Pitching in to make simple surgical-style face masks

[earth5]

@KAB and @carl0 , they've added a pre-order started tomorrow to ship 4/28. Might still sell out fast, but gives a better chance. Will be for the black and navy (per the update on the product page)

That said, JUST got mine today (black, and light blue for the kiddo). She loved how soft they were on her ears (we've been using folded cloth and hair ties). Put in pope cleaners over the nose and made a good enough seal my glasses didn't fog up like they have been with the makeshift mask. That said, not as cold when I tried either, but it didn't feel like the air was blowing straight up. They're nice, she's happy, and I don't think I'll have to work as hard to get her to wear these on walks because they're more comfy

[KAB]

[QUOTE=earth5;190293] @KAB and @carl0 , they've added a pre-order started tomorrow to ship 4/28. Might still sell out fast, but gives a better chance. Will be for the black and navy (per the update on the product page)

Thank you! Being in UK will check back at an appropriate time and hope not to miss out

[BigBadD]

I managed to luckily time it to get an order in last week, and received them today. The masks are a good quality material, comfortable and fit well. So happy to support Tom Bihn in this interim activity and support donations of masks. Not an issue with the unit price being charged, as it includes the donated ones as well - but just a bit frustrated, and had not well thought it through, how much it cost for shipping and import tax/duties... Keep safe everyone!

[KAB]

I managed to luckily time it to get an order in last week, and received them today. The masks are a good quality material, comfortable and fit well. So happy to support Tom Bihn in this interim activity and support donations of masks. Not an issue with the unit price being charged, as it includes the donated ones as well - but just a bit frustrated, and had not well thought it through, how much it cost for shipping and import tax/duties... Keep safe everyone!

Did you opt for USPS International service?

[BigBadD]

I went for UPS, so cost and then import duties should not have been a big surprise. But also the part of cost for donated masks gets treated for import duties, not just half the cost for masks delivered... Unfortunately USPS then French La Poste seem to take many weeks from previous use - and here the post deliveries seem to be increasingly intermittent service.

[KAB]

I went for UPS, so cost and then import duties should not have been a big surprise. But also the part of cost for donated masks gets treated for import duties, not just half the cost for masks delivered... Unfortunately USPS then French La Poste seem to take many weeks from previous use - and here the post deliveries seem to be increasingly intermittent service.

Yes, USPS and UK Royal Mail is not a good combination, which is why I also opt for UPS if possible.

[BigBadD]

Pre-order is now open...

[Darcy]

I have a lot of posts here that I'm looking forward to catching up to

In the meantime, please see this update about sizing:

We are offering a new “LARGE One Size Fits Most” in Brown. This is based on feedback from about 1-2% of mask purchasers who felt the ORIGINAL size to be too small.

We are also offering our “ORIGINAL One Size Fits Most” in the Navy and Black as planned.

Measurements:

“LARGE One Size Fits Most” is 17.5cm from the top of the nose bridge to underneath the chin.

“ORIGINAL One Size Fits Most” is 16cm from the top of the nose bridge to underneath the chin.

Picture these two sizes as a Venn diagram; the overlap — the percentage of people for whom BOTH mask sizes will fit — is very large. In other words, most people will find either sizes to work for them.

So, why not offer even more sizes and options? The demand for cloth face masks right now is huge; our focus is on manufacturing as many masks as we can and, thanks to your help, donating as many face masks as we can. Offering more sizes and colors slows down our production and shipping efficiency by a considerable degree. Once there's more cloth face masks out in the world, we will be able to offer more colors, sizes, and even different designs.

Due to the high volume of purchased and donation orders, we cannot make order changes to orders for masks at this time. Our hope is that offering this additional size gives folks more options; we want to make sure that people who want to wear cloth face masks can get them. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

Above all: we can't thank you enough for supporting our small business and thank you for supporting our efforts to donate masks.

[kmw]

That Navy is a beautiful color and I'm super jealous, but THANK YOU so much for the Larger size option, @Darcy and TB team. The world is enough of a stressor right now, and struggling to find masks that fit just adds to the stress burden and concern. I'm incredibly grateful to all you folks are doing and very much appreciate your flexibility and desire to help.

