The tissue will absorb the warm, moist air, preventing it from reaching your glasses. But there are other options, including antifog lens coatings, sprays and wipes.Īn easy hack is to place a folded tissue between your mouth and the mask. The easiest, and least expensive, way to ensure that your glasses don't fog is to wear a snug-fitting mask with a tight seal across the top that prevents your breath from escaping, says Moran Roni Levin, M.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The effect is similar to how a hot shower's steam fogs up a cool bathroom mirror. When it's cold, your breath puffing up through the top of the mask clouds the lenses, especially when you go from the chilly outside to the warmer indoors, or in summer from heat outdoors to cool air-conditioned indoors, and the mask isn't tight around your face. That means face masks are back in many parts of the country to decrease the spread of COVID-19 and fogged-up glasses are making a return with them. The lightweight-but-effective face masks below are the best of the best.En español | The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on face masks includes recommendations that, in areas of substantial or high transmission, fully vaccinated people wear a mask in public indoor settings. ![]() In the end, any breathable face mask that follows CDC guidelines will help protect both you and others from COVID-19, especially as the weather warms up and we get outside again. Also consider its straps around-the-ear ones are great for athletes who plan to slip their mask on and off, while tie-back ones are ideal for shift workers who wear their mask for hours at a time. “Any mask that covers your mouth and nose, fits comfortably so that you don’t have to touch it often, and is of a multi-layered or tightly woven material will do the job,” Dr. The importance of fit can’t be overstated-it allows your mask to do its job. “If you can see daylight between fibers, the weave is too loose and multiple layers are necessary.” The CDC also warns against masks with filters or vents, which can allow respiratory droplets to leave and enter your mask.ģ. To tell the safe from the ineffective, you should perform a simple light test. “In this new COVID-19 reality, you can find masks of every imaginable fabric,” says Iahn Gonsenhauser, M.D., M.B.A., chief quality and patient safety officer at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. ![]() Per the CDC, moist masks should be replaced ASAP.Ģ. He recommends moisture-wicking fabrics, like ones used in activewear, for exercise or particularly hot weather because they dry quickly when exposed to liquids like sweat. While cotton is generally a great option, it “can be thick, thus making it difficult to breathe in while exercising or in warm weather,” says Nate Favini, M.D., M.S., medical lead at healthcare startup Forward. Your covering should keep you both dry and comfortable the entire time. Exercising and working during a retail job, for example, might require two different options. Think about what you plan on doing while you have your mask on. Here’s what to do when considering your next covering.ġ. Picking a lightweight face mask depends on a few key factors. Athletic fabrics like spandex have also been shown to be effective against respiratory droplets, but only when layered. Any tightly woven fabric will do the trick the CDC recommends cotton, and research also points to silk and polypropylene as materials that can actually repel respiratory droplets. Thankfully, most breathable fabrics are effective as long as they have a high thread count. Other dense fabrics that technically allow airflow, like denim, are also much less breathable. ![]() What are most breathable face mask materials?Īccording to the CDC, you should opt for masks made from breathable fabric-that is, ones made from cloth and not materials like leather and plastic, which do not properly filter the air. Most importantly, they should snugly cover the mouth and nose, which prevents respiratory droplets, the main driver of COVID-19’s spread, from leaving or entering your face mask. The CDC recommends cloth face masks made from tightly woven fabric with at least two (and preferably three) layers of material. The best breathable face masks don’t sacrifice safety for airflow instead, they use shape and material to their advantage. If you’re an athlete, an essential worker, or a glasses-wearer, don’t sweat it-you’ve got options! But not all face masks are made equally: Some are lightweight and breathable, while others aren’t so convenient. As the highly contagious Delta variant spreads, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends indoor masking for both unvaccinated and vaccinated people. Wearing a face mask in public is an absolute must to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
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