By: Mackenzie Vogt
The year 2020 has forced our hands into what is to be this year’s new fashion fad: masks. With the continuing of the coronavirus, people around the world are trying to do their part by preventing the spread.
Mask wearing has become more common and almost a social obligation. Some of our local stores, such as Walmarts, are displaying signs encouraging customers to wear masks. Menards took it a step further and won’t allow anyone inside who isn’t wearing a mask. So with this new essential clothing item, the next question becomes what type to wear.
N95 respirators and surgical masks are best left for healthcare providers, whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the general public use cloth masks. Masks can be found online, in stores and perhaps most commonly from everyday items at home.
My family and I have made masks that are from the latter. My grandma, Evelyn Alvarado, first started making masks when schools and businesses shut down. She then made videos and sent them to my mom, Carmen Vogt, on how to make them. Vogt then Googled, Pinterested and YouTubed different ideas and strategies.
“The ones that I’ve made are pleated with the elastic,” Vogt said. “It’s hard to find the elastic right now so you can also use fabric as a tie. Sometimes the elastic bothers people anyways.”
Other tips and tricks that Vogt and Alvarado have found are that you can add a wire or a pipe cleaner around the nose so that the mask will stay in place. If you can’t find elastic, the ties can be made from ribbon or hair ties. Vogt also commented that the best material, as far as protection goes, is 100 percent cotton. This is due to the way the fabric is made. Its strands are tight together, a fact that the CDC confirms.
Senior Emma Smidt, an employee at Country House, an assisted living facility, talks about the possibility of mask-wearing becoming a fad.
“I‘ve already seen it happen at work and at the store with different materials. There are also different patterns. People have solid colors or stripes or flowers and also different styles of masks.”
If interested in making your own mask, the CDC has three different options to choose from on their website. They each depend on skill level as well as the materials you already have.
So as the end of quarantine approaches, and you begin re-entering society, will it be with or without your personalized mask?
*Photo by Mackenzie Vogt
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