To wear a face covering or not, that is the question. Differing opinions from various experts on whether one should or not, types of fabric, patterns, layers and effectiveness make the whole thing quite daunting.
With a view to ‘I protect you, you protect me’, I think the Pee Meme that circulated sums it up.
As we all know, it enters the body via the facial openings, so we shouldn’t touch our face – and there is the first thing – face coverings are hot and they move about, so we adjust them, transferring germs to the mask on the face, and also from the mask to our hands which then spreads any virus we may unknowingly harbour.
The thing is to find one that is comfortable enough to wear without fiddling with it. Easier said than done, with our different face shapes and sizes, but they’re easy enough to roughly make a few different styles just for fitting, then once the comfy one is found, more can be made to a really good standard. We don’t want to waste, so I’m sure the sample can be finished off nicely to be used also. One for the wash, one on, and a spare, is what I’ve found works well.
I’ve tried the Olson, Beak, 3d Box, Pleated, Pleated with foldback, and the basic gather. The personal choice for me is the 3d Box. It allows me more space for speaking, stays in place, and doesn’t steam up my glasses and I don’t need a nose-wire.
As I’m not a master sewist, I rely on YouTube to for this sort of thing – so many tutorials to choose from, and I merely do the best I can, and it works for me. Nothing is easy to start with, but with a little bit of practice and perseverance, a face covering can be made. There is even a very easy one for those who have no machine, so can sew easily by hand.
Here is my favourite mask tutorial.
And just to make sure wearing a mask is done to maximum effect, there are instructions for putting it on and taking it off on the WHO website.
Be safe!
We are back! The summer weather is great, but the time has come to put the gripping novels aside, and get our cleaning caddies out again. We have all been eager to get back to clean our clients’ homes and offices but to do so safely has meant many hours on the computer and the phone checking guidance, researching products, assessing each client and team member and producing the risk assessments. We’ve topped up our cleaning caddies with products, and repacked them with cloths, toothbrushes, scrapers and scrubbies and PPE, and we’re now ready to go.
things too. There are many bacteria that protect us and are necessary for the environment, and whatever we use to clean with eventually finds its way into the waterways, air or soil having a knock-on effect outside. We are really pleased that we can continue with the products that we have always used, because the 
Aside from the work, there are a few additional things to enjoy when we go to clients homes or offices; we get to know the clients, so it is always great to see them, and the other thing is the gardens. All sorts of gardens – blowsy borders, patios with brights pots, lawns with beautiful shady trees, quintessential English country garden, and even prairie style. We left them with daffodils and have returned to roses and peonies – beautiful. We have even been entrusted with garden watering when a client goes away – what a treat! So we will continue to follow the guidelines, and modify the way we work as things change – and whatever that brings, we are SO happy to be back.
