Muenster » He is on everyone’s lips at the moment, but it should be better in front of it. The mouthguard is meant. The cloth in front of the mouth and nose is said to better protect the population from the spread of the coronavirus. That is why Austria has already obliged its citizens to wear a face mask in supermarkets. There is still no such regulation in Germany, but some cities – including Hanau – strongly recommend that their citizens only go out with a mask.
“Reasonable,” says Katja Czajkowski. The 34-year-old from Munster and her family only go outside with a face mask.
“You do this unconsciously all the time. But if you feel the material on your face, you will soon stop doing it.” Last but not least, the mouthguard is a visible consideration for others. “It is unusual here to wear a face mask when you have a cold. We also know it differently in the family, because my husband comes from Indonesia. People with a face mask are a normal sight there,” says Czajkowski.
Two million views a month
However, a friend gave the suggestion to develop patterns for face masks and to make them available on her blog. “She works in a family practice that also does corona smears. She told me back in mid-March that stocks of face masks were running out. I then looked for ideas on the Internet about how to make masks yourself,” says Katja Czajkowski. The few instructions were mostly too complicated. “I wanted patterns that even inexperienced people could sew.”
Cotton fabric is ideal for this. “It can be a kitchen towel or a shirt that you wanted to dispose of anyway. You should fold the fabric twice, hold it close to your face and check whether it allows you to breathe easily.” The fabric should also be washable at 60 degrees or more.
Her blog is now being viewed around two million times a month. Most visitors to the site were interested in mouthguards. “I can no longer count the masks I’ve seen so far,” she says. The first dozen went to the doctor’s office where the friend works. “I also sewed and donated masks for other institutions.” While those for the practices are made of neutral, single-colored fabric, Czajkowski chooses brightly colored fabrics with happy motifs for other users. Because a little encouragement is particularly welcome in difficult times.
