Coronavirus: where to buy cloth masks when you can’t sew

(April 27 update: pharmacies are again allowed to sell disposable masks and cloth masks, by ministerial decree.)

Despite the authorization to sell mask given to pharmacies, not all have the much-sought-after masks. Only half of the pharmacies were able to put them on sale this Monday, April 27. “Until the decree was out, we couldn’t anticipate our orders, explains Aline Métivier, Regional Councilor of the Order of Pharmacists of Normandy, “this Monday morning all the pharmacies have resumed work and I think that all my colleagues, like me, are on the warpath to order masks. We will certainly be ready for the deconfinement “.

At the time of confinement and deserted city centers, it is not easy to find an open trade offering the sale of masks. Not easy but not impossible.

“I saw in the tobacco bar in my village, masks for sale near the cash register. It is a local lady who makes them. They were offered at 4 euros. I think it’s honest”, says Michelle, who lives in a small town near Cherbourg, in northern Cotentin.

We are not talking about the masks made of fabrics produced in the great solidarity chain that has formed for caregivers and all those working in contact with the elderly or in shops, from the start of containment but masks for the general public deprived of national stocks.
Not a pharmacy in France is authorized to sell them to you and in addition, many prefer to turn to masks in fabrics washable at 60 ° in machine, reusable and not disposable.

4 to 6 masks per person

We are therefore talking about household equipment. Everyone will have to get 4 to 6 masks per person in the foyer to have a good ride. Whereas a city like Caen, an agglomeration of more than 200,000 inhabitants, does not plan for distribution yet with the population: everyone will have to get organized.

To help, many passionate or professional seamstresses are mobilizing long whole days at this time.

Some offer their service free of charge.

“I am a retired nurse and as I am bored at home right now, I take care of the garden or sewing. I have made dozens of masks for my daughters, their friends, for the caregivers and people who work in the homes of the elderly. I regularly donate them to the town hall of my village. I used the scraps of fabric that I buy to make dresses, usually, for my granddaughters “, explains Michelle, who wouldn’t want to sell her production for anything in the world. “But it is true that I am retired with a falling pension. I am not without income like others at the moment.”

The “graceful” activity which was intended for the courageous of the hospitals is therefore evolving into gainful activity. And we can understand it. Is there a scam under there? Frankly, not really for prices ranging from 5 to 8 euros. Above, it becomes a real business. But precisely, will not the activity be perpetuated? And maybe even become a source of income for a few tailor-made workshops?

I am not the abbot stone! And you don’t think I’m going to get rich by selling masks at 6 euros. I already have 3 to 4 euros of raw material plus a contribution of 50 cents to Paypal via my website. So I work for 5 euros an hour. I consider this to be my contribution to the national cause. I cannot reasonably go beyond! Who works at 5 euros an hour today? (Delphine, seamstress in Caen)

Doesn’t all work deserve wages?

You know the adage: “All work deserves wages” and the seamstresses must urgently weigh the pros and cons.

Delphine went back to sewing after having abandoned this profession for a while. “For 3 years I worked in communication. I missed manual work. I took up the sewing machine to help first my family to wear masks and then my friends. Now I have requests for everywhere so I offer my masks on the website I created with my husband a few years ago. The advantage is that you can pay remotely with Paypal. “

This website reactivated offers Delphine’s “house” production at her home in Caen. For fabrics and elastics (the rare raw material of the moment), she does it with her personal reserves.

The business plan for his small activity has not been done. But the costs incurred are real:

“Electricity for the machine, the levy of 50 cents for each purchase by Paypal, fabrics, elastic, working time, etc. Again, at 6 euros per mask, I can’t find it I really did research at length where I should put the line. People who insult us on social media because we charge for our masks don’t realize! “

Fortunately, there are not only complainers. Delphine’s customers thank her. Parents, families where nobody knows how to sew and who no longer knew where to turn.

What is the right price?

This is the whole question in an emerging market with high demand. No grid really exists.

A shop in the city center, in Caen, “Mademoiselle Vrac” specializing in organic food and hygiene, such as solid shampoos, herbal teas, etc … (therefore open during confinement) has started manufacturing and selling masks.
The price displayed? 9 euros.

Others (here a sewing workshop in Caen which has to pay the fixed costs of its shop, closed for the moment) offer their products at 7 euros and a declining price, depending on the quantity ordered.

You can find some near you, for sure. And even find something that suits your look. By looking a little on social networks.
It is advisable to get in touch via their Facebook pages, or by calling a number provided on these pages. Payment must often be made upstream and remotely to comply with the usual health precautions. And appointments are offered, a sort of “drive” to pick up in the store. Others will ask for a contribution to shipping costs.

There are also websites on the internet, a platform for creators, such as‘ETSY. You will find many masks there, but not of local manufacture. And above all, watch the price, there is everything.

However, forget the well-known sales website Le Bon Coin, which preferred to ban this type of sale.

Local productions, even in our villages are numerous. Here is an example of a workshop at Molay-Littry in Calvados. Look for sewing workshops near you, too, on the White pages.

These masks, it should be known that one should not wear them more than 4 hours (because of the humidity which one rejects) and wash them each evening in machine with 60 °. It is not recommended to dry them in the open air.
Better to use the dryer or hair dryer. Some people even add extra security (the heat kills the virus) by steaming them before wearing them.

“It’s normal for professionals to sell them”

Vanessa, a nurse in life, has just spent very busy weeks with a baker husband who has also continued his activity.

To clear her head, during her week of confined holidays, this wonderful young woman sews masks every day for her family and friends.
It is both a lot of time for her and energy.

Vanessa gives them but she understands that a professional seamstress ensures a production which must be remunerated: there are the charges and the cost of raw materials.
It takes 2 squares of 20 cm to make a mask standards (15 X15 for children). At an average price of 15 euros for one meter of fabric (sold in the 1m x 1.5m format). “We make 7 masks for 15 euros of fabric. So it’s already 2 euros per mask, to which we must add the price of the elastic bands, almost as much. We see that it goes up quickly.”

So for all those who would like to get started, there are many tutorials on Youtube to make the standard pleated mask or the duck mask, but preferably choose those labeled AFNOR.

Note that there are also versions for hand sewing. Slower and above all, much less resistant to washing.