Fitting the Mask to Your Face

The mask's fit against your face is crucial.  All edges--the complete perimeter--should firmly touch your face.  There should be no gaps.

Our mask has built-in ability to fine tune the fit to each individual wearer's face.

Steps To Adjust the Mask's Fit to Your Face

• Learn how the earloop size adjustment works.
• Put the mask down on a table, interior side up.  Identify each earloop's two raw ends, which are tied together with another, short piece of elastic (called the "tourniquet.")
• Choose one of the earloops, and using two hands, pick up an elastic end in each hand.  Now gently pull the two ends apart against the tourniquet.  The earloop gets smaller.  To make it bigger, again pull the two sides apart against the tourniquet, but this time from above the tourniquet. 
• Put the mask on, with the earloops over your ears. 
• Adjust nose-wire positioning and shape
• The top of the nose area should be positioned below the bridge of your nose. 
  
• When putting on the mask for the first time, we've observed that many people need to grasp the mask below the chin and pull it down a little.  If you were wearing glasses, the tip of the nose area would come up comfortably a little underneath your glasses.
• Shape the inner wire around your nose to eliminate gaps.
•   Adjust earloop size.
• Use the method learned above.
• Earloop size can be adjusted while you are wearing the mask.  Reaching back with two hands, pull against the tourniquet from above (increase) or below (decrease). 
• When you're happy with their lengths, you might want to take off the mask and rotate the earloops inside their casings, so tourniquets and elastic ends are hidden and out of the way.
• We suggest not cutting off excess earloop elastic.  The ends have been treated not to fray in the wash.  Also, if someone might get this mask after washing (group laundering situations), they might need different a earloop length.
• Check overall fit on your face--Do this each time you wear the mask
• Run your fingers lightly around the whole perimeter of the mask.  Check for gaps everywhere.  Don't rely on just looking in a mirror.
• If you find a gap, try moving the mask up or down a little (amounting to having it sit on your nose a little higher or lower).  You also can reshape the nose wire, and/or change earloop length, or the amount of gathering of the fabric casing.
• If the mask is way too big or way too small, and you have no other good alternative, you can alter the mask sewing.  The simplest way might be to undo the side casing stitching and restitch it, by machine or by hand.  You could make the turned-back casings less wide, increasing mask width, or do the reverse to decrease it.

The opening at the bottom of the mask allows you to insert a third, "filter" layer, if desired.

You can wash/dry the mask hot, by machine or by hand.