Fitting your face masks

Sizing the mask:

When selecting a face mask for purchase, its sometimes hard to determine if it would fit your face or be too small or too large. When selecting a face mask, here are two measurements that are used to ensure the mask will cover your face properly.

In figure 1 we see the height measurement. This measurement is from the top of the mask, including the band portion. If you measure your face from just a bit above the tip of your nose to the bottom of your chin, that measurement should fit within the height of the mask. Be careful in choosing to small a mask. For example, its easy to measure your face at 4 inches in height and then select a mask that is 4.5 inches in height, but this mask may be too small as when you try and talk with this mask in place, your mouth may be uncovered. This is when you choose a larger size mask.

In figure 2 we see the width measurement. This measurement covers across your mouth and is typically a bit oversized. If you measure your face from cheekbone to cheekbone, you will see how your face will fit into the mask.

Note, there are several manufacturers who are creating and selling masks and not all are the same fit. Pay attention to the sizing when ordering.

If you find that you fall in-between sizes, order the larger size. You will be able to adjust the ear pieces to help fit the mask to your face.

Adjusting ear loops:

In order to adjust the ear loops to fit your face properly, you can simply use an elastic hair band or rubber band to loop around the ear loops to adjust for your size.

If your mask came with adjusters (these are usually placed in a small bag enclosed with the mask), here is a quick way to use them:

As seen in figure 3, you will need the mask, the plastic pieces (shown here as #2 - usually these are black) and a thin piece of wire or a paper clip. Bend the wire or paper clip as shown in figure 3, #3.

Take the wire loop and hang the ear loop of the mask inside the hook. Take the plastic adjuster and thread the wire through the middle. Take note, the holes on each end of the adjuster is different, be sure to have the larger size hole pointing towards the mask and the smaller size hole pointing away from the mask. Push the plastic piece down over the wire and onto the ear loop (fold the hook so it closes and passes through the hole in the plastic adjustment piece. Once the plastic adjustment piece is on the ear loop, remove the wire.

Adjust the plastic adjuster by sliding it along the ear loop as shown in figure 5. The plastic piece can be placed in front or behind the ear - which ever is more comfortable to the wearer.

Adjustment of the nose covering:

If you wear glasses, you may encounter the problem of your glasses fogging up when wearing a mask. If this is the case, take a piece of wire and insert into the mask to adjust the nose for a proper fit. Some masks come with a sticky bendable piece of metal that adheres to the mask, either on top or underneath. This will usually solve the problem.