If there was any way of guaranteeing the parcel could travel across the pond (mail seems to be largely halted) I'd send you some, Steve. Are you not wearing a mask because you're not leaving the house?

We had a family birthday dinner in the front yard yesterday and didn't wear masks while we sat apart and ate and talked, but when we took turns at the back gate to visit the dogs for a few minutes we all wore them. Prior to our outdoor party I scoured the bathroom in case my daughter (who has a long drive home from here) needed to use the facilities; this was her first time in the house in over 3 months. She wore a mask and entered through the closest door to reach that bathroom, closed the lid to flush, closed the bathroom door when she finished, and I'll wear a mask to go in tomorrow and disinfect the faucets and wash the throne a chlorine cleaner. She goes to her office two times a week now and works at home the rest of the time. They wear masks at work, and the days are staggered so if people share office space they aren't there together. She's most likely of the three of us together last night to have come into contact with other germs, but in order to help her stay safe I'm willing to set it up so she could use the hall bathroom here instead of having to stop at a public restroom on the way home, where who knows if anyone was wearing a mask or how often it is disinfected.

The Texas COVID-19 numbers and hospitalizations are increasing, it correlates to the "opening up" that the governor (a Trump supporter) is pushing. I have several requests for masks and will be mailing a bunch today. I noticed at last night's dinner that the others were both wearing masks I made. My daughter sews a lot and has her own, but was wearing one I made from a bright Hawaiian shirt she wore in middle school that looked like it would be a nice outer layer. Since it was her shirt she wanted a mask from it. I make masks that can accommodate a paper filter being slipped in, and have studied what makes them easier to wear. I try to make them reversible, something I can do with the flannel or denim ones that don't have a filter pocket (hospitals were suggesting those thicker tightly woven fabrics as best for masks; I also use layers of cotton quilting fabric, those are the ones that get a filter layer). All of them have three layers of fabric. I've heard people complain about how commercial masks have elastic that is too tight on their ears, or that ties slip. I make some ties that loop, don't tie, and adjustable ear loops. There are a lot of home mask makers taking all of these things into account and accommodating requests. Another Mudcatter whose family member makes masks posted photos on Facebook last week and I grabbed screenshots of the design for her pleated mask filter layer; it takes a couple of more steps but would be easier to make than the design I worked out for inserting a filter from one edge. You can see some mask designs in the Victoria & Albert Museum's online project called Pandemic Objects.

What we know about making and wearing masks now is so different from what we knew in March when it was first suggested that we should wear them. These aren't doctor's masks, but then I've been to the doctor's office where they weren't wearing surgical masks, they were wearing disposable and because they're hard to get they wore them for more than one day. The homemade ones should be washed and air dried after each day's use. I use soap to wash it, I don't use bleach, just like I use soap to wash my hands, I don't use bleach. Alton Brown on the science of using soap and water for hand washing.