DIY Neck Strap For Homemade Face Masks
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DIY Neck Strap For Homemade Face Masks! Where is my face mask? Now, where is my DIY face mask? In your pocket? In your car? In your shopping bag? Left behind in the washing machine!
No! My homemade face mask with a neck strap is hanging from my neck because this it is just easier, more efficient and just darn handy.
The homemade face mask has quickly become an accessory in the same lane as eyeglasses. Eyeglass wearers can emphasize with the constant problem of tracking down the eyeglasses when needed. Especially if you wear reader eyeglasses!
This is particularly true for eyeglass wearers who wear readers or whose eyesight lands in the lane of needing to wear the glasses part of the hour, day, night, but not all the time. Therefore the glasses are taken on and off multiple times a day, hour, 1/2 hour! and these darn glasses tend to wander.
My homemade face masks are landing in this same lane! Am I taking out the trash to the street with walkers passing by? I start down the driveway to the sidewalk to the street and I see noone (no mask), but as it is with timing is everything, I reach the public area of the sidewalk and of course people appear (I want a mask!) and so it goes.
It’s Murphy’s law, if you choose to wear a face mask you will inevitably and unintentionally run into a group of non mask wearers and wish you had a mask handy!
Same goes for heading out anywhere in public or walking the dog. I decided hanging the mask around my neck is an easy solution for what is becoming the perpetual mask search. And of course I want a freshly washed face mask for each venture out into a public space.
With this extended time at home a search through the house, basement, tool drawer and craft shelf found quite a few already owned items to easily add a neck strap to a homemade face mask. This is the DIY face mask pattern I have decided fits best and is easiest to sew (and you don’t need to be a very proficient sewer, I also call this pattern the DIY face mask pattern for the I can barely sew, sewer!)
How To Make DIY Neck Strap For Homemade Face Mask
The hardware is the key to turn your homemade face mask into a DIY face mask with a neck strap. I have found two types of hardware I have tweaked to turn your face mask into a face mask with a neck hanger in one minute!
The lobster clip with O rings and alligator grip clips top my list.
Favorite Materials To Make DIY Face Mask With Neck Strap
Eyeglass Strap & Lobster Clasp
Welcome to our new world of wearing homemade face masks which in my midwest state appears to be an item that is as essential to our clothing as shoes. In early Spring 2020 the WHO (World Health Organization) offers these tips and best practice if you are using any type of face mask.
On April 3, 2020 CDC recommended cloth face coverings. A face covering is NOT the traditional blue surgical or medical masks, but a homemade face mask or DIY face covering which snugly covers your nose and mouth.
As the supplies of store bought masks have evened out and more DIY home masks are being made – the ease of obtaining masks has gotten much easier. On July 14, 2020 the CDC issued guidance based on recent JAMA studies reviewing how effective face coverings can be now and for the foreseeable future.
How To Make DIY Neck Hanger With Lobster Clasp
Materials
Lobster Clasp ** should be 10 mmm or 12 mm or
Directions
- The lobster clasp is quick and easy. Adding the O ring to the lobster clasp allows the strap, hanger or tie to be secured to the lobster clasp.
- The lobster clasp is hooked right to the elastic.
- The hanger is attached to the O ring.
- Any material which is durable can make the hanger. Repurposed fabric, decorating cord, thin rope, floral tape all make strong mask neck hangers.
How To Make DIY Neck Hanger With Eyeglass Strap
Tweaking a premade eyeglass strap is the quickest and easiest way to add a neck hanger to your face mask. I found these eyeglass straps with clips online and simply substituted the elastic on the face mask for the eyeglasses.
Directions
- I removed the anti slip rubber grip which usually grips the arms of the eyeglass. (See number two below to use the lobster clasp and anti slip rubber grip.)
- Then insert the lobster clasp right into the elastic band on the face mask. So easy! So quick!
After the mask is worn in a public space the clip can be removed from the elastic and switched to a new freshly washed mask. I then hand the mask on the chair by the door for easy access when leaving the house to hang around my neck.
How To Make DIY Neck Hanger With Eyeglass Strap Second Way
After wearing a few versions of the homemade face mask I have a few favorite masks. After I discovered how much easier it is to wear a face mask with a neck hanger I made a new version of the face mask by sewing in the hanger hardware when making the mask.
This is the Face Mask I prefer and I simply added the anti slip rubber grip which came with the eyeglass strap to the elastic. So easy! Now the favorite masks have sewn in hardware ready to wash and wear repeatedly.
How To Make Face Mask Hanger With Alligator Clips
This is another favorite way to attach a face mask hanger to a face mask made with elastic ear loops.
Remember… think back… to the days of wearing mittens. And the constant search for the mitten was on. How did Mom solve this? She attached your mittens to your coat with alligator clips and elastic.
Fast forward to wearing homemade masks.
Attaching the elastic ear loop to the a neck hanger with a small alligator clip is another easy no sew way to make a hanger for your face mask.
Directions
- Insert the one end of the neck hanger through the elastic ear loop.
- This should be approximately 1/2 inch from the bottom of the mask.
- Make a sandwich by holding the two sections of the neck hanger sandwiched between the elastic. The elastic is in the middle of the sandwich.
- Secure the neck hanger “sandwich” with the alligator clip by putting the ‘sandwich’ in the middle of the alligator clip.
- Repeat for the second ear loop.
- Adjust location of each sandwich as necessary.
- Remove when mask requires washing and attach to a clean mask.
- This is a very quick way to attach a neck hanger. Easy as 1-2-3!
More Ways To Make Neck Straps For DIY Face Masks
Grip clips, sewing clips, binder clips and even earring holders can all be used to DIY a neck strap for face masks. Convenience and ease are the goal, not necessarily fashion forward, but the function gets the job done. These items are probably already in your tool box, craft drawer, kitchen junk drawer or sewing kit.
Why I Like The Homemade Face Mask With Neck Strap
One of the best articles I have read from an epidemologist which regarding homemade masks plus the science and practicality of how and when to use masks is by Peter Tippett MD, PhD, “Saving Your Health One Mask At A Time.”
I have found the neck strap for the DIY masks to make the wearing of masks so much easier when working around the home or taking a walk. I hang my face mask for the day on the kitchen chair to grab on the way out the door.
During a walk when the streets are empty I like to have the mask with me and easily accessible should I see any approaching walkers, bike riders or runners. Using my homemade face mask with the neck strap allows me have very easy access to the mask.
As always DIY face masks or homemade face coverings should be washed after use in public areas. All of the materials I have used to construct face masks with a neck strap and durable and washable. The materials can be purchased online, are affordable and come in quantities which can make quite a few masks into face masks with a neck strap.
Elastic Band Substitutions For Homemade Face Masks
Who would have ever thought elastic band would be in short supply two months ago; but elastic band can still be elusive to find to find at the moment. Instead I took a tour of the house, garage, work bench, junk drawer and car to find 17 Elastic Band Substitutions or Elastic Band Hacks of materials already in our home that could be used to make DIY face masks.
While elastic band and fabric ties work there are so many household items already in your home that can work just as well! For the sewers who like to customize homemade face masks with a nose wire aka as nose pinch I took another tour around the home and found 4 Household Materials that can be used to make a mask with fabric and a nose wire.
More DIY Face Mask Ideas
17 Elastic Band Hacks For Face Masks
Top Four Wire Materials (Your Already Own) For DIY Homemade Masks
Easy Face Mask With Fabric For The I Can Barely Sew!