Bandanas As Face Masks Look Cool, But That’s About It.

Looks like we're all going to be wearing masks a while longer. As for myself, I'm ok with it. I don't get into the hoopla of it all. And I don't shame people who don't wear them. I figure it's not for me to say. But the point is, with all the states that have re-opened quicker than other, there seems to be a surge in positive cases.

At this point, I've tried about everything under the sun to cover up my ugly mug. My wife made a ton of them, I have some of the disposable ones, we even tried making them out of old socks after a YouTube video we watched. And recently, I've seen more and more people wearing bandanas as a face mask.

Other than looking like a wild west bank robber, I immediately warmed up to the idea. I have a gigantic melon, so finding ones that fit my face comfortably is difficult. So yeah, a bandana seemed like a splendid idea. And with the quickness of a thousand ninjas, an article popped up in my Facebook feed from WABI - TV5.

It pretty much just went ahead and dashed all my hopes upon the rocks. Turns out, of all the things you could put on your face to help stop the spread of COVID-19, bandanas are the absolute least effective.

For instance, an uncovered cough or sneeze could travel as much as 8 feet or more. If you're wearing a stitched, two-layer mask, much like my wife makes at home, it reduces the spread down to 2.5 inches. A bandana still allows for a spread of 3 feet. The only thing with a greater spread, is the uncovered cough.

I don't need to school anyone at this point on mask wearing, or social distancing, or any of that stuff. We're all pretty much pros at this point. And it certainly falls into the better-than-nothing category. But if you were ever curious about how effective that sweet bandana is, now you know. Maybe I'll just start wearing all of them at once. That'll do it.