Mask Fit

As new variants of COVID-19 begin popping up closer to home, it makes sense for all of us to evaluate how well our masks fit. The difference between a mask with gaps and a well-fitted mask could be the difference between catching COVID-19 in the last months before you’re fully vaccinated and not. Here’s the latest about mask fit.

Start with the right mask. Whether it is homemade, store-bought, or disposable, the best mask will have multiple layers and a wire that pinches the fabric or other material to your nose. Pinch the wire so that it fits snugly. The mask must cover your nose and mouth. Pull the mask all the way down around your chin. It should fit snugly against your face without any gaps.

Check it. When it fits correctly, the material of the mask may move in and out as you breathe. To see if you have gaps, hold your hands around your mask as you breathe; you may feel air moving at the gaps.  You can also detect gaps by seeing if a pair of glasses fog up when you breathe. If you can feel or see air going in and out around your mask, try one of the following tips to tighten it up. 

Mask fitter, brace, or frame. One way to eliminate gaps is to get one of the many silicone or plastic devices designed to eliminate gaps around your mask. In addition to improving the protection masks offer, they also eliminate the problem of glasses fogging. Garment tape and tape newly designed to hold masks to faces are also available online.

Knotting your disposable mask. Disposable masks can gap at the sides. To fix this, you can tie the ear loops in a knot as close as possible to the mask edge. You put the mask on as usual and tuck the folded material in to create a tighter seal.

Wearing two masks. All the talk about double masking came about in an effort to improve fit. But wearing two masks doesn’t always work. If you choose this method, wear a disposable mask under a fabric mask. The fabric mask should pull the disposable mask closer to your face. Note that disposable masks were not designed to fit one over another. Doing so will not improve fit. Similarly, it is not recommended to wear an N95 or KN95 with any other mask. Note that, if you’re a healthcare worker, you should follow the recommendations from your employer on mask use at work.

These tips combined with following the other precautions—handwashing, distancing, and avoiding crowded places—will see us through until as many people as possible are fully vaccinated, the variants are under control, and we can gratefully resume our lives.  

Donna Barron, RN, is the infection preventionist at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington.