Face masks, face masks, face masks.
That is all we have been hearing and dealing with lately over here at Wicked Sheets. And I have to admit, I truly didn't think we would be sitting here in mid-August and I would still be shipping hundreds of masks a day and having my sewing team make more for us to be "stocked up for the Fall". For those of you that don't know Wicked Sheets - normally we make bedding. Now, we make bedding and masks. Additionally, we've made a recent discovery - many customers are telling us that we've got the best hearing aid friendly masks.
I was recently asked to join Canopy Café, which is an AM Facebook Live event hosted by our local B Corp and social responsibility heroes, Canopy here in Louisville, Kentucky. It was there where we discussed how we got into mask making in the first place and if you're interested in learning more about that story, follow this link to our YouTube channel and get ready to laugh. I am (as always) very candid about our "situations" over here at Wicked Sheets.
Hearing Aid Friendly Masks
I bring up that interview because it was when we first talked about the hidden bonus of our mask style, which was completely unintentional. Thanks to one of my friend's from Bellarmine, the university that I attended and teach a course at, who ordered masks very early on, he brought it to our attention that our masks were perfect for his son who wears hearing aids. (Thank you, Jason!)
Early in our discussions with the nurses, doctors, and pharmacists, whom we did our initial R&D in the mask world with, they consistently said that they had #earloopfatigue. After working 10, sometimes 12 hours shifts their ears were not only red and sore from having an ear loop around it all day, they said it was rubbing their skin behind their ears raw. Not good. The fact that the unindented benefit of our design is that we've got hearing aid friendly masks is an incredible byproduct.
Healthcare workers and frontline heroes deserve better
Dr. Miriam Krause, who I am lucky enough to call a dear friend of mine, is one of the top fertility specialists in Kentucky. Hailing all the way from Germany, she graced us with her intelligence, ingenuity, and business acumen a few years ago. It's thanks to those skills that we have offer the face masks we do today on wickedsheets.com.
"Alli, you should really think about selling these to the general public," she texts me after we sent a few prototypes. And next came a dinner with one of my investors who said the same. "My family and I are traveling a ton for work these days and everyone should be wearing a mask. Your fabric is Certified...it could make an incredible mask for kids like mine who suffer from allergies." (Thanks, Ben!)
So it with that feedback that my sewing team, Maureen, Sarah Jane, and Edward got to work and developed our washable, multi-layer, breathable face masks from our AAFA certified (bedsheet) fabric. And to top it all off, with two comfort straps that have soft stretch elastic that fit over your head and your neck, rather than your ears.
