Cloth Face Mask Organization and Storage

We’re definitely living in different times right now… and it’s becoming clearer that it looks as though we will have to co-exist with the COVID-19 virus for the foreseeable future. Because of that anything we can do that might mitigate the risk of virus transmission, like always wearing face masks or face coverings when outside our homes, have become a part of our “new normal.” Since mask-wearing should be part of your new routine whenever you leave your house, it’s a good idea to have a system in place to make sure you always have clean masks at the ready and you never leave home without one. | This post contains affiliate links |

Disclaimer: I am not giving medical advice. Make sure to always consult the CDC and local health officials for up-to-date recommendations on mask wearing, storage, and care. Cloth masks are not considered medical grade and should be washed in between each use… check with individual mask makers/companies on the best way to store/wash/care for your masks.

Mask Storage at Home

It’s a good idea to keep your clean masks in a designated area of your home, preferably in a place where you’ll be sure to grab one on your way out the door to do errands, go to work, etc. At first glance it might look like we have a lot of masks, but we really don't considering we're a household of four and it's essential to have enough masks to get through between laundry loads. We're still staying home and social-distancing very seriously, but whenever we have to do an essential errand/appointment or just go for a drive to get out of the house, we always make sure to have a clean mask for everyone that’s leaving the house.

In our home, we've designated a special basket that sits up high on our mudroom shelf, full of clean masks. We put the adult masks towards the back, and then kids masks in the front. I was unable to find a basket the same size on Amazon to link to, but I did find this sleek bamboo box that looks to be the perfect size. If you don't have shelf space for a basket, you could alternatively use wall-mounted baskets for storage.
Our masks are a mix of ones made with love for us by family members, as well as ones purchased from Old Navy and Miss Harlow VT (one of the local makers I featured in my "Masks by New England Makers" blog post).

If you don't like the idea of using a basket like we do and would rather hang your masks by the door, another option would be using a small set of hooks such as a set of compact coat hooks or key rack - or even just simple Command Hooks.

Mask Storage On-The-Go

We have found a slim wipes container is the perfect size for holding several face masks on-the-go! In fact, we always make sure to leave our case packed with an extra mask for each family member in the car. That way we're always covered if we forget one or need to change masks while we're out of the house.
I think this would be a great way to carry extra face masks in your bag for work, or your child's backpack whenever they return to school. It would probably be a good idea to also keep a ziplock bag or separate sealed container in your bag in case you have a dirty/used mask that needs to be brought home to wash.

And if you wanted to take it a step further and have an organzied mask system on-the-go to put in your work bag or child's backpack, you might want to consider having two cases - one for clean masks and one for dirty masks. I ordered these clear mask cases from Amazon and cut labels for them on my Cricut. We'll be packing one with extra clean masks, and the other will be empty for dirty masks to come home in. Since we recently invested in some better quality masks I wanted to make sure they stay in cases when not in use to keep them in good shape.

Alternatively, if you don't have any slim wipes containers hanging around you could also use Small Craft Storage Cases , which come in clear and a variety of colors. This might be more cost effective too if you needed multiple cases - especially if you needed one or more cases for each family member, or if you were a teacher and wanted to make a case for each student in your class.

You can also easily label any of these cases with a label maker.

We always make sure to keep the car stocked with our plastic case of extra face masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes to help protect ourselves when we’re out doing errands.

Mask Care

Always refer to individual mask makers/companies on the best way to care for each of your masks (hand wash only vs machine wash, line-dry vs dryer, etc.) But in general, all masks should be washed and allowed to thoroughly dry in between each use.

Since all of our masks are machine washable, we've found using a mesh lingerie laundry bag is perfect for keeping the masks from getting lost in the wash or caught on other items.

Quick Adjustment Tips

If you feel like your face mask is a little large or isn’t fitting as closely to your face as you would like, you can typically adjust it very easily by making a small knot in the ear loop elastics (as shown above) to make it smaller.

There are also lots of options for "ear saver" or "mask adjustment" straps available out there, though we have not personally tried any ourselves yet.

One mask accessory that we've found super helpful lately are Mask Lanyards. We personally use them most often when we're out hiking or going for a long walk, that way the time we're out alone we can keep our masks down, however in the event we see someone coming up we can easily put them on if we need to pass others on the trail. We made a point to choose lanyards that have a breakaway safety feature, but use at your own discretion/risk.

Disclaimer: I am not giving medical advice. Make sure to always consult the CDC and local health officials for up-to-date recommendations on mask wearing, storage, and care. Cloth masks are not considered medical grade and should be washed in between each use… check with individual mask makers/companies on the best way to store/wash/care for your masks.

