ABSTRACT
Objectives: Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, a great demand of disposable face mask has been introduced in the past year. However, disposable face mask introduces environmental and sustainable issue to the community. In order to provide an alternative to disposable face mask,we explored the use of textile materials for making reusable face mask which would be a solution for addressing the disposable face mask problem in our community. Methods: The reusable face mask was made from textile materials with three-layers. The outer layer was made from 100% cotton woven fabric. The middle layer, which has filtration properties, was made from 100% polytetrafluoroethylene and the inner layer was made from cotton (98%)/lycra (2%) knitted fabric. In order to evaluate the reusable properties, the three-layers type face mask was washed 30 times with gentle hand washing with mild detergent. The particulate filtration efficiency (PFE) and bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) before and after washing were assessed according to ASTM F2100. Results: The results showed that, before washing, the three-layers type face mask can reach good PFE and BFE results with both greater than 95%. After 30 washings, the PFE and BFE results are still greater than 95%. Conclusions: Three-layers type face mask was made and experimental results revealed that with the proper selection of textile materials for constructing the three-layers structure in face mask, good filtration efficiency could be obtained. In addition, washing process would not affect the filtration efficiency.