Maskerade, a new division of Raleigh, North Carolina-based APJeT Inc., has begun manufacturing and selling facemasks for residents and essential businesses to promote health and safety during the coronavirus outbreak.
The company launched the program, using an e-commerce site maskeradefacemasks.com in April and has already supplied more than 2,500 masks to consumers and larger companies.
These masks offer reasonable protection to workers and people in public places, while alleviating some of the burden on supplies of medical-grade protective masks that are needed by healthcare facilities.
The construction of the Maskerade facemasks make them more attractive, as well as being machine washable—which makes them more environmentally friendly and sustainable for long term use, the company says. They come in three sizes to match most adults and children, and are available in a wide array of designs, fabrics and colors. The highly adjustable strap design makes these facemasks more comfortable and easier to wear safely for children.
“Our face masks are not surgical masks or N-95 respirators,” said Dr. Carrie Cornelius (PhD), program director for Maskerade. “Those are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance. Our masks are cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others. Maskerade facemasks are fashioned with a cotton inner layer(s) sandwiched between cotton, polyester or nylon outer layers.”
Maskerade face masks are available to consumers and for essential companies and organizations to help their associates stay safe while in the workplace, working together or with a small section of the community. The company can provide any quantity of masks an individual or family needs but expect to produce larger orders in the weeks and months to come.
“One thing that I am very proud of,” said Bentley Park, president of APJeT Inc., “is our ability to provide stable work for local clothing professionals that have been furloughed from other companies during this crisis. This was a project that we quickly developed to respond to a real need. The masks are being made by our team in separate locations, while exercising social distancing as recommended by the federal government