FAQs

Our mission is to donate protective gear to healthcare, front line service workers, and high risk individuals to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

  • All personal protective gear available through the Southwest Michigan Protect Gear Project has been created by volunteers and is not intended to replace medical-grade PPE. SWMI PGP and it's members and affiliates assume no responsibility or liability for the use or misuse of the gear provided and make no guarantees about it's efficacy.

  • We aspire our donations to be garment-quality items that may be worn daily for long periods of time, and survive extensive washing. We have developed all our supported activities to be in line with these goals, in this rapidly evolving situation.

  • We need your help to purchase more materials for Kits. Please share to your non-sewing contacts that donations can be made via PayPal friends and family to paypal.me/SWMIPGP .

Regarding materials and patterns

  • These non-medical devices are used to help us keep our germs to ourselves. The patterns have been selected to be in line with functionality and our organizational goals, after getting feedback from hundreds of users regarding dozens of patterns.

    • MasksNow Pocket pattern - most requested and versatile, has the functionality of the classic AB pattern, with the versatility of a pocket.

    • Phoebe simple pattern (with tiebacks NOT elastic) - requested by the Kalamazoo County Health Department can be worn as a “worry” mask, or to protect an n95.

  • Preshrunk, 200 thread count or more cotton is fine. You can up-cycle (ex. scrubs or sheets) as long as the fibers are intact. Use only "free and clear" detergent, when laundering materials.

  • Tiebacks are recommended for all sewn patterns, even on the Phoebe. Elastic does not hold up to repeated laundering. Folks who need to wear masks for long periods of time also report the elastic will cause injury. For those using disposable surgical masks, ear guards are available (provided by our 3D printing affiliate group)!

  • Please do not sew-in nose wire. These do not hold up to repeated laundering, folks have allergies to nickel (for example), and we have zero guidance on the durability of most materials. For this need, please note that the MasksNow Pocket has an internal flap at the top of the pocket, into which you can temporarily place an aluminum strip (to be removed or retained while the fabric is laundering).

Please wear your own fabric face coverings to all meet ups and observe best practices when wearing your own fabric face coverings - including washing your hands before and after putting it on and taking it off!

You can find protective gear to purchase for yourself or your business through our affiliated FB Group - SWMI Protective Gear Vendors.