KENT, Ohio - Two Kent State University professors have conducted research on face coverings that use alternative textiles to protect the public from COVID-19 and how to keep those masks virus-free.

Christopher J. Woolverton, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology in the College of Public Health, and Richard E. Ferdig, Ph.D., the Summit Professor of Learning Technologies and professor of educational technology, are working on research that tests the filtration efficiency of various types of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Two articles on their research were published in the scientific journal Applied Biosafety.

The research demonstrates how to dry masks of the exhaled, moist air trapped by N95 respirators when wearing masks for extended periods of time.


The research is particularly important because it's a means of helping the public protect themselves during this pandemic.

"Having face-covering alternatives and methods to rapidly reuse them is essential in the fight against the virus," Woolverton said.

According to Woolverton, they have examined four different weaves of textiles and found that they have increased the ability to prevent particles from passing through them.

"None of them are as good as an N95 (mask), but they can be used by nonmedical folks who shouldn't be using N95s anyway," he said.

Formally known as N95 Particulate Respirators, they filter at least 95% of airborne particles and are approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not recommend that the general public use N95s and instead reserve them for healthcare workers and other medical first responders.

The N95 is the gold standard, however, there are questions about how to clean them and how long they can be worn before discarding them,.

There has been research evaluating gaiters, surgical masks and cloth masks, but little research has looked at adding fillers or filters to those masks.

Woolverton recommends using a textile that is two-ply and composed of cotton and polyester.

The mask should have a pocket between the plies for the insertion of additional filtering textiles to be added during times of increased exposure to the virus (for example, while on public transportation).

When washing masks, the filtering materials should be thrown away prior to washing with new material being added afterward.

The COVID-19 virus can stay in masks when they are wet from exhaled, moist breath. Washing and drying (as with a clothes dryer) the cloth face coverings should inactivate any coronavirus that might have landed on the mask during its use.