# Are you able to sew surgical masks? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 20, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890 "2020-03-20T13:29:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/1 "2020-03-20T13:29:45Z")
> **[Calling All People Who Sew And Make: You Can Help Make Masks For 2020...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2020/03/20/calling-all-people-who-sew-and-make-you-can-help-solve-2020-n95-type-mask-shortage/)** > > If you want to rally the world to your cause, think like a little bird and tweet. Hospitals and doctors are reaching out via social media to ask for mission-critical help in solving the shortage of N95-type masks during the current Coronavirus... PDF facemask pattern: [https://bit.ly/2J43QVY](https://bit.ly/2J43QVY) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/2 "2020-03-20T14:56:37Z")
My understanding is the coronavirus is about 100nm in diameter. However I’ve also heard the virus tends to be attached to small mucus or water droplets that are airborne, which means it is much larger, possibly on the micron scale. However I don’t know what size particles a fabric mask would filter out. Also I hear contradictory things about masks, some say they work and some say they don’t. > **[Can Masks Capture Coronavirus Particles? – Smart Air](https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/can-masks-capture-coronavirus/)** > > Can N95 and surgical masks capture coronavirus particles? Scientists shot nanoparticles at masks and found they captured particles even 10 times smaller. > **[Will a Face Mask Protect You From the Coronavirus? - MedicineNet Health News](https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=227723)** > > The dreaded coronavirus in China has many reaching for face masks across the globe. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/3 "2020-03-21T00:36:53Z")
You can sew face mask but not surgical masks, unless you have the right spun-bonded polypropylene material and a sterile environment to make it in. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/4 "2020-03-21T02:52:27Z")
> [@Saturn\_Dreams](#): > > You can sew face mask but not surgical masks, unless you have the right spun-bonded polypropylene material and a sterile environment to make it in. Fair enough. I used the wrong terminology. I should have said “face masks”, and if **Wesley Clark** is correct then maybe this isn’t a workable idea. Maybe for the people who care for infected persons, it’s better than the alternative of no mask? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/5 "2020-03-21T03:02:20Z")
A hospital about 10 miles from the Seattle epicenter started a 100 million mask challenge. [https://www.providence.org/lp/100m-masks?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0](https://www.providence.org/lp/100m-masks?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0) If you’re in the area and willing to commit to making 100 masks, they will provide the materials for people to sew at home. There is also a link for how to make your own face mask. It’s not a hospital I use but it looks legit… ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/6 "2020-03-21T03:27:12Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > It’s not a hospital I use but it looks legit… One of my daughters was born there. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/7 "2020-03-21T03:44:24Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Fair enough. I used the wrong terminology. I should have said “face masks”, and if **Wesley Clark** is correct then maybe this isn’t a workable idea. > > Maybe for the people who care for infected persons, it’s better than the alternative of no mask? We already know (from Chinese hospital experience) that ordinary surgical masks and gloves don’t prevent all infection, and do prevent some infection. Certainly for people who have contact with infected persons, a face mask on the infected person is better than no face mask on the infected person. It doesn’t even have to be very good – for nose and throat droplets, a loose fitting close-weave cloth makes a huge difference. The question is, for regular repeated contact, how long will you last before you get infected anyway? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/8 "2020-03-21T14:21:26Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > We already know (from Chinese hospital experience) that ordinary surgical masks and gloves don’t prevent all infection, and do prevent some infection. > > Certainly for people who have contact with infected persons, a face mask on the infected person is better than no face mask on the infected person. It doesn’t even have to be very good – for nose and throat droplets, a loose fitting close-weave cloth makes a huge difference. The question is, for regular repeated contact, how long will you last before you get infected anyway? Our healthcare workers and first responders are heroes. Hopefully they can be properly protected. ---
**Author:** ![TXCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/76d3ee/32.png) [@TXCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TXCowboy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/9 "2020-03-21T14:22:34Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > We already know (from Chinese hospital experience) that ordinary surgical masks and gloves don’t prevent all infection, and do prevent some infection. > > Certainly for people who have contact with infected persons, a face mask on the infected person is better than no face mask on the infected person. It doesn’t even have to be very good – for nose and throat droplets, a loose fitting close-weave cloth makes a huge difference. The question is, for regular repeated contact, how long will you last before you get infected anyway? The articles I have read on this, about hospitals asking people to sew masks, say the homemade cloth masks won’t help filter out the virus and protect a healthy person from getting it but they will help prevent a infected person from spreading it by containing the droplets. They are requesting the masks to made so they can give them to infected people to wear. Heath workers are still advised to wear N95 masks if available or surgical masks as a second choice. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/10 "2020-03-21T16:35:53Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > We already know (from Chinese hospital experience) that ordinary surgical masks and gloves don’t prevent all infection, and do prevent some infection. > > Certainly for people who have contact with infected persons, a face mask on the infected person is better than no face mask on the infected person. It doesn’t even have to be very good – for nose and throat droplets, a loose fitting close-weave cloth makes a huge difference. The question is, for regular repeated contact, how long will you last before you get infected anyway? I mean for a health care practitioner, they will need very high quality PPE. But if you’re just going to the grocery store and don’t want to inhale someone elses airborne droplets, hopefully makeshift masks will help. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-able-to-sew-surgical-masks/849890/11 "2020-03-22T01:07:02Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Fair enough. I used the wrong terminology. I should have said “face masks”, and if **Wesley Clark** is correct then maybe this isn’t a workable idea. > > Maybe for the people who care for infected persons, it’s better than the alternative of no mask? You have to ask yourself, for what purpose do you want to wear face mask? As someone has already mentioned, if you’re trying to stop viral infection, even a commercial grade surgical mask is not going to stop that because the material that it’s made of is porous enough to let microscopic viruses pass through. That’s not what surgical masks are for. You will need something like a N95 respirator to do that and that’s not something that’s simple to make. You might have better luck making a homemade hazmat suit. For people who are in close contact with an infected person like caregivers and healthcare workers, definitely wear a mask or something to cover your face and that of the infected. This will “catch” sneezes and coughs from those infected, and act as a barrier to the mouth and nose area of those giving treatment. Again, it won’t stop viruses, but it will reduce the risk of infection by blocking saliva droplets that viruses piggyback on. In this case, something (anything) to cover your face is better than nothing. Plus, in this situation you’d want to wear eye protection as well but for some inexplicable reason people are ignoring this entrance to the mucous membrane and fixated only on the mouth and nose. Front line healthcare workers are wearing full face visors when possible.