Today I found a padded envelope from my employer in my mailbox. It turned out to be a cloth mask with the company logo on it. There was also a card, the size a business card, with the message, "You are essential. Stay safe."
And the mask fits!
That's funny -- now that I think of it -- I didn't get anything like that from my employer. And we're out mingling with the public!
I did, however, get one from my financial advisor. 
I've seen cloth masks for sale in only two stores so far. One was Target, which had only two sizes. Neither fit (I tried them both). The pharmacy in the supermarket where my dad shops also has masks, but the same issue obtains; you won't know if they'll fit unless you buy them.
Of course there are thousands upon thousands listed on the Internet, and even on websites for individual stores, such as Walmart, but it always seems to be the same deal, you won't know if they'll fit unless you buy them and try them.
My dad and I both have been using disposable masks. They at least have elastic bands, so that they fit or can be made to fit. After developments this week, I've started wearing two of them at a time.
Until now, I've had only one cloth mask that fit, and that was luck. It was included as a surprise in the package for something I bought on eBay.
Hunh. I've never had a problem with that. Either I have a more common face shape or my standards for fit aren't as high as yours.
One day last summer I was meeting a friend for lunch in the park of a cute little day-trip lakeside town with lots of boutiques. I asked a group of people from the area on Facebook where I might buy a mask in this town, and I got a bunch of suggestions, then realized all the addresses were on the same few blocks of the town's main street.
I literally went door to door looking at the collections until I found a couple I liked, both tie-dyed but in very different colors and patterns. My standard wasn't fit, but cuteness.
The ear-holders are stretchy, the bands the top and the bottom are stretchy. They wouldn't work for an ICU nurse, obviously, but for casual grocery-store trips they seem fine. Although the one I've worn most often (the cuter one) has shrunk somewhat in the wash and actually now doesn't fit as well, as it tends to ride up my chin.
Time for another boutique run, I guess.
My standard for fit is that it stays in place if I move my mouth.
The larger size from Target wouldn't stay up because it was too large, and I couldn't do anything with the strings to tighten it. The smaller size was so tight that it would pop out of place if I opened my mouth.
It helps if the mask has a strip of metal embedded in the top that you can adjust to fit tight to the bridge of your nose.
The metal strip does look like it would help. But I think the stretchy ear loops may work better than strings. I've conducted long interviews wearing mine, so obviously moving my mouth a lot, and never had a problem.
When the pandemic had started to spread, I had a friend who was hired temporarily at a company that was supplying businesses with hand sanitizer, disposable masks, and rubber gloves. He was looking for sales, as he was new to the company, so I bought a box of gloves, a box of masks, and 4 bottles of hand sanitzers.
Since I was barely going out, and when I went out I made it as quickly as possible, I was wearing disposable masks more than once, so the box is still pretty full. I would take it off, put it on the counter, and lightly spray both sides with Lysol, and let it sit.
Since I generally wasn't going out again right away, the mask could sit with the Lysol on it, and when I needed to back out a day or two later, the mask was ready.
I've seen cloth masks in various stores, but I've never bought them.
I had been only wearing one mask at a time, but since I tested positive for CV-19, I've been wearing two.
Topic: Cellar Scribblings (Read 7873828 times)