[Darcy]

That Navy is a beautiful color and I'm super jealous, but THANK YOU so much for the Larger size option, @Darcy and TB team. The world is enough of a stressor right now, and struggling to find masks that fit just adds to the stress burden and concern. I'm incredibly grateful to all you folks are doing and very much appreciate your flexibility and desire to help.

Thank you for the support, it means a lot. So far, it seems like the pre-order solution is working better for people; masks are still available to order, so no one has been left out today.

FWIW; Tom and Nik are already working on additional new mask designs. These are mask designs that will take longer to make, but may have other features and various aesthetics. Masks are much more like apparel than they are like bags; the need for more different shapes, sizes, fits is greater. And, like a sweater or t-shirt, I can see myself wanting to choose which mask to wear based on what I feel like wearing that day. So, there will be even more options in the future

For now, though, we'll focus on the current Reusable Cloth Face Mask so we can continue to make and ship as many as we can.

[autolycus]

FWIW; Tom and Nik are already working on additional new mask designs. These are mask designs that will take longer to make, but may have other features and various aesthetics. Masks are much more like apparel than they are like bags; the need for more different shapes, sizes, fits is greater. And, like a sweater or t-shirt, I can see myself wanting to choose which mask to wear based on what I feel like wearing that day. So, there will be even more options in the future

Hey, Tom started in fashion, so it's appropriate that he end up back there at some point! My wife will probably prefer ties to ear loops, so if that's ever an option, I'll definitely be placing another order. And purple. She likes purple! heheh...

Impressive shift y'all have undergone. Really, it's a pretty amazing testament to your (and Tom and Nik and whoever else) leadership and your staff.

[AVService]

I got mine the other day and they are nice as expected but my face must be a lot bigger than I think?


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[KathyH]

I've placed a couple of rounds of orders, depending on availability on any given day, and just got my first order of light blue. Black is on the way, with navy and brown just ordered today. It's probable that we'll all be wearing masks for months to come, or longer, so I wanted a little diversity and a big enough supply to have at least 1 mask for every day of the week once I got back to the office. And I'm looking forward to a wider range of color. A lady has to accessorize to match her outfits!

The mask is comfortable to wear and I've had one on for about an hour now in order to test drive longer-term wear. My paper masks had a noxious chemical smell (that lingered in my nasal passages and mouth for more than a day so, no surprise, the TB mask does not. That alone is a big plus. The fabric is soft against my face and it doesn't leave my nose feeling itchy where the fabric touches it (unlike the paper mask). The ear holders are made from a stretchy fabric (spandex or spandex-like) and doesn't get caught in my hair. And the mask doesn't make me feel claustrophobic, probably because I can still breath through it.

I had to play with the nose piece a little to find the optimal way to effectively wear the mask while avoiding fogging my glasses -- and I'd have this same issue with any mask -- and I found a good placement to keep my nose and mouth covered and my glasses from fogging up.

Great job, TB!

My one suggestion to TB is to offer an option of buying 1 mask as well as buy one, gift one.

[Walker]

. . .My wife will probably prefer ties to ear loops, so if that's ever an option, I'll definitely be placing another order. And purple. She likes purple! ... .

I agree with the ties instead of ear loops as an option in the future and purple - YES!

For ties, be nice to have something that Is easy to put on, take off, keep on self (to avoid losing) when not needed.

I rigged masks from headbands.

I have no elastic so at first, I used 2 fabric eyeglass holders as ties. Worked but a hassle to tie and untie.

Then I repurposed a bungee cord from a backpack. I used a TB cord end keeper (not really sure what they are called) to keep the end of the bungee cord neat.

The bungee cord as a “tie” is much better - “mask” is easy to put on, take off, hang on my neck when not needed. Just adjust the cord lock to secure mask. BUT, I have to be careful not to loose the bungee cord as it is not attached to the headband. I am thinking of taking out stitches (the headbands are double layer of clothes stitched together) on opposite ends of the headband, run the bungee cord through.

[earth5]

There will be great irony if I, who prefer brown, end up having to wear the black, and hubs, who prefers black, ends up with the brown... Darned "large" size in one of my favorite colors... Kiddo's set with her light blue (didn't complain once about wearing it on our walk yesterday! Even said she almost forgot it was on because it was comfy)