---

Vaccination Card Protector

Vaccinated? You may want to consider getting a Vaccination Card Protector for your vaccine card to help keep them protected and clean at home or while you're traveling. These are nice because you can remove your vaccine card to record updates/boosters if needed.

---

Related posts:

---

Dealing with Extreme Food Intolerances in our Baby

Sometimes babies have a hard time processing breastmilk because of food mom eats - this isn't that uncommon.  In fact our first baby had MSPI (Milk-Soy Protein Intolerance), and I had to avoid dairy and soy while breastfeeding until she outgrew it around 15 months.  What is uncommon is a baby that is so sensitive that she can react to EVERYTHING mom eats.  Unfortunately, that seems to be where we're at now with our second baby and why I've been so MIA from the blog and Etsy shop these last two months.  | DISCLAIMER:  I am not a medical professional and am not suggesting medical advice - I am just sharing our experiences.  Please always consult your own doctors and specialists before trying anything. |
This post contains affiliate links.  

Going on a TED

Our baby's poops were "off" from birth... at first they were blamed on the medications I got during my c-section (she was breech), then on dairy/soy which I quickly cut out of my diet, but then she started having blood in her stool. After a particularly scary (bloody) diaper I immediately went on a Total Elimination Diet (TED). A TED is when you cut your diet down to just a handful of low allergenic foods in order to get your baby to "baseline" (baseline being no more bad symptoms, whatever that may be for your situation), then adding one pure food in a time to make sure your baby still does well with it in your diet. With the okay from our baby's GI specialist I started my TED of turkey, sweet potatoes, quinoa, and clean olive oil (a lot of olive oils are cut with soy or corn oil, and there are only a few brands that are truly "clean"). I also cut out all my vitamins and supplements in case those were affecting her.

Over the next few weeks things slowly improved (less blood and mucus, better color), but we couldn't quite get to baseline. I then started infant probiotics and epsom salt baths for her and a digestive enzyme-probiotic combo for me, with every new thing or change in dosage acting as a new trial... giving every little change a week to see if and how it affected her. Vaccines at her well-child checkup were treated the same as well.. each one done separately at least a week apart (and vaccines did cause her lower GI issues to flare up unfortunately.. so after each vaccine we'd have to give her a bit more time to settle back down). Everything I ate was recorded in a log with times and every poop she did was also recorded with times, descriptions, and even photos. It was a very, very tedious process and the results constantly felt like two steps forward, one step back.

After about 1.5 months we were finally flirting with baseline but couldn't quite keep there.  Nevertheless, I was desperate for more food varieties... my back was starting to hurt every time I ate - my body was getting tired of digesting only the same three foods each day and even though my blood work had been coming back normal this diet was still taking it's toll.  Unfortunately, every time I tried to add a new food in our little one would seemingly fail it (more mucus in stools, blood, and/or acidic poops).. it was incredibly disheartening and depressing.  It got to the point where I felt extreme guilt and dread after sealing Christmas cards because I didn't know what the glue was made out of and if it would affect our baby.  

FPIAP, FPIES, or Histamine Issues?

We won't know exactly what's going on with our baby until she starts solids since breastfeeding essentially "filters" everything to an extent.  In general most kids with these kinds of sensitivities seem to fall into at least one of three diagnoses: 

Food Protein Induced Allergic Proctocolitis (FPIAP) - This is generally considered the "milder" version that only affects the lower GI tract (blood, mucus-y stool, etc) and most will outgrow it by around 1-year old (we pray to God she has this version).  Some also refer to this as “Chronic FPIES” or just “Allergic Colitis.”

Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES) - This is typically a more severe version of FPIAP that also affects the upper GI.  The most common adverse reaction to a trigger involves severe vomiting-to-shock, that often requires a trip to the ER to get under control.  There are foods that are considered to be more "common" triggers for FPIES but literally any food could be a trigger.  Most will outgrow it by 3-4 years old.  

Histamine Issues - This includes Mast Cell issues.. these poor kids have trouble regulating histamine levels in their bodies and anything and everything can effect them.  It can be a very difficult and overwhelming life-long road to navigate.  

The Decision to Go to Formula

I wanted to continue breastfeeding SOO badly - I love breastfeeding and the peaceful bond that it brings.  However, as hard as I tried I just could not keep our baby at baseline and it was not beneficial for her gut or for me mentally or physically to continue such a restrictive diet that seemingly got us nowhere.  

