FOLD is a cheap and accessible DIY mask made using coffee filters

as many creatives contribute innovative ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19, panama-based industrial designer manuel echavarria shares his DIY coffee filter mask. although as yet untested, FOLD intends to provide a last resort facemask that is cheap, easy to make, and uses readily available materials. 

ergonomic and disposable

all images courtesy of manuel echavarria

as protection gear become scarce, especially in countries less equipped to deal with the pandemic, FOLD aims to relieve the burden on high-end masks, leaving them for those who need them most. manuel echavarria‘s design is cheap (costing less than 0.7 USD), accessible, easy to make, ergonomic, and even disposable. to develop the idea, the designer took inspiration from a couple of research papers, which led him to the comfortable mask that creates a seal around the face. all you need to produce it is five sheets of coffee filter paper, a glue stick and a pair of scissors.

what you will need

echavarria says, ‘having said this, acknowledging that there is still a lot of room for improvement and in the spirit of collective solutions, I am calling on all of you to send me all your feedback, every piece of knowledge counts. it is also vital to test the mask in lab conditions, a step that I have not yet been able to do, so if there is anyone that can test the filtration capabilities of the mask I would be very grateful. the young designer is urging anyone that can test the mask in lab conditions to get in touch here. 

the easy to make instructional video 

FOLD uses cheap and readily available materials

project info:

project name: FOLD

design: manuel echavarria

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom