What to look for in a Reusable Home Made Face Mask Pattern

Words I never thought I might write. But as it looks increasingly likely I may find myself making masks, I thought I'd do the research first. Many of us have our suspicions that some of the WHO advice about not using them, is mainly to protect precious stocks for health workers. That doesn't stop us thinking - maybe I'd like to make my own. You can find the results of my research and my first 6 trial masks in this post (including the one that, for me, was 'the winner'). Be warned, that is quite a long post! But I've tried to pick out the essential points here.

I am NOT a health worker, nor have I any qualifications in virology. I just want to do what I can for my family. So I'm not going to give you all the recommendations about whether you should or should not wear a mask and when, how to put a mask on and off, or how to wash it - you can read that elsewhere. (However, the last link suggests it might be as effective to just hang it outside for 3 or 4 days, then all the virus will be gone!) My post is purely about making masks. (This web page covers some of these above points with respect only to disposable masks.)

 Here are some of my trial masks.

So let's get into what is important.

First and most importantly, consider why you are making masks, and for whom.

You may be wanting to make masks for health workers / first responders / care workers. There are some suggestions here. BUT - if this is your plan, I really have only one thing to say to you: find out exactly what your local community needs. There are very few circumstances in which such people will give you anything more than a weak thank you, if you take them a heap of masks that are not what they want. I'm aware that some US hospitals are asking for Olson masks (more about those in my other post), but they require them without wires, and without fastening, and without filters, as they will provide those - they just want made up shells. Looking at pictures of UK health workers not on the front line, most are wearing a pleated style of mask, quite narrow on the face, but completely covering nose, mouth and chin. I don't believe most of us sewing at home could aspire to making FFP2 grade (N95/KN95) masks for critical care staff, even if we could get the right materials. So it is very important for you to find out exactly what willl be needed, and how to get them into the right channels. You can't just leave them on the doorstep. 

But it is more likely that you are wanting to make masks for family and friends, given the world-wide shortage of masks to buy. In which case, my practical research will be more useful to you.

If you intend making them to sell for profit at this time, I don't have much to say to you. I know everyone gotta live, but you can do your own research, thanks.

Should you have a nose wire?

The simple answer to this is, yes, unless making them to a specification for health workers who will add their own. I quickly found that a nose wire helps to get a closer shaping round the nose, which also helps reduce fogging of glasses. So for me it's a no-brainer. It's easy to add a channel for a nose wire. And the wire, if it has sharp ends, needs to be bent round at the ends so there aren't sharp points to go through the fabric or to stab the wearer. Here's some suggestions for how to add a wire. The other thing I've found is that it needs to be long enough not only to bend up into an upside down V on the nose, but needs to be a little bit longer on each side. My testers found this is more effective at stopping glasses steaming up than a shorter wire. So at least 4.5 inches (10cm) ; some styles have 7" (18cm) which may be even better if the mask style allows it. But 2.5" - 3" is really too short.

What wire to use? 

People have used a variety. It needs to be soft and flexible enough for the wearer to be able to bend it around the nose, yet to stay more or less in shape in wear. I've used a thin garden twine, perhaps thinner than I would have ideally used, but the thicker stuff I had was a) too stiff, and b) the plastic started to shred off as I bent the ends in. I thought of 30 amp fuse wire, but I'd used my last piece up, so only had very thin fuse wire left. Other people have recommended a doubled over pipe cleaner. Sadly, I'd given away all my stock of pipe cleaners to my grandchildren, out of school, to use for craft projects, before the full lockdown. Bag ties can be used, and others have cut up foil trays into strips, folding in the sides and ends to reduce sharp edges.

Should the wire be removable? 

This partly depends on what it's made of. If it might rust in the wash, then yes, probably. My favourite mask has an exterior channel for wire, so the wire can be taken out and put back in, if only to stop it getting pulverised in the washing machine. (I forgot to do that, and it flew out and snapped.) Luckily no damage to the machine. But most of the other masks have the wire sewn in to the top seam, and I'm OK with that, too.

What shape is best?

For personal use, it's largely a matter of what suits you. There are two main styles, the pleated, or accordion, style, and the cup shape style (my daughter called this a muzzle). The easiest of each style takes about the same time to make as the other. The one we all preferred was a cup style, but it was (sadly) also the most difficult to make. If you want to knock a lot out quickly, I have some recommendations in my other post.

What's the best way to attach it to your face?

There are several options here. 

• Elastic round the ears (or pony tail bands)
• Elastic round the back of the head
• Stretchy ties made out of T shirt material
• Non stretch ties to go round the head (e.g. bias binding)

And these can either be fixed permanently into the corners of the mask, by sewing them into the corners with the masks inside out, or can be fed through a channel on the sides, which means they can be removed for washing or replacement.

