It's not just about other people's safety.

3 Layer Organic Cotton Face Mask//The Peoples Mask

Nov. 12, 2020

The CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) said Tuesday in updated guidance that cloth masks are able to block virus particles exhaled by the wearer as well as block incoming infectious droplets from others. Previously, it was believed that mask wearing helped only to prevent infected people from spreading the virus to others. Turns out that cloth mask materials can also reduce wearers’ exposure to infectious droplets through filtration, including filtration of fine droplets and particles less than 10 microns.

Upwards of 80% blockage has been achieved in human experiments that have measured blocking of all respiratory droplets,⁴ with cloth masks in some studies performing on par with surgical masks as barriers for source control.^3,9,14

The agency cited a number of studies that found masks reduce the transmission of the virus by more than 70% in some instances. 

Face Masks made of multiple layers of cloth with higher thread counts have demonstrated superior performance compared to single layers of cloth with lower thread counts, in some cases filtering nearly 50% of fine particles less than 1 micron .^14,17-29 Some materials (e.g., polypropylene) used in mask filters may enhance filtering effectiveness by generating triboelectric charge (a form of static electricity) that enhances capture of charged particles^18,30 while others (e.g., silk) may help repel moist droplets³¹ and reduce fabric wetting and thus maintain breathability and comfort.