How to Make Your Own Face Mask

From VOA Knowing English, this is the Health & Way Of Life report.

Much of the world was captured off guard by the brand-new coronavirus. In many methods and in numerous places, federal governments, healthcare service providers and typical individuals were not ready.

Some healthcare facilities, medical professionals workplaces and emergency employees found themselves in brief supply of personal protective equipment, also called PPE.

Regional officials in lots of parts of the world recommend wearing a face mask in public.

So, people are making their own.

You can make your own fabric face mask from common, home items. To help guide individuals, the Centers for Illness Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States has how-to suggestions on its site.

The website describes that cloth face coverings must do the following:

• fit firmly but easily around the side of the face
• be secured with ties or ear loops
• include two or more layers of material
• permit for simple breathing
• have the ability to be washed and dried without damage or change to shape

Health officials suggest utilizing 100 percent cotton for a face mask.

But what if I don’t know how to sew?

Now, for those people who can not stitch, there are methods to make no-sew face masks. The CDC shows 2 ways on its website. One utilizes a cotton t-shirt. The other technique uses a coffee filter. (How-to images courtesy of the CDC)

Cotton T-shirt deal with mask

Here is a detailed procedure for making a face mask from a 100 percent cotton T-shirt. If you do not have a 100 percent cotton tee shirt, you can utilize other materials that are easy-to-find.

You will not need string to tie it around your face if you follow the directions. You will use the Tee shirts fabric to make tie “strings.”

Here is what you will require:

• cotton Tee shirts
• scissors.

1. Cut 18 to 20 centimeters from the bottom of the tee shirt. This will leave you with a double-layered rectangular shape of material.

2. Keep the fabric doubled. From only one edge of the fabric, cut out an inner rectangular shape about 15 to 17 centimeters wide. This will leave the outer edges on the leading and bottom as tie strings.

3.

Bandanna & coffee filter face mask

The next face mask uses a bandanna or headscarf and a common kitchen product– a coffee filter. Here is what you will need:

• a bandanna (or a square cotton cloth about 50 x50 centimeters)
• a coffee filter
• elastic band (or hair ties)
• and scissors (if you are cutting your own cloth)

1. First cut the complete of a coffee filter. The one imagined on the CDC site is a cone-shaped filter. You could utilize other shapes.

2. Set out your scarf (or bandana) and discover the center.

3. Location the cut piece of coffee filter in the center of the folded scarf. Fold the top down. Then fold the bottom up. So, the coffee filter is folded inside the scarf. Now, the scarf is a narrow rectangle.

4. Put rubber bands or hair ties around the scarf rectangular shape. Place them a bit more than 15 centimeters apart.

5. Fold the sides into the middle. Tuck them in so they stay in place.

6. This will make a narrow rectangle with ear loops on either end.

7.

How to eliminate a face mask

Health officials state to eliminate a face mask from behind.

Other health professionals add that you need to store the utilized mask in a plastic bag and not touch it once again till it is cleaned up.

How to clean a fabric face mask

The CDC suggests that you clean your masks after each use. CDC professionals say that a washing device needs to be enough to eliminate the infection.

However, other health specialists say that might not suffice. Some suggest cleaning the masks for 10 minutes in boiling water or in a bleach service prior to washing.

If you do not have a cleaning maker, hand wash with soap and hot water.

Who should not wear fabric face coverings?

Not everybody ought to use a face mask. Cloth face coverings ought to not be put on children under age 2. Likewise, people need to not wear a face mask if they have problem breathing or are unable to remove the mask without aid.

Wearing a cloth face mask is insufficient.

Using a fabric facevmask may decrease the risk of ending up being contaminated with the new coronavirus. However, the CDC and other health organizations provide this crucial caution: Fabric masks ought to be used with other approaches, such as social distancing, handwashing and staying at home.

Which’s the Health & Lifestyle report. I’m Anna Matteo.

Anna Matteo composed this story for VOA Knowing English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

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Words in This Story

captured off guard expression : to be shocked by something unforeseen

t ip— n. a piece of advice or helpful info

conveniently — adj. made with no physically undesirable sensations

recommend— v. to recommend that someone do (something)

sew— v. to make or fix something using a needle and thread

material— n. a product like a fabric

bleach — n. a strong chemical that is used to make something tidy or white

respirator— n. a gadget worn over the mouth and nose that assists breathing when there is a toxin in the air

tuck — v. to press completion of (something, such as a piece of cloth or paper) into or behind something in order to hold it in location, make it look cool, etc.