We quickly rejected the elastic round the ears, as too uncomfortable. Several patterns advised 7" of elastic, my husband wantd 9".

(Or in my case, because of my small ears, prone to popping off my ears.) Health workers who use this type often have a scrub hat or hairband with buttons on, so that the pressure of the stretched elastic loops is on the button, not the ears. But it may work for you.

We liked the elastic round the head, in a separate channel. 

It goes down one side chaneel, across the back of the neck, and up the other channel, so it can be tied at the top either round the back of or over the top of the head. If it was just tied in a loose knot initially, it could be pulled up and tightened for the best fit. That will be my preferred method in future. (Note though that with ties, it is usually recommended to undo the bottom first, then the top. So I may reverse that.)

The stretchy ties idea seems to have first come about because of fears of shortages of elastic. 

I've tried that (and you'll see more in my other post), but so far I haven't had any trouble getting elastic. In fact, some more has arrived this morning.

I did use stretchy ties on one of my trial masks, even though the tutorial suggested non-stretchy ties. And I think the stretchy ties were a mistake on this one, I couldn't get it tight enough. Many surgical type masks (pleated style) have non-stretchy ties which can be tied firmly so they don't slip.

So I think this is a matter of what you prefer. I'll probably stick with the 'elastic round the head' until I can't get elastic any more. I have plentiful supplies of bias binding!

Do you need a filter pocket?

That's harder to answer - it depends. For health workers, the answer seems to be yes. 

For other purposes, it may just be an additional complication if you need to make a lot. But there are several of those I looked at where the pocket is fairly simple to make. The pattern I've now made most of (due to its popularity with my guinea pigs)  doesn't have a pocket because it aims to have a layer of (non-removable) filter material sewn into the inside. But it's the shape of it that has won favour, not the extra layer.

Note that with a pleated mask with a pocket, the pleats have to be opened out (unpleated) in the centre to get a filter in.

What materials are best? And do you need a filter?

Again, it depends what you are aiming for. This blog reports on research showing the effectiveness of different materials. But there's often a trade-off. The materials that screen out the most / smallest particles most effectively can also be the hardest to breathe through. It also depends on what's available. The pattern I've most used, from the US, suggests incorporating Shop Towels, something I've never heard of in the UK. They look a bit like our thin washing up sponges, but I don't think that's what they are. We all have to use what we can lay our hands on.

It is often recommended that at least one layer, or a filter, is used, which is non-woven. There are various suggestions, other than the mysterious shop towels, some of which I think may not be a good idea. For example, I was told baby wipes (no, don't use, too many chemicals in them; yes, use them but wash first. Mine went into a big hole when washed.) I've also read that coffee filters might work, were they not as hard to obtain as any thing else. And there has been a lot of debate about vacuum filters. Some say they contain dangerous fibre particles, others say they don't. I'd prefer to err on the side of caution, but this seems an expensive way of make a filter, to me. However, I do have some sew-in interfacing, which is a non-woven material, and, as it's intended to go in garments that will be washed, it's more washable than most non-woven materials. I also have loads of felt, but I thought this would be thick and hard to breathe through. 

I have opted for one layer of tea towel (cutting up old but clean ones) and one layer of flannel, with an interfacing filter in some of them.

There is more information about the efficiency of different materials here, and here.

How can you make lots?

One way is to keep it simple. 

For example, this website suggests a very easy to make sewn mask. 

But there are other tips for making a large number of sewn masks quickly. Most suggest doing all the cutting out first, and making stacks of each piece to take off and use. Here's an example from See Kate Sew. and another one from Sew Can She, with a video tutorial 

Or this You Tube video gives some good tips, too, for batch -production of masks for the Olson style.

What alternatives are there to sewing a mask?

Well, you can make one out of a suitable filtration material, or even paper, and staples! Here's an origami mask. However, I'm less sure about the suggestion to use vacuum filters as the material - most of these contain fibres that could be harmful if breathed in. If you can get hold of any other suitable material, this could be worth a try.



The CDC in the US have both a sew and a no-sew version of masks. One of the latter made out of a T shirt, I'm not convinced this would be very effective. And the other is made out of a bandan, just tucked in at the ends. I'm not sure how this one would work, as the elastic would surely pull out the ends? But maybe worth experimenting if you don't sew.

Eventually, the wrold supply may improve, and you may be able to buy disposable masks again. But in the meantime, leave those for the health workers. 

To find out about how my trials with different mask patterns went, look at this post.