Personal face masks aren't a surefire way to eliminate your chances of contracting Coronavirus or flu transmission, but if they're worn correctly and used in conjunction with basic hygiene practices, they may help offer you an extra level of protection from airborne nasties. However, a mask won't do a lot of good if you don't wear it correctly so today we're going to be teaching you the proper way to wear your mask.

Wearing a Face Mask in Australia

One of the consistent messages we've heard from health authorities is for us to avoid touching our faces and this still applies when talking about masks. Our suggestion is that before you put your mask on and potentially touch your ear/face/neck area, you wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water. If you're on the move or in a pinch you can use promotional hand sanitisers instead.

Once your hands are clean:

1. Take a disposable medical-quality face mask from a box or packet by the ear loops. If there is obvious damage to the mask do not use it.
2. Work out which side is the top and which is the bottom; the top will appear firmer than the bottom as it has an element that needs bending around the nose.
3. Take the white ear band and loop it around one of your ears. Follow by drawing the mask across your nose and mouth before pulling the second ear band around your other ear.
4. Now adjust your mask to fit, ensure your chin is tucked under and that you pinch the firm top element so that the mask moulds around your nose comfortably.

How to Remove a Face Mask

Removing a face mask requires clean hands, just like applying a mask -- so make sure you wash or sanitise your hands before beginning.

1. Use your cleans hands to unhook the ear loops from each ear, then pull the mask forward to remove it from your face.
2. Do not touch the mask itself as it will be contaminated from protecting you all day!
3. Throw the mask directly into the bin and then wash your hands again, or apply hand sanitiser to ensure you don't accidentally transfer any contaminants.

Tips for Personal Mask Usage

Here at Cubic Promote, we've been dealing with masks as personal medical products for some time, so we have a few tips and tricks we'd love to share with you on how to get the most out of your bulk personal face masks.

• If you're unsure which is the outside and which is the inside layer of your mask, most manufacturers make the outside layer a colour (often blue for personal masks).
• A 3-ply face mask (often called a surgical mask, despite only being personal and not medical devices) is designed to filter large droplets from respiratory conditions (coughs/sneezes) and suitable for when you're unwell and shielding others from your germs, or if you are caring for someone who is unwell as an extra layer of protection.
• A KN95 mask (sometimes called a filter or particulate mask) is designed to filter much smaller airborne particles and when fitted correctly is more suited to filtering pathogens.
• Both N95 and 3-ply masks are disposable products you should only use once. We highly recommend that you do not reuse disposable items.

If you're in need of any further advice on masks or recommendations on which mask may be right for your staff or community members then please contact the Cubic Promote team. We can assist with providing affordable bulk-packaged masks, supplying pricing, and much much more.