Can SweetNLow shift America to better masks? Introducing the #SweetNLowMaskTest
What if you could smell if your mask wasn’t protecting you, because it didn’t fit right. Well now you can, with the #SweetNLowMaskTest.
INTRO — THE PROBLEM
We depend on the face masks to protect us from COVID-19, but they aren’t working. Most people are wearing face masks. Yet America and the world is having a massive second wave of infection. What’s broken? Maybe our face masks are broken. And maybe you should be outraged.
Unfortunately, we ourselves are to blame. The masks themselves are mostly fine, but we are wearing them very very wrong. There are too many leaks. Walking around my local Costco, I see leaks in almost everyone, even those wearing “fancy” masks.
And it turns out the “pink packet”, SweetNLow, can help you find those leaks. (video of test at the end).
But first, my favorite leak detection video (below) is made by a Viral Helmet company whose product is “AIR by microclimate”. It has people throwing flour and colored powder at volunteers who are wearing everyday masks.
The masks look fine in the video — you might even say they are “above average”. But the powder-throwing test shows there are leaks. It’s a fun video, but it’s too messy to do this at home.
SWEET’N’LOW
That’s where SweetNLow comes in. For over 30 years, the military, hospitals, and scientists have used saccharin (the main ingredient in SweetNLow) to run “fit testing” for masks. They make a mist of water vapor with saccharin.
If your mask doesn’t fit well, you will taste sweetness. If your mask fits well, you won’t taste a thing. The sweeter the taste, the more the leaks.
SWEET’N’LOW MASK TEST — HOMEMADE
The official test costs about $500 for the kit. But, a homemade version (published 2019 article, preprint 2020 article) can be done for much less. I didn’t make this up. I just copied people who are smarter than me.
You need two things from the store.
Item 1: Of course, you need SweetNLow or any of those pink packets you see everywhere in break rooms, coffee shops, gas stations, and fast food restaurants.
Item 2: You also need to spend about $20 to buy a mister/nebulizer — but that’s a one time cost. So if you test just your mask, that’s $20. Test the masks for the whole family and neighbors: $20. Test the masks for the whole school, church, workplace: $20.
(UPDATE Dec 27, 2020: According to https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.06.20055368v1, you can also use a perfume sprayer or mister. PRO: you might already have one of these. In that case, it’s free. CONS: (1) you don’t get to see the continuous “smoke/mist”, like in the video. (2) the particle size might be too big. But there is an easy check: if you can taste it without a mask, your sprayer/mister is probably fine.)
Instructions are linked here (in the video description).
Try it and see. The #SweetNLowMaskTest is amazing. People are skeptical of what they read on the Internet (as you should, including this article). But to literally taste a leak helps convince people they need a better mask.
My hope and dream is that schools and workplaces and community centers can start using the #SweetNLowMaskTest, so we can end this pandemic faster and save lives!
IMPACT, MAKE IT VIRAL
That’s it. The “SweetNLow mask test” won’t convince everyone. As 2020 has shown us, some people won’t listen to common sense or evidence. But, I believe in America and the overall goodness of my fellow Americans. (And people all across the world.) Maybe half the people want a good mask and think they already have a good mask.
What’s worse than a bad mask? A bad mask we think is good. Because we’ll assume it protects us when it really doesn’t.
So let’s help people “taste the difference” and fix their mask leaks.
Help spread the word:
- Take pictures or make a video.
- Hashtag yourself with #SweetNLowMaskTest in social media.
- It’s a low-key and catchy way to help influence others.
