Homemade Face Masks Need At Least 2 Layers To Work, Study Says 

In the wake of COVID-19, wearing face masks as a preventive measure has become highly encouraged. Though cloth coverings are available to purchase, many people have used this as an opportunity to get crafty with DIY face masks. But are homemade masks effective? According to new research, it depends on how they're made. 

To track the differences, a healthy person was asked to cough, sneeze, and speak while wearing each mask. To see how far respiratory droplets would spread, researchers used an LED-light and high-speed video camera. 

This research is not recommending people stop making homemade face masks altogether. In fact, personal protective equipment has been in short supply in the past, and "We need to make sure our health care workers have masks first," integrative medicine doctor Amy Shah, M.D., tells mbg.

In the case of surgical mask shortages, a homemade cloth face covering with at least two layers is preferable to a single-layer one, the study says.