We Tested 50 Face Masks to Find the Best

Original article posted at The Wall Street Journal by Sara Bosworth, Jacob Gallagher, Rebecca Malinsky, Rory Satran, and Katharine K. Zarrella.

How does one find the best reusable, unisex, cloth face covering? Our panel of five editor-testers rated and ranked a huge variety of masks on style, breathability, fit and material.

KEYS, WALLET, face mask. In just a few short months, the cloth face-covering—once a concept Americans only saw while overseas—has become an essential item, required in many public places. It’s hard to think of an another accessory that so radically and rapidly became integral to our daily lives, except perhaps for the smartphone. “I would say this is one of the biggest short-term booms we’ve ever seen…from a wearable product,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry adviser at the NPD Group, a market research firm.

While medical workers often rely on heavy-duty masks like the N95 with its superior filtration abilities, most of us make do with simple cloth masks to pick up sushi or walk our stir-crazy mutts. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that “people wear masks in public and when around people who don’t live in your household.”). But the abundance of masks on the market has made choosing one a guessing game.

Face covers differ greatly from label to label. Some have nose wires to ensure a tighter fit. Some are cotton. Others—like those from shoe brand Atoms—boast materials like copper which studies have shown can be antimicrobial. And some try to distinguish themselves through color and pattern. Five members of the Off Duty fashion team tried 50 unisex reusable cloth masks to find the best of the bunch across the categories of fit, breathability, style, and material.