masksDue to the pandemic, wearing face coverings in public has become the norm to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Various kinds of face coverings available to the public include – masks(disposable, cloth-washable, KN95-washable), gaiters and face shields.

Early on, acquiring this type of protection was scarce as a lot of businesses were not deemed ‘essential’, so they were not open. Healthcare providers were scrambling to find resources to provide enough face coverings to tend to the ever-rising numbers of patients coming in to their facilities.

More and more individuals wanting to help, started making masks with scraps of material they had in their homes to donate to healthcare professionals and others.

Businesses that were struggling learned to pivot their offerings by making various types of face coverings to sell to their customers and the community widespread.  We started to be able to acquire the required masks to venture out in public when we needed to.

This article is not intended to report on the effectiveness of any of these types of face coverings, it is intended to provide tips on how to create a solution for maintenance and organization of your masks.

As with anything else we use on a regular basis, we need a storage solution to keep multiple masks maintained, organized and accessible, so we have them available when we need them.

Accessibility

Purse – use zippered plastic bags for storage to keep them from getting dirty; same goes for areas in your vehicle as listed below.

Vehicle:

Niche or nook

Glovebox

Console

Hanging from the rearview mirror

Home:

Basket by the exit door to your house

Hooks by the exit door of your house

Maintenance

The CDC does not provide guidelines for the frequency of cleaning reusable face coverings, other than to wash them regularly. This guideline will be different for everyone depending on how often you use them.

Create a system to rotate your face coverings. This system could be as simple as refilling the hooks or basket by the exit door to your house as you clean reusable face coverings, or run out of disposable masks.

Disposable masks are intended for single use and should be disposed of properly. Please remember to cut the loops, so no wildlife is harmed should they escape a trash bin.