\/span>With two layers, the dish towel was over twice as hard to breathe through as the surgical mask. In contrast, the pillow case, t-shirt, scarf, and linen were all easier to breathe through than the surgical mask.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers’ Pick for Best Homemade Mask Material<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Based on particle capture and breathability, the researchers concluded that cotton t-shirts and pillow cases are the best choices for DIY masks.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Best<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Are there any other materials we can use? The Cambridge researchers left out one common material: paper towel. We tested how well paper towel masks capture sub-micron particles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making DIY Masks with Household Materials<\/h2>\n\n\n
Bottom Line<\/div>
<\/strong>Bottom Line: The Best Materials for DIY Face Masks<strong><\/div>
<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best choices for DIY masks are cotton t-shirts, pillowcases, or other cotton materials.<\/p>\n

These materials filter out approximately 50% of 0.2 micron particles, similar in size to the coronavirus. They are also as easy to breathe through.<\/p>\n

Doubling the layers of material for DIY mask gives a very small increase in filtration effectiveness, but makes it much more difficult to breathe through.<\/p>\n

<\/div>

Smart Air<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Here’s What Else You Should Know About DIY Masks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Still not sure if DIY masks really work? See the real-world test data on the effectiveness of homemade DIY masks<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some health authorities claim that masks are only to keep sick people’s germs in, but do masks actually prevent healthy people from getting infected? Randomized studies say “yes.”<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WHAT NEXT?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Along with wearing masks, air purifiers with HEPA filters are also one of the best ways to stay safe from a variety of pollutants in our air including viruses and dangerous PM2.5. A recent CDC study confirmed significantly lower COVID-19 infection rates in schools<\/a> that used HEPA air purifiers. HEPA filters can significantly lower the risk of a variety of deadly diseases<\/strong> including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and high blood pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Read More: Four Steps to Choosing the Best Air Purifier<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart Air is a certified B Corp committed to combating the myths big companies use to inflate the price of clean air.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Experience breathing truly clean air<\/strong> with gimmick-free, effective air purifiers that won’t break the bank. Join the clean air movement.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Sqair<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\n\nCheck out the Sqair!<\/a>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the shortage of masks during the coronavirus outbreak, individuals are resorting to what some scientists term as the “last resort”: the DIY mask. Data shows that DIY and homemade masks can effectively capture viruses. However, if we find ourselves in a situation where we need to create our own … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"10649,9693,10248,22047,9714,10226","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[469,187],"tags":[272,457,468,487,256,467,238,225,330,461,455],"class_list":["post-9780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-masks","tag-air-pollution","tag-bacteria","tag-breathability","tag-covid-19","tag-diy","tag-diy-mask","tag-effectiveness","tag-health","tag-mask","tag-surgical-mask","tag-virus","resize-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9780"}],"version-history":[{"count":61,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28681,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9780\/revisions\/28681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}