We’re almost six months in to individual states in the US taking COVID-19 seriously and I am just now* buying my first cloth face masks! I was using running buffs at first (now a no no), then started using the blue disposable masks. But now I can make a fashion statement! (Which you already saw in my last post, but I had this drafted for last week and didn’t publish it)
Ha ha ha.
Everyone I’ve talked to about the cloth masks say they make them super sweaty. I’m naturally sweaty, so I was worried about using this, but it’s been fine so far… in our cooler temps.
Do you have cloth face masks? What pattern? When did you get them?
I also got one with cats on it, naturally. And was gifted a Star Wars one! We have to use cloth masks if we ever go back to the office, and those are all totally appropriate patterns, right?
It’s nuts that it’s been almost half a year since our stay-at-home order started in Illinois (on March 21) – six months is a long time! Long enough for this to happen to me:
Ha, so true. source
Illinois isn’t on the stay-at-home anymore, but that date sticks in my head as Illinois’s “taking COVID-19 seriously” starting date. Not a lot has changed for us since we started following the stay-at-home order. Yes, we went to Iowa (and self-isolated after), had our little trip last weekend which included eating inside twice, and I have had outside dates with Rachel twice, but we don’t see friends here (just neighbors), and we don’t eat inside here. We got used to it pretty quickly. It helps that we have the right sized house for us, a big yard, lots of projects to do, access to open preserves, and the technology tools to keep in touch with people.
I love all the down time but I do miss being social in person.
*Two weeks ago now
We have KN95 masks and my husband gets a long fine with his. Mrs. Hot Flash here, not so much. Haha. I have 3 cloth ones, one with a kitty face on it(of course), one that is hot pink that says BLESSED on it and one that is Cheetah print sequins. All are too hot and still make my glasses fog up. The kitty face mask has very thin elastic bands for the ears that cut into my ears and make them sore. I bought 2 different (50 each) of disposable masks. One box the nose piece is not as “sealing” as the other box. I have been wearing disposable masks for the most part. I am looking on Amazon for some Made in the USA purple masks. Just a bit nicer color than surgical blue. 😊 We have not been attending group gatherings and shopping online a lot. We don’t eat inside restaurants but do take out from the restaurants in town. Which limits us. We are 45-60 miles from chain restaurants, so food would be cold by the time we got home. Needed to help my parents so I have been to see them a couple of times. But had not between February 24 to July 16. They are not getting any younger and I don’t want to regret not seeing them, so I will likely go every month like I was doing. Wearing my mask and social distancing whenever possible. Sorry, long post.
Aww, your cloth masks sound fun! I’ve heard about glasses fogging – has anything helped with that? I have heard some tricks for it. I noticed if my sunglasses are under the mask they do not fog. But they are huge sunglasses!
The purple disposables will be nice!
A lot of the places we like to eat are in Milwaukee and while we’ve only gone twice it only works because we can take the food to a park. It’s like your issue – we can’t drive it back home! Have you been cooking at home a lot more?
I am glad you have been able to see your parents <3
Don't apologize! I love your comments!
I love your donut mask! I made a lot of masks out of fabric for the whole family, some local friends and I made 50 for charity – I got a lot of use out of my sewing machine during the lockdown this spring. I used a pattern I found online for a mask with elastic around the ears, another one with bias tape ties, and the one that was provided by the charity.
Our covid numbers are going up again and I am afraid we are on our way to our third wave – maybe it’s time to get my sewing machine out again and make some more…
Oh that’s right! I forgot you made all those – that’s awesome! What kind of fabrics did you use?
You can make them all you want but will they wear them? 😉 SIGH. Hopefully you don’t have that issue as much there.
I’ve been wearing cloth masks 99% of the time (disposable for my hair coloring in June) and have lots of fun prints but my favorites are the Hawaiian ones. That said, now that I’ve been using them for a while, I am going to order some with adjustable ear straps because too many end up being a bit too large for my face (haha, the only part of my body that is small). Going on an etsy hunt soon for that style with my beloved Hawaiian prints…
Ooo! Let me know what you find! I have not seen the type with adjustable straps! My head is so big, that I am lucky if they are not too small. Ha!
I don’t mind cloth masks too much. Granted, I rarely need to wear them for an extended period of time–I think the only time I wore one for more than an hour or so was when I went to visit family in Michigan–but aside from super hot, super humid days, I haven’t found them particularly uncomfortable. Frankly I have more trouble with them when it’s chilly because my nose runs when it’s cooler than, like, 70 degrees, and a runny nose + cloth mask can be…messy. Ha. I have six cloth masks: four from Target (one red, one orange with flowers, one grey plaid, and one plain grey) that all have ear loops, one from my SIL with elastic ear loops (very uncomfortable after 30+ minutes), and a purple plaid one from my SIL that you have to tie. That’s the most comfortable one, so if I ever need to wear a mask for a long time, that’s my go-to. But the ones from Target are surprisingly comfortable, even with ear loops!
Ha! I did not think about a running nose! But now that you mention it, my nose runs constantly when I am running and I use my buff to wipe it now, instead of the bottom of my shirt (so gross, ha).
I have not seen the type that you tie! That is good to know that is the most comfortable!!! We need to find one for you with the Target birds on it!
I have a handful of masks I got off Etsy and a few I got from a friend who was sewing masks for a time. I just bought a five-pack from Old Navy because my friend told me they are super comfortable (she’s a teacher who has to wear a mask all day and says all the teachers swear by them!). I need to get a new cat mask because I had to “retire” my old one – it just wasn’t holding its shape anymore, wah. The biggest issue I have is my glasses fogging up! I keep getting an Instagram ad for this special lens wipe that can help with that issue but I’m not sold on it, haha. Sometimes the masks are big enough that I can anchor the bottom of my glasses to the top of the mask to keep them from fogging, but I haven’t found a workable solution. (Even the ones with nose wires don’t work because they are usually placed where the bridge of my glasses would sit on my nose! Argh.)
I can’t believe we’re at the six-month mark of this!
I hope the Old Navy ones are good! Please let me know!
That is what I do when I am wearing sunglasses – put them under – but my sunglasses are huge and that is probably why it works! I wonder if the lens wipe works. I used to put baby shampoo in my swim googles to keep them from fogging… but that probably doesn’t work for real glasses!
It’s nuts, right?
I love your donut mask! I made a bunch of mine out of scrap fabric that I had, so they’re all different patterns, but (as I texted you this morning), I just got a pizza mask from work.
Did Steven get a cool cloth mask pattern too?
Thanks! What is your favorite one you made?
He didn’t! I think he prefers the disposables.