How to Refresh Your Favorite AHA Masks

Hi! If you’re here because you ordered masks from me over the last few years, thank you so much!

It’s been a while since I’ve made any new masks because I wanted them to be good quality so they last, and they do! The ones I made for us here are still going strong. The nose wires and elastics wear out over time though, and will need to be replaced. 

I was powerfully tempted to offer replacing those parts, but that’s really not practical.
​So, the next best thing is to show you how I do it.
It’s quick, easy, and extends the life of your masks through this cold & flu+ season and beyond.

Materials & tools:
• seam ripper
• 6-inch pipe cleaner
• needle & thread
• 2-feet of ¼” wide elastic
• crochet hook, or safety pin

​Let’s start with the nose wire
The masks I was making and selling have a long, narrow pocket along the top edge that sits right over the bridge of the nose. Inside that pocket is the nose wire. 

​With a seam ripper, make a 1-inch opening in the pocket’s lower seam. The opening needs to be big enough for you to reach in, remove the old wire, and insert a new one.

​

Remove the old wire.

Replace with a 6-inch piece of pipe cleaner folded in half. 

Stitch the opening closed either by hand or with a sewing machine if you have one handy.

​On to elastics
Cut the old elastics and remove. 

​Insert a crochet hook all the way through the end of your mask. 

Hook the new elastic, and pull it through. 

Hold onto one end of the new elastic and pull until it’s threaded through. ​​

​Then knot the elastic to fit.

That’s all it takes to refresh your mask so it fits like new.

If you don’t have a crochet hook handy, attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and use it to feed the new elastic strap through the end of the mask.
 
I’m at home today replacing the worn out bits, and it occurred to me some of you might like to do that, too. It was so much fun fabric shopping for all the masks I made during the pandemic. It would be a shame to throw them away when they still have so much useful life in them.

I hope you all find this helpful! It’s novel sitting with a “pile of mending”. We don’t really do that anymore at a time when most everything is meant to disposable. I’m just stubborn, and don’t want you all to keep having to rebuy things. Especially if it’s something I’ve made.
 
Be well & take care of yourselves & each other ♥
Sincerely,
~Angel
 
P.S. If you need pipe cleaners or elastics, you’re welcome to shoot me a message through the contact form here. You can find mask supplies in small amounts online, but I do have some mask supplies left and can pass them along at minimal cost if there’s interest. Just let me know, and I’ll get back as soon as I can. Happy stitching!