Since the beginning of the pandemic a lot of us have been wearing face masks in order to help protect us and those around us from the virus.
Masks have become a relatively normal part of life now with most shops selling either disposable or reusable ones.
There's even sellers on popular buy and sell apps like Depop selling homemade reusable masks made with cool fabrics or custom designs.
While having a customised mask might make you feel more enthusiastic about wearing one or even if you've been wearing a mask since March - none of it really matters if you're not using your mask correctly.
Next time you're heading out wearing a mask, check you're not making any of these mistakes.
Using a mask that's damaged
Maybe your mask has a slight tear in it or one of the straps that goes over your ears is loose. Either way, any damage to the mask is going to decrease its effectiveness depending of course on how damaged it is.
If it's a reusable mask get rid of the damaged one and just open a new one, it's not worth the risk.
If you are wearing a fabric reusable type mask most damage could be easily fixed by a little bit of sewing either by yourself or anyone in your house who can sew. Just remember to give it a wash after patching up.
Wearing a loose mask
A loose mask doesn't offer any protection from the outside world. As mentioned earlier, in a reusable fabric mask it could be an easy fix by sewing the straps to make the mask tighter.
Some reusable face masks come in different sizes so it could be useful to do some research before buying in order to get the best fit.
Wearing a mask under your nose
This one is very common - wearing the face mask to cover your mouth but not your nose.
A lot of people don't like the feeling of breathing with their mouth and nose under the masks and that's understandable, it's not a nice feeling.
In order for the masks to work however, you really need to make sure the mask is filtering all air you breathe in and out from both your nose and mouth.
Removing the mask to speak to others
This one's a big one. If there's people around you within 1m that aren't from the same household it's unwise to remove your mask because there's essentially no point in putting it back on. When you remove the mask you're exposing yourself to everything that you were trying to keep away.
It's a better idea to just keep your mask while close to others and create a good distance between yourself and someone else if you would prefer to take your mask off to talk.
Using a mask that is difficult to breathe through
Some of the previous mistakes are probably made worse by the fact that people are feeling uncomfortable in their masks because they're not able to breathe through them properly.
When buying or making a reusable mask it's important to choose one with a breathable fabric like tightly woven cotton or silk.
Sharing a mask with others
This one is self explanatory, keep your face mask only for you. Think of your face masks like your toothbrush, you wouldn't give it to someone else to use would you?
For your own safety and the safety of others, don't share your face masks and don't use anyone elses.
