Midwest Textiles and Hollingsworth & Vose (H&V) are collaborating on a new ready-to-sew face mask kit for the general public. The new collaboration between Midwest and H&V offers an improvement to the everyday consumer by adding a layer of Nanoweb FM to the mask.

On April 3, the Centers for Disease Control issued new guidance to encourage the general public to wear “cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain” in order to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.  Since then, several cities and states have added local mandates requiring residents to wear face coverings in public. 

Nanoweb FM is new filtration media made by H&V, designed for use in homemade face masks.  Importantly, this new media will not negatively affect the supply of respiratory protective equipment required by healthcare workers and other medical first responders.

“This relationship brings together H&V’s knowledge and experience in the filtration industry with Midwest’s ability to reach the individual consumer. We are pleased to offer this new mask kit.”

“H&V is one of the world’s leading producers of filtration media for face masks and many other filtration applications. By partnering with Midwest, and through the development of Nanoweb® FM media, we are able to help support individuals and communities across the country that are struggling to obtain basic levels of protection,” said Mike Clark, Division President at H&V. “Our new Nanoweb® FM media was designed specifically for general use in homemade face masks, and can be inserted in a face mask pocket or stitched into a disposable pleated mask.”

Consumers can purchase ready-to-sew face mask kits and Nanoweb FM media for homemade masks at www.sitnsewfabrics.com. One kit containing 4 masks will cost $24.95, and it is estimated to take 15 minutes to sew and assemble each mask.