--- title: "DIY Face Masks Are Basically Useless Against the Coronavirus" description: "Despite a growing DIY army's intentions, the simple fact is that home-sown cloth masks are close to useless in protecting against the coronavirus." date: "2020-03-27" modified: "2020-03-27" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/diy-face-masks-useless-against-coronavirus" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Prosthetics and Devices" - "Viruses" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid-19" - "ppe" --- # DIY Face Masks Are Basically Useless Against the Coronavirus ![Despite a growing DIY army's intentions, the simple fact is that home-sown cloth masks are close to useless in protecting against the coronavirus.]() *\Image: cottonbro via Pexels\* Knitting enthusiasts are [hard at work]() filling a giant, gaping hole in the nation's supply of face masks for healthcare workers. And they're growing in numbers. [*The New York Times* called them]() "a sewing army" in a recent report. Despite their good intentions, the simple fact is that home-sown cloth masks are nearly useless in protecting against the virus, as [*Wirecutter* reports](), and should only be a very last resort for practitioners in the field. In the age of coronavirus, personal protective equipment (PPEs) like surgical masks, gloves, and face shields are becoming increasingly hard to come by. And that's really bad news: without healthy healthcare workers, no treatment. No treatment, more deaths. "Homemade face masks are not considered \[PPEs\], and should be an option only when there are absolutely no respirators or face masks left, and used with other protective equipment, such as face shields," CDC spokesperson Arleen Porcell told *Wirecutter* in an email. β€œIt’s important to note that this strategy is considered a last resort and does not adhere to the typical standards of care in the US, but acknowledges the hard realities on the ground," Porcell added. The best case scenario for practitioners remains to be N95-certified respirator masks, as they catch more than 95 percent of particulates. Surgical masks simply create a physical barrier and don't seal. Studies have confirmed the fact that homemade cloth masks are pretty terrible at catching viruses. A [2013 Cambridge University study]() found that tea towels and vacuum cleaner bags were far closer to the effectiveness of actual surgical masks in blocking a certain type of virus. And then there's the fact that people might think their cloth face masks can do more than they actually can β€” in fact, a false sense of security could actually do more harm than good. By touching a contaminated surface and then the mask could actually end up with you getting infected yourself. Besides, homemade masks aren't properly sterilized. So what can you do? Here's the upshot: consider donating money to your local hospital so they can afford to buy proper PPEs. Leave the respirator masks at the store β€” they won't protect you from catching the virus, only protect the people around you from get it from you. With a national shortage of respirators, don't hoard them for yourself and make sure that healthcare practitioners on the front lines have access to them instead. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()