Sanitation Practices for Donating DIY Masks

 

When donating masks for use in medical facilities it is extremely important that they be as sterile as possible to limit the spread of COVID19 this masks are trying to protect against. These practices will help maintain the safety of makers, volunteers, medical staff, and patients through the supply chain. Reports suggest that COVID19 does not survive long on textile surfaces, so the more we can keep them isolated from the environment as they make their way to medical facilities the better.

 

For everyone:

 

1)    Wash your hands! Wash hands before handling materials or making masks. When handling donations, wash hands both BEFORE and AFTER to minimize your own exposure risk as well as that of the next person in the supply chain.

2)    Place all donations into sealed plastic bags! Reports suggest that CORVID does not survive well on textiles so the more we can keep them isolated from the environment as they make their way to medical facilities the better.

3)    Social distancing! Stay six feet from others and practice not touching your face, eyes, and mouth

 

 

For Makers:

 

1)    Wash hands before working on masks and before returning to them after breaks.

2)    Work with clean fabrics. We recommend tightly woven quilting cotton fabrics (or similar) for the outer layer of the mask and flannel for the inner layer. If flannel is not available then the same fabric used for the outer layer is sufficient.

3)    Run all masks through a dryer cycle on the hottest setting to heat sterilize as much as possible. *If you do not have access to a dryer please clearly label your donations on the OUTSIDE of the bag with UNSANITIZED.

4)    With clean hands, put donations freshly from the dryer into a plastic bag that can be sealed or tied tightly.

5)    Large quantities should be placed in a larger box or bag.

 

We recommend consolidating donations with others in your neighborhood to minimize the number of individuals going to donation collection sites.

 

For  Collection Sites:

        

1)    Have a box placed in a clearly visible location that donors can place donations without person to person contact. Outside is ideal to maintain sanitation inside of your facility.

2)    Wash hands BEFORE and AFTER handling donations to store at your location until collected by a volunteer.

3)    Volunteers will contact you to set up a collection time. Place donations at the pick-up location, preferably outside, for the volunteer to collect. Allow volunteers to do this by themselves if possible. If this is not possible, maintain 6th distance at all times.

 

For Collection Volunteers:

        

1)    Wear a mask when collecting donations from individual homes and collection sites. If you do not have one, contact us and we will get one for you!

2)    When possible, wash hands before and after handling donations. The Scrap Exchange has restrooms on site, ask for details when contacting the pick-up location. Carry handwashing supplies (water, soap, paper towels) with you while picking up and delivering materials where facilities are not available.