Homemade masks should maintain these basic standards to be effective against Covid-19

• People can now easily make masks at home and take care of themselves while stepping out for essentials.
• While the homemade mask is not equivalent to a N95 mask, it's still a good precautionary measure.
• Here’s what you need to keep in mind while making a mask at home.

As the Coronavirus pandemic spreads, masks and sanitizers have become essentials in every home. People went out to stores and bought masks in abundance so that they can exercise caution against the virus.

However, as people began to hoard them, it became more and more difficult to get hold of masks in the market. With this, the priority of mask availability needed to be reset to be made available for doctors and healthcare professionals who are the frontline workers and face imminent danger from the virus. The World Health Organization then announced that it’s not necessary for everyone to wear a mask but only those affected by coronavirus.

But people can now easily make masks at home and take care of themselves while stepping out for essentials. With a simple cloth piece and two elastic rubber bands, one can make a mask at home.



While it’s super easy to make the mask at home, one should also ensure that it still does the job.

The mask should cover your face – it should fit comfortably and rest on the sides of your face with no gaps. The rubberbands you use should fit perfectly on your ear lobes and shouldn’t be loose. However, ensure that it doesn’t put any restriction on breathing.

Also ensure that your face isn’t covered by just a single layer of fabric.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that one must wear these cloth masks when they are going out to buy groceries and depending on the frequency of use, they must be washed regularly. You can also sterilize the mask after every use by just putting it in a pan of boiling water.

“Cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, voluntary public health measure,” said the CDC.

Be careful to not touch your face or eyes immediately after removing the mask.

While the homemade mask is not equivalent to a N95 mask, it's still a good precautionary measure to follow if you are stepping out for essentials.

See Also:
Coronavirus cases in India