A few days into catching up in Mike’s new studio – so good he is back making ceramics – Mike has stopped to make masks for the Earthwaves partnership. He is recycling discarded clothes and old saved string from picture hanging.
Here at Earthwaves we believe that the only way to help yourself in these difficult times is to help others by social distancing and mask wearing. Now that new evidence is coming in that mask wearing helps to protect others when you are infectious, but not yet symptomatic, we realise that there are some very compelling reasons to wear masks now. The more we all help not to spread the virus and cut down new infections the better for the hard stretched NHS and care services and the least damage to the economy. Even if you believe you will only get COVID-19 mildly, you will at some stage, if not already, be hit by the affected economy. Everything you personally do to help others not to get COVID-19 will help you and your loved ones maybe health wise, and definitely financially.
At Earthwaves making is all and recycling dear to our hearts. In addition we don’t want to be distorting protective clothing markets which need to be focussed on NHS and care workers and perhaps people going back to work with others in due course. Remember we are not aiming to protect ourselves specifically mainly others and homemade masks can work well for that, stopping your breath droplets.
So homemade is good and easy. There will be plenty of us who can use a sewing machine in our locality, and we all have old clothes and sheets. Mike has had fun cutting up old, once loved shirts and making masks. He has been adapting recommended online patterns to make them fit better with a nose gusset and wire in the seams to fold round the bridge of the nose. As a ceramicist, Mike regularly wears masks for health and safety and knows that face fit is important or it leaks round the sides of your mask. This time its reducing breath getting out as an aerosol rather than dust getting in.
So masks made ……..back to paper parian and grogged porcelain. More later on that.