Have face masks floating around everywhere in the house and/or car?
Face masks are now apart of daily life due to the coronavirus pandemic, and I have a growing collection of reusable face masks at home for myself, husband, and two kids. I noticed right away that my family was not being very efficient with storing them, and we were constantly looking for them in the car, in my purse, or pockets.
Today I’m sharing my new system for organizing face masks, and other helpful tips in case you can relate to this struggle!
“Where’s your mask?” has become the new “Where are your shoes?”
In general, we all have a few nice reusable cotton masks, and then I keep a pack of disposable face masks in the car in case someone accidentally forgets theirs. It only took a few times driving back home for me to figure out we need a better system in place for mask-wearing.
I purchased this pretty expandable coat rack for my laundry room to hang clean masks!
This new system in our laundry room of placing dirty masks in a separate bin and hanging them up once clean on my new ORLY rack from Amazon is working out much better for us! I placed it vertically next to the dryer, as that’s where it fits best, and I love how beautiful it looks in this small space, and also how functional it is.
Now that my family is on board with this mask organizing system, I’m not searching for masks last minute, and they are all clean and organized in one convenient spot in my laundry room next to the garage where we come and go.
I definitely appreciate small things like this that can make life a little easier!
Tips for washing reusable face masks:
- Ideally, reusable face masks should be washed after each use, according to the CDC guidelines. This can be done in the washing machine using hot water and laundry detergent, and you can either dry in the dryer or hang dry.
- Try to only touch the elastic part of the mask when removing it from your face to avoid bacteria that could be on a dirty mask.
- According to HopkinsMedicine.org, you can wash face masks by hand. They recommend scrubbing them for at least 20 seconds using hot soapy water and then using a hot clothes dryer to dry.
- Consider washing face masks together in a small mesh laundry bag for delicates so they don’t get lost among other larger items, and stay together.
- The blue disposable masks should not be laundered and instead thrown away.
Want to save on your mask storage? Here are 3 brilliant Dollar Tree options for organizing clean face masks!
1.) Over the Door Hooks
I do love my storage idea, however, above is a genius $1 hanging rack that fits behind the door as another more frugal option I spotted in-store at Dollar Tree.
2.) Belt & Tie Hanger
My smart sidekick Jen showed us how to hang up clean masks using a belt & tie hanger she found at Dollar Tree in this post! I think that is so clever and space-saving too.
3.) Large Suction Hooks
Dollar tree also has a great selection of individual hooks like these suction style hooks, as well as smaller ones similar to Command hooks.
Here’s a fun idea below if you want to get crafty and make a personalized mask hanging station using a vinyl cutting machine such as a Cricut!
This adorable option above is actually available for sale via Etsy.com in case you’d like to buy one instead! I think it’s creative and also functional at the same time!
Curious how other Hip2Save readers organize and store their masks?
Check out this entire thread of clever tips from our Facebook group!
Here are some of my favorite mask organizing tips readers have shared:
“I put our masks in baggies, individually by the persons name, in a container on the counter. Then each person also has one that stays in my car in a larger Ziploc bag. This is our “normal” but if a kid or someone needs to go without me, they just grab their bag and off they go.” -Stephanie
“We have a grab and go clean mask hanging station by the door, and repurposed an old Tide Pods container for the used ones as you come in to be washed.” – Amberly
“We use these mesh bags from Amazon, and each person gets a color. The zipper part has a tab that can be used to hang on hooks for storage.” – Christen
“I bought travel soap containers and can fit three in each. I have one in my backpack, purse and my kids have one in their backpacks for school.” –Stacy
“Dollar tree has those pencil cases with zippers and empty makeup bags work great if you want to put a mini sanitizer, a face mask, and a pair of gloves in there. I basically have little sandwich baggies all set-up for each family member for road trips or outings.” – Sara
On a personal note:
However you choose to organize masks, I hope everyone is staying healthy and positive during this unusual time. I also hope these tips are helpful in a small way!
Here are our picks for the 7 BEST reusable face masks for kids!