Social enterprise to mass-produce facemask for improved accessibility

Social enterprise Friendly Face Masks (FFM), pioneered by engineer and founder Sonia Carley, is now able to mass-produce and deliver its latest, facemask design Friendly Face Masks Poly Mask. 

The mask aims to help public-facing organisations and businesses around the world improve accessibility for users during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and especially the hard of hearing.

The new mask that will be mass-produced by FFM is an improved version to predecessor products and will be made from polypropylene. Polypropylene masks can improve breathability and are more lightweight, as well as being machine-washable, reusable, and splash-proof.

The new FFM Poly Mask features a larger lipreading window, which makes it more accessible for deaf, hard-of-hearing users, and those that they need to communicate with.

Upon its initial release and delivery to various sectors, the new FFM Poly Mask will be available in the one shade of black and three adult sizes. The company hopes the line will be expanded in due course, promising new sizes to accommodate different adult shapes of face.

On creating this refined lipreading face mask, founder Sonia Carley said, "I experimented with the polypropylene and found that it was much better. I've gone through four or five different construction methods of the mask and tried hundreds of materials, and the polypropylene always came out on top. Therefore, I am now confident that the masks are ready to be mass-manufactured and stocked by many organisations that face the public. Also, I now have a vast amount of experience in understanding the masks' tolerances to the millimetre, which means that I know when I mass-manufacture them there will be no unforeseen errors.”