Fabric & Filters

Fabric and Filter Material

Any tightly knit fabric should be used when making a face mask so that the mask can filter out bacteria, however it does not filter out everything because of the little spaces between the threads. The better the quality of the material, the better, but keep in mind that these masks get hot after a while so do not make these masks out of really thick material.

Any bonded material is GREAT when making these protective masks because this material does not have little spaces in between the woven fabric which blocks out even the littlest bacterial molecule. This material can be used as a filter between the outer fabric or can be used to make the entire mask. Using this bonded material allows the mask to hold its structure and shape on and off the face. Below are examples of different bonded materials…

These are a few examples of bonded fabrics...

• Sew-In Sheerweight

• Fusible Sheerweight

• Sew-in Featherweight

• Fusible Featherweight

• Sew-In Midweight

• Fusible Midweight

• Easy-Shaper

Many stores are running out of interfacing/filter material (Walmart) so if you are going to sew an interfacing into the mask, you can double the material of the mask as an alternative.

If you are not able to find materials to make face masks, blue shop towels can be used to make masks. They are 2-3 times better than cotton at filtering bacteria! Use the link below for more information.

Video #1: https://www.businessinsider.com/homemade-mask-using-hydro-knit-shop-towel-filters-better-2020-4

This video does a REALLY GOOD job describing what materials are best to use.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8HNYKvlaN8