Keys, phone, wallet and …… face covering ! How to slot this newly needed item into our daily lives.
Face coverings are right at the top of the news agenda right now. Here in Scotland they’ve been mandatory in shops since July 10th and on public transport prior to that. In England you will also need to wear one from this Friday (24th).
The nation has been on a bit of a bumpy journey with them. Over in Asia and other parts of the world they are fairly ubiquitous but for us in the UK they have not been common place. Recently the scientific evidence on Covid-19 has been growing and the World Health Organisation (WHO) changed its advice stating they could “provide a barrier for potentially infections droplets”. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that most of us (Some exemptions exist) will need to acquire them, wear them, wash and store em ! And that’s where this blog comes in handy.
As for all “things” in the home we need to consider just HOW they are going to best flow in and out of the house, in order to make our lives as easy as possible, in these tricky times.
There has been a proliferation of options available to cover your face, both disposable and reusable. It shouldn’t be difficult to find ones that fit all members of the household, are reasonably comfortable and even ones that you quite like the look of.
From now on I'm really focusing on the cloth type rather than the single use ones. I’ve viewed talented sewers offering a vast choice of designs on my local social media pages. I've seen a company offering a mask with a slot for sticking a straw through to use whilst you’re drinking ! And you may have seen the distinctive tartan mask that Scotland’s leader Nicola Sturgeon was spotted in. Interestingly, that particular tartan is from the “Homeless” range at Slanjkilts and 20% of sales from it go to the housing charity “Shelter". In early July the company had raised nearly £30 000 for the charity. Unexpected consequences ey?
Once you‘ve got hold of your coverings (Or made them yourself!) then you may want to familiarise yourself with the recommended way of using it when you’re out and about. Here’s a quick video link on it.
As you need to wash them frequently it is highly likely you’ll need more than 1 per person. How often the members of your household are using public transport or going indoors to shops etc. will help you decide how many you need.
The next consideration is where to store them. There’s no right or no wrong as far as I can make out ! Perhaps you will pop them straight into a plastic bag and into a drawer ready for action. I’ve popped up a wee hook for clean ones to live on until needed. The main thing here is to consider WHERE and HOW you will store them and let everyone KNOW.
Whilst this discussion is not a major issue I feel it’s one that’s worth spending a few minutes thinking about. It will add that element of ease to a process that most of us are unfamiliar with. The clearer and simpler the procedure, the more likely it is that you can find one when you need it with minimal stress. And I'm all up for that !
I’m really keen to hear how you guys are dealing with the handling of face coverings both inside and outside the house. Do let me know.
And if you'd like a helping hand with any of your other decluttering conundrums then I'm HERE to help.
