Brigitte Thivet posts advice on how to make colourful masks for people in lockdown

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

French people confined to their homes during the national lockdown are being encouraged to engage in some not so haute couture during the coronavirus crisis.

A freelance designer has posted advice on how to make colourful face masks and is offering to give some she has made away for free.

Brigitte Thivet is keen to point out that the cloth masks are not medically certified and may not protect against the deadly virus, but “might be better than nothing”.

“These mask are not a defence against Covid-19. They are not certified … but they could still be useful,” Thivet writes, suggesting they could be used by people working in shops.

Her first models were made of cotton, she says, but she has discovered polyester masks are better. “I’ve made several models before settling on the best one, or should I say the least worst,” she writes.

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Thivet’s masks are made of three layers of polyester with straps that can be altered. Paper or gauze can be inserted inside the mask. Her advice is to change every 3-4 hours and wash the mask at 60C (140F).

How useful are the masks? A blog from Bérangère, another self-confessed couture addict, gives more details. She writes: “What you must remember is a material mask is not something medical. It is:

for improving barrier gestures and lessening hand-mouth contact.

for avoiding contaminating others with your spit.

for respecting social distances – if someone sees you with a mask, you can be sure they’ll put more than a meter between them and you.

not to stop you washing your hands.”

As with all masks, the medical advice is to wash your hands before putting them on, not to touch it while on your face, and to destroy (if paper) or wash (if material) after use.

France has a shortage of face masks for medical and other frontline workers. Last week, China sent a “solidarity” shipment of 1m masks to France. French companies and individual with masks are being urged to hand them in to hospitals, clinics or their local pharmacy to be used by those treating the virus.