Only wear a mask if you’re sick. Wear any face covering if you’re around a lot of people. Wear a mask at all times indoors even when no one is around. Wear 2 masks. Wear 3 masks. Wear an N95.
Most consumer-level surgical masks and KN95s leave gaps around the sides. Pantyhose could offer a solution—but there's one small catch. https://t.co/GeIryqwFyj
— VICE (@VICE) February 3, 2022
In 2020, researchers from the University of Cambridge started testing out some of the ways people might adjust face masks to make them fit better on their faces. Their findings were finally released as a peer-reviewed study this week in the journal PLoS ONE.
A better seal around the edges of the masks means more protection from COVID-19, but most consumer-level surgical masks and KN95s leave gaps around the sides. The researchers tested seven different hacks that attempt to close the gaps, on surgical and KN95 masks:
- Taping the edges of a mask to one’s face
- Filling the sides of a mask with gauze
- Binding the mask to the face with gauze (the “mummy” method)
- Putting a knot in the ear loops
- Rubber bands around the front to create a “brace” against the mouth
- A slice of pantyhose wrapped around the face
All of these were better than nothing when tested by measuring concentrations of particles inside and around the mask. But the one that created the best seal was the pantyhose: they cut a section out of the thigh of some hose and yanked that over the wearer’s head and mask (except for one participant, who couldn’t get the hosiery over his head). The pressure of the stretchy fabric kept the mask on tight, but there was a catch: people really hated wearing it.
People hated wearing it? Shocking! In fact, every single one was uncomfortable…well, made the already uncomfortable masks even more uncomfortable.
“For most of the hacks, comfort was a big issue,” Eugenia O’Kelly, the paper’s first author, said in a press release. “The rubber bands for example, tended to put painful pressure on the ears and face, to the point where they hindered circulation to the ears. However, using an effective but uncomfortable hack may make good sense in some high-risk situations, where the discomfort is worth it for the added protection, but it would be harder to wear these hacks day in and day out.”
Piss off.
Read: Next Masking Idea: Pantyhose »