What a strange world we’re living in where I’m writing a post about how to organise and store your masks!
In my mind, there are three steps to this mask-wearing business:
- storage of clean masks
- where to put dirty masks before laundry day
- having a mask ready to wear
Let me tell you what we did before and then what we currently do because the first way was driving me crazy. Hopefully you can get a few ideas by thinking the flow of masks through in your own home.
Before
We had a pile of clean masks on the sideboard in our dining room which is about 4 steps from the front door.
The idea was to wear the clean mask and walk straight into the house to put the dirty mask in its place. I set out a lidded plastic container on top of the washing machine labelled “dirty masks for washing”.
Very soon I noticed that only the adults were observing the rules; the kids would toss their masks anywhere once they entered the house. Soon I didn’t know if a mask was dirty or clean and if I wasn’t sure, I tossed the mask into the wash.
Currently
- The masks are now stored in each person’s bedroom in a pouch (this is my pouch) . A big, deep pencil bag also works very well. Dion has a drawer for his masks because he has the space.
- The dirty masks still go into the plastic container on the washing machine (it’s nothing special but it works). We each have at least 5 masks so we should be able to wash them once a week as none of us leaves the house more than three times a week. We leave the elastic as is once we find a good fit and wash them exactly as tied.
- When we’re ready to leave the house, just as we’d grab a sweatshirt/ handbag/ wallet from our bedrooms, we now grab a mask too. I keep a mask ready in my handbag and replace it before I put my handbag back where it belongs.
From these photos you can see how we fold them, and then I face them towards one another so the bigger sides are spaced out. The pouches we use can each easily hold 6 masks.
Once the laundry is done, each person takes their pile of masks and puts it back in the pouch.
The kids went back to school on Monday and part of getting ready these days is having a mask next to the school bag so they’re ready to go.
Do tell me – what’s your process for storing and cleaning masks?