 Hey everyone! Welcome back to my channel! In this video I'm going to show you guys how I made this DIY surgical mask to be in compliance with the new CDC recommendation to cover your face when you're going out in public with a cloth material. So stay tuned! Okay, so here is an example of the cloth that you will need. So we're going to use probably about a foot and a half of rectangular cloth and I'm using a cloth that I actually use to wrap my hair with. So it has a lumen in the middle, put on like a hat. But you can use any piece of cloth and it's really advisable to use cotton. So if you have a t-shirt that you haven't worn in a while you can use that. So about a foot and a half material, rectangle material and the difference here is that I'm going to be making the kind of mask that ties like a surgical mask. So we have a strap going up and a strap going back and I'll tell you why later. I'm in addition to that I have about two feet of pretty elastic string material or you can use maybe almost two and a half feet of regular material that will work as well. I would even cut a strip of that t-shirt and use that if you want. But I just had some materials lying around the house that I could use. And then I have about three safety pins. So these are some small standard safety pins that you can use from any type of let's say dress that you got or a tag that you have on a t-shirt. Sometimes I use a safety pin for that. I save those and I gather up three of those. That's what I'm using. Regular tape or double-sided tape if you have it. And that's it. So those are the materials that I'm going to use. So I'm going to show you guys right now how I'm going to make this mask. I'm going to actually put my string inside. So you're supposed to fold it into the center on one side and my string is in the middle. You can see right here and right here. And I want to make sure I have equal lengths of string outside. And then I'm going to do the same thing on the top. So I'm going to put my string at the top and then I'm going to fold my material into the center. Okay. So that's what I have. And I have my string coming out this side and then the same thing is happening on the other side and making sure everything is equal and even. And then what I'm going to do in the center where it overlaps, I'm going to just put one little stripe of tape down the middle. And if you don't have double-sided tape, you can fold your tape over kind of like you would use if you want to package something and make it nice and seamless. So I'm just taking some double-sided tape that I have, which I actually use this tape a lot of times when I'm putting on different outfits that, you know, need a little bit of closure. So I had some lying around, but you could use regular tape. Okay. So I'm just going to put that right in the center, smooth it down. And the backing of double-sided tape usually peels off really nice and easy. Good. So this is going to seal your two parts together. And voila, there you go. Okay. So now on the ends, I'm going to put a safety pin on each end. I saved the third one for the middle, but I don't think I need it. So I'm just going to put two safety pins. Here's one. Okay. So what I'm going to do is safety pin the end together. And this is just basically to make sure that you get all of the three layers of your mask as one. So the front, back, and middle. So I pushed that through. And I'm always very careful when I safety pin things because when I was a kid, I definitely got one of those pins right into my thumb, like all the way in. And I have PTSD. So I'm trying my best to overcome that fear when I use a safety pin every single time. Okay. So we're just doing the same thing on the other side. I'm getting it right at the middle part where it overlaps. And I'm putting the safety pin through all of that. I'm looking through the back to make sure it actually goes through everything. And also so that I can save my fingers from getting poked. And then I loop it around and bring it back through to the middle. And then these are going to be on the sides. All right. So there you go. So you have a safety pin on one on this side. And a safety pin on the side. Okay. So now you can actually start to put on your mask. So I'm going to just slide the material in a little bit on each side to gather it up together, starting to look like a mask now, right? Okay. So now I'm going to put the mask on. I'm going to start by tying the top part. So if you see here, I'm just basically making a standard slip knot. I don't want it to be too tight. And I want to be able to take it off freely at the end. So tie it once and then I'm going to make a loop, wrap it around. And when you're tying the top part, make sure you hold those strings tightly in your hand. You're going to want to slide out. And that's fine because I want you to be able to slide your strings in between materials if you're going to be using different materials. Okay. And try not to do anything too tight because remember you're going to be wearing this out. And you're not going to want to play around with it when you're out there. Your hands may not be sanitized. So you're going to want to keep your hands off of your face. And that's the real goal of the mask. Some people are like, oh, why are you wearing cloth masks? Are they going to really protect you from anything? The answer is actually yes. So droplets. Okay. So large droplets that are presumed to be expelled when people are speaking, breathing, all those things, definitely coughing and sneezing. Those things can be trapped and blocked by the mask of the wearer for sure. So that's really the point of protection. So the person that may be not symptomatic and spreading this will be able to prevent that spread somewhat by wearing this mask that will catch any droplets or anything that are coming out of their mouth even as they're breathing. So if you're not able to maintain the six foot distance away from someone else in public, like when you're in the supermarket or at the pharmacy, you will be able to have some barrier