If our TED had been more successful and I was able to add back foods into my diet and keep our little one's diapers clear I would have been more than happy to continue with what I was doing, but unfortunately that wasn't the case for us.  Once we hit two months on this diet I decided it was finally time to try formula.  Her GI doctor made a recommendation to try first and while those first two days of bottle and formula feeding were SO hard (I cried more than our baby did), we finally had success.  Knock on wood, she's been doing awesome since and it's such a weight off my shoulders to not have to monitor everything as strictly as before.  

Going forward we're taking vaccines very slowly and will likely delay the introduction of solids until at least 7 months.  We're closely monitoring everything with the GI and will likely get another opinion at an allergist too to get more guidance on everything going forward.  I pray to God she has the more mild version of things and outgrows it quickly, but only time will tell.  Best of luck to other mamas out there going through similar things, it can be so hard.  

UPDATE:  The doctors believe she has FPIAP (which would be the best-case scenario), and I'm really hopeful that that is the case and she will hopefully outgrow all this in the coming months.  We've very cautiously and slowly started solids at 8 months and hopefully will keep progressing.
SECOND UPDATE: Now at almost 15 months we’ve made some great progress but she’s still very sensitive to new things and even vaccinations. We take everything slowly and allow for an adjustment period with new foods and most have been passes as long as she has time to adjust and get used to them. It’s still a very slow and tedious process...  Hang in there!

DISCLAIMER:  I am NOT a medical professional and am NOT suggesting medical advice.  I am simply sharing our experiences.  Do not take any information I provided as fact or advice.  Always consult your own doctors and specialists before changing your diet, adding supplements, or going on a TED.  Always get medical approval for yourself and your baby.  

Safeguarding Against TICKS

TICKS.  Just the word makes my skin crawl.  Living in the Northeast, we've always known to look out for them after spending time in the woods or tall, grassy fields but recently the amount of ticks has seemed to reach plague status.  We're now finding ticks places where they should just NOT be - including short trimmed lawns, sandy areas, even in our asphalt driveway.  There's more ticks than ever, with many of them likely carrying potentially debilitating diseases like Lyme.  Because of the great risk, we're not taking chances any more and have taken precautions to protect our yard and ourselves against ticks.  | This post contains affiliate links |

DISCLAIMER:  I am not an expert or medical professional.  These are tips and information I've learned over the years living in a tick-prone area.  Always check with your own doctor, vet, and local experts for the best prevention and treatment plans for yourself and your family.

Safeguarding your Yard

Eliminate Tick Habitats  

Ticks like to hide and breed in brushy areas, leaf litter, log piles, dampness, etc.  It's important to eliminate these places.  Keep your lawn cut short, trim back bushes and over hanging tree branches to maximize sun exposure to your lawn, get rid of compost piles or move them as far away from your usable yard as possible.  Also make sure to thatch (rake and scrape) your entire lawn every spring - this will reduce the litter mat under your lawn.  

Deter Mice 

Believe it or not mice, and not necessarily deer, are one of the biggest culprits at carrying ticks and transmitting diseases carried by ticks. A single mouse can easily carry and feed hundreds of baby ticks on it's body. If you have mice in your yard and around your house, they are dropping ticks. To deter them eliminate brush and log piles and spray peppermint oil around sheds, decks, and other places they might nest or hide. Mice hate peppermint oil (they are very sensitive to smells) and will generally avoid the areas where it's been sprayed. Also, make sure to get rid of bird feeders in your yard since dropped bird seed with attract mice and other small rodents.

Get Guinea Hens or Chickens

Okay, so this tip certainly isn't for everyone - but guinea hens and chickens can be very effective at reducing the tick population in your yard.  As they free-range they forage for bugs, including ticks, and can eat a lot throughout the day.  Guinea hens are particularly known for their tick-eating abilities but can be harder to keep than chickens.  Make sure to do your homework and talk to your neighbors as a courtesy before getting guineas or chickens.  

Tick-Repelling Plants 

Ticks do not like certain plants - including lemongrass, lavender, sage, and mint.  Planting these can help keep ticks away, at least in the immediate area of the plant.  We make sure to include these in flowerbeds and planters around paths, our deck, and doorways to help deter ticks from hanging around these high-traffic areas.  

Tick Tubes

By selectively placing Tick Tubes around your property, you can help kill off the ticks that are hitching a ride on mice and other small rodents that may not have been deterred by the peppermint oil. Tick Tubes contain permethrin-soaked cotton and are placed in areas where these rodents frequent (brush piles, under decks/sheds, in stone walls, etc). Rodents take the cotton and use them in their nests. Permethrin will not hurt the rodents, but will kill the baby ticks riding on them.

