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Partial list of research:

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/not-wearing-masks-protect-against-coronavirus-big-mistake-top-chinese-scientist-says
https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/03/23/face-masks-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know/
https://medium.com/@Cancerwarrior/covid-19-why-we-should-all-wear-masks-there-is-new-scientific-rationale-280e08ceee71
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30229968/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24229526
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2749214
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/category/coronavirus/

And I thought that I am perfectionist, Brian ? thumbs up. Stay strong.

Heh… I’m in an elevated (not high) risk category due to smoking, so I have to be careful.

One last thing about the mask: don’t use short strings and loop around your ears. You’ll never get a good fit that way. Tie around the back of your neck and top of your head like they did on M*A*S*H. Then it will be nice and snug.

One last, last thing. :-) The research for this stuff is such low hanging fruit. It’s baffling why the so called expert advice is against wearing a mask during a friggin pandemic. As usual it’s likely a combination of bureaucratic ineptitude and malfeasance of some sort. They’re starting to come around. NYC and LA have advised wearing masks (with caveats). Still better than simply lying about the whole thing.

Good research Brian thanks for sharing.

Well, that about sums it up, doesn’t it!! Wow.

I was watching a show and the one person said that her parents (Asian) always support the masks. An example of “why” is when in an elevator, wearing the mask, the doors open, the person looks in, sees the mask, and says “I’ll wait and take the next one”. Yet another layer of protection – people keep their distance!

Did you find any options to the toilet paper, so that you can just toss the whole thing into the wash, eliminating the disposable part? (- and because toilet paper is one of the precious panic items)

Instead of toilet paper, use paper towel, Kleenex, whatever you can find that is “fibrous”.

Good to know !!
Thanks for doing all the research for us ;)

Well done, and thanks Brian.

—Madts.

I just saw and read the post on your mask. Really a comprehensive, exhaustive and thorough piece that can help us all be safe. You have a wonderful talent for composition and detail. Thank you my friend.

Great article. I an passing it on to others.

Small update. One of the household items that tested extremely well was a vacuum cleaner bag. I put one to my face and tried to breath through it but it didn’t work, so I discarded the idea. HOWEVER – a friend of mine used a vacuum bag for the filter medium. I guess most vacuum bags are actually 2 bags in one. The inside is a liner and the outside more durable. The liner is what you want. I just cut one open and the liner from one bag looks to be good for about 20 masks (20 uses since its the disposable part).

That’s good to know!

My wire Crocheted ours and we used coffee filters between the layers. And your right wearing a mask can only help there’s no way it’s going to hurt you just keep it clean and keep wearing it. We’re all hoping this goes away soon however the reality is if people don’t wear masks it’s going to stay far longer than predicted. Stay safe everyone

Ahhhh… crocheted with a pocket. I saw some crocheted /
knitted ones online and I thought those people were nuts. I didn’t even think about the pocket even though I made ones with pockets! ?

we wear masks when out in public. And practice safe distancing .