protection. You know, if you're asymptomatic and you do have the virus, you're going to be providing some barrier protection to someone else who may be able to stay healthy because they're not receiving, you know, the droplet transmission and that person may be more symptomatic. So that's the whole thought behind wearing this kind of mask out in public. It's not a 95 or surgical mask, obviously, but it does provide protection against the large droplets that are expelled, especially when people, you know, are close distance away. So, you know, like you're going through the aisle in the grocery store and someone's next to you and what do you do? Like turn your head away, try not to breathe or something like that. That's probably what people are doing now, but this will actually help prevent, you know, some of those large droplets from going by when you're in that scenario. Okay. What's great about this mask that's different from the other mask that is actually pretty standard and you're seeing about, so this surgical mask. So as you can see, this mask, the surgical mask has a little bit of metal in the middle so that can help you bend it and shape it so it can conform around your nose. And then there are some straps, two loops that go behind the ears. And that's really great to help you to wear a mask with ease. Okay, so I'll show you quickly how that looks and you've seen people out and about doing that. So you're really supposed to put this on with the metal on the inside, put it on, work it around your nose and then loop each strap around the ear. And then you're supposed to open up a little bit because there's some cinching in there that allow you to expand it all the way over your chin and all the way over your nose. So you're covering your entire nose and your entire mouth. So as you can see, there are little pockets on the side that can let some, and even as I'm talking and putting my hands next to the side of this mask, I feel heat coming out. So there is like some vapor exchange and escape on the sides of this mask. So these are not meant to be like the thorough protection that a healthcare worker would need if they're really dealing closely with patients with known COVID infection. This is meant to kind of be a barrier protection for larger droplets. And this is not a three-ply surgical mask. This is probably like a level two protection surgical mask. So it doesn't really provide absolute protection against aerosols and droplets. Okay? So I want to show you guys the difference between this design that I have here and the one that is more frequently being shown and is probably a little bit easier for most people. Okay, so I'm going to just take this off. And this is the way you're going to take off your mask. You know, when you come up the grocery store and get in your car, just drop that thing down and then you can wash it as soon as you get home. Throw it in the wash. All right. So I'm going to take out my slipknot tie. This is going to be like an easy removal. Okay. And then I'm left with kind of the beginnings of the the way the mask is designed outside. So you have fold it in the middle and secured. Right? So they're the design after this basically is to take two elastics and put it on either end. And I happen to have that in my hair. So I'm going to take my bun out. Okay. And so we're going to put an elastic on one side. Okay. And then we're going to take the elastic, the second elastic and put it on the other side. So it looks like this, two elastics. Okay. So that's the design. And then you're supposed to fold this into the center and tuck it in each other. So I'm going to just fold it into the middle and tuck it in. You guys see that? All right. So it looks like a little cinch. All right. So it's folded in and then there's these guys on the outside. So then you're supposed to wear like the folded in part inside toward your mouth. Okay. And then that's going to be the part that's against your face. I'm going to spread out the material just a little. All right. So I'm going to put on the mask that I made and I'm going to just loop the two elastics around my ears and put it on against my face. And it's really hard for me. So I don't advise using the hair ties because it's so tight. See how it's pulling? So if you're going to do it, use a rubber band that's a little bit more stretchy and has more give and a little bit larger than a hair tie. Don't use a hair tie. The hair tie is too tight. You know, it's really, really good for holding buns in, but not good for this. So because I used this on my daughter and I saw that it was really pulling her, this is why I decided to use the string as an alternative. And then I said, oh, why not just make it into a surgical mask? So guys, I know it's, this is crazy, but this is our new reality. This is what we're going to have to be doing for the time being until, you know, we figure out how to be better about stopping this disease from going on. When I was trying this mask on last night with my daughter, you know, she was just like, you know, mommy, we do have to wear this every day now. And I had to tell her, yeah, like this is, this is us now, you know, this is what we're going to be doing. And as Americans, this is not what we're accustomed to doing. We're usually like, you know, we quickly get a solution, we fix things, we, we're tough, you know, we don't have to worry about, you know, issues like this, but this is real. And we should be worrying about this issue. I really hope all of you guys out there take the precautions, you know, make your homemade masks, wear them out when you go out, just stay safe, be careful. Okay, because out there, you know, and every day I see it in the hospital, there are young people getting sick in the same way that older people are getting sick. It is a disease that is just not discriminating based on age, health status, anything of that nature. So try your best to stay on top of what's going on, wear your mask, and be safe. Thank you guys for tuning in. Until next time, I will see you later and take care of yourself.