Tips for toting masks

[PurpleHays]

1 hour ago, aungrl said:

Thanks, really appreciate the detail!  This is what I was hoping you'd say - we do reserve our N95s for trickier situations, and I think we're wearing them properly....I have the ring/mask impression around my face when it comes off.  Again, thanks for sharing all this useful info.

The ring says you're probably wearing it tight enough. Good job! And you're welcome.

[MamaFej]

I've made and donated nearly four hundred cloth masks. The pleated ones have a pocket in which a sheet of polypropelene (the stuff surgical masks are made of) can be inserted. the fitted ones have one or two layers of polypropelene inside. 

 

To answer the question: I use a sunglasses lanyard when my mask will be off and on. I wear the fitted ones. I only touch the ear loops once it has been on. I make sure it is folded "closed" when it is dangling from my neck. I'm also careful about distancing, etc. This is certainly not as effective as an actual N-95 mask, but it has certainly worked for me so far. I wash them on the "sanitize" cycle and air dry. 

 

The Jesse Mask is the one I make for fitted. It was designed by an engineer who was unhappy with the fit of commercially available masks. He made the pattern available for free to anyone. There are patterns for 24 sizes for narrow, "average" and wide faces. They fit around under the chin, so they dont pull down off the nose 

 

I made well over 100 for my son's colleagues at a school in an area where CoViD is not taken seriously, despite many deaths. I made them with adjustable ear loops and a nose wire in fun fabrics, and with the High School logo, as well as with the logos for the colleges from which many of the teachers graduated, and my son says that mask-wearing improved. 

 

I remember a few of the doctors who appear on the various news programs saying "The most effective mask is the one that you'll actually wear correctly."

[auntjoy036]

Before masks were required on my cruise I planned to carry a small crossbody bag during the day for my cellphone (so I can use the ship’s app), hand sanitizer spray, and small tube of sunscreen. A folded mask will fit in that bag just fine. 

[Gwendy]

Carry a plastic snap lock bag and place it in there when not using.  I am having nightmares about stuffing it a pocket or a handbag..Hanging off your arm might be the norm in Greece but renders your mask useless for transferring germs.

[Keksie]

6 hours ago, Gwendy said:

Carry a plastic snap lock bag and place it in there when not using.  I am having nightmares about stuffing it a pocket or a handbag..Hanging off your arm might be the norm in Greece but renders your mask useless for transferring germs.

Unless you are using a new bag each time stuffing it in a baggie is the same as a pocket or purse.  Maybe even worse since you are trapping in a potentially moist, warm environment.

[Joebucks]

I always get a good chuckle out of these types of threads. Where we take ordinary, everyday, things, and figure out how they must be different on a boat. Buy and bring a bunch of organizers. Then start an argument about the mask itself.

 

 

[ldubs]

On 8/25/2021 at 10:55 AM, Joebucks said:

I always get a good chuckle out of these types of threads. Where we take ordinary, everyday, things, and figure out how they must be different on a boat. Buy and bring a bunch of organizers. Then start an argument about the mask itself.

 

 

Yeah, sometimes things go a little overboard (pun intended).  

[silvercrikhix]

IMHO, which only matters to me lol:

Masks should be kept as sterile as possible, 

I put each freshly laundered 1/2 folded mask in a new sandwich or tri-folded in a snack size baggie.

After it’s used, I carefully remove it and put it back in its baggie, sanitize my hands and then

put it in the dirty mask pile.  I’ve collected several so this works for us. 
It’s transported around in a pocket, small purse or whatever. Hanging out loose just doesn’t make sense to me 

As far as effectiveness, it needs to be made correctly, it must fit snugly and cover your mouth

and nose, without fail. 

Edited August 28, 2021 by silvercrikhix

[PurpleHays]

3 minutes ago, silvercrikhix said:

As far as effectiveness, it needs to be made correctly, it must fit snugly and cover your mouth

and nose, without fail. 

Can you say this louder for all the folks I saw during my mallwalks this week? Especially the ones just not even trying by not having one on at all. We're under a mask mandate right now.

[ldubs]

16 hours ago, silvercrikhix said:

IMHO, which only matters to me lol:

Masks should be kept as sterile as possible, 

I put each freshly laundered 1/2 folded mask in a new sandwich or tri-folded in a snack size baggie.

After it’s used, I carefully remove it and put it back in its baggie, sanitize my hands and then

put it in the dirty mask pile.  I’ve collected several so this works for us. 
It’s transported around in a pocket, small purse or whatever. Hanging out loose just doesn’t make sense to me 

As far as effectiveness, it needs to be made correctly, it must fit snugly and cover your mouth

and nose, without fail. 

 

I use those light blue colored (I think) disposable masks that you commonly see.  I change them up, but do not think there is any reasonable way to keep them sterile.  I'm not sure that is a requirement for what we are attempting to accomplish.  Not a criticism by any means.   I would say your approach is the gold standard.  

[davekathy]

Like I do anywhere if I'm not required to wear the mask and take it just in case, in my pocket. 

[PurpleHays]

Masks are not sterile, but clean. 

[silvercrikhix]

Oh, good heavens….I did say “as sterile as possible”,

knowing full well that the non-medical masks won’t be 100% sterile. 
Maybe I should have said as pristinely clean as possible.___🤷‍♀️ 
as it is touching my mouth and filtering my air. 
 

Yikes, way off topic now. My apologies OP & Mods.