Have Your Yard Sprayed

Last year was the first year we actually had our yard professionally sprayed - despite all our best efforts, the ticks in our area were just out of control.  We chose to have our yard sprayed with an all-natural spray option because we had chickens, a toddler, and a veggie garden.  We were very pleased with the results and only saw one or two ticks in our yard for the rest of the summer.  There are many spray options available out there - from all-natural to chemical-based.  There are pros and cons to every option, so it's important to discuss your concerns and situation to your pest-specialist when choosing a treatment plan.  

Despite our best efforts - short lawn, maximum sun exposure to the backyard, keeping chickens, etc. - there were still lots of ticks (as seen here on our daughter's playhouse). Soon after this we decided to have our yard professionally treated for ticks and it helped immensely.

Safeguarding your Family

Bug Spray

Whenever we spend time outside, we use bug spray each and every time. Typically we use an all-natural repellent, especially for our little one, but bug sprays containing DEET are supposed to be even more effective.

Permethrin-Treated Shoes and Clothing

Permethrin is supposed to be one of the best tick deterrents around (it's also what's used in Tick Tubes). By pre-treating your shoes and outer clothing with it, it can be very effective at keeping ticks off of you. We treat all of our shoes, yard work clothes, and hiking gear with permethrin. Check the label for exact instructions, but many permethrin treatments are good for several washes or 40 days so it's great for lasting protection. We've personally had the best luck with Sawyer Permethrin Spray.

Most Importantly:  Check for Ticks - Twice

The most important safety measure against ticks is always checking for ticks - at least twice.  Despite all your best efforts, yard treatments, and bug sprays, you can still pick up ticks.  For us, we've come up with our own protocol to thoroughly check for ticks whenever we come in from spending time outdoors.  We're lucky enough to have a bathroom/laundry room right by our back door, so as soon as we come in we stop in to put all the clothes we wore directly into the washing machine and shut the door (shoes are left in the garage and not brought into the house).  Then we thoroughly check for ticks - paying close attention to check those hard-to-see areas and scalp; a full-length mirror can be very helpful with this. Then, if possible, take a shower or bath next before getting dressed in fresh clothes.  Ticks won't drown but thoroughly washing right after you come in will hopefully rinse any missed un-attached ticks off of you.  Then that night before going to bed, make sure to do a second tick check just to confirm that nothing was missed earlier in the day.  

You might think this tick-checking protocol is a little overboard, but if you live in a tick-prone area (like the Northeast) it's unfortunately very necessary.  After following this protocol for two years now, we have had instances where we found dead ticks in our dryer lint trap (it's actually the high heat of the dryer that kills them - not the washing machine) and a live one on the shower wall once... these were ticks that were on us but were stopped by our thorough system.  

Safeguarding your Pets

Up-to-Date on Preventatives and Vaccines

Talk with your vet about the best tick preventative option (collars, topical, oral medication, etc) for your pets and make sure you keep on schedule with it, even during the winter months.  You might not think that ticks are out in the winter since they go dormant, but even a brief warm streak can bring them out.  

Check for Ticks

It's a very good idea to check your pets for ticks when bringing them in as well, since ticks can "ride in" on them. We have a black lab which is particularly tricky to check, so we make sure to keep a brush and a lint roller by the back door to check her before coming in. We stop her outside and brush out her coat, then use the lint roller to roll over her legs, underbelly, and snout to make sure no ticks are hitching a ride. We also vacuum carpets and her dog beds often to make sure none get dropped around the house in the event we miss one.

If you Find an Attached Tick

**Always call your doctor right away for the best advice for your situation**

If you find an attached tick, remove it carefully without squeezing it's body - you do not want it to potentially expel any more toxins into you. Tick Spoons can be particularly helpful in removing them; we also like Tick Keys which fit handily on your keychain so it's always with you. Then wash the area with antibacterial first aid wash and call your doctor immediately. The doctor will help determine whether you need to start medications right away or wait and see if symptoms develop.
Don't count on seeing the hallmark "bulls-eye rash" though - many people who contract Lyme will never get it. Make sure to keep the removed tick as well (you can stick it in an empty jar), and see about getting it tested right away for Lyme and other diseases. This will give you the quickest and most definitive answer since even if you did contract Lyme yourself from the tick you would not test positive for it for some time.

---

Related posts:  

---

DISCLAIMER:  I am NOT an expert or medical professional.  These are tips and information I've learned over the years living in a tick-prone area.  Always check with your own doctor, vet, and local experts for the best prevention and treatment plans for yourself and your family.  Discuss with your doctor ahead of time what to do in the event of a tick bite (and I hope you never need to use that information).  Stay vigilant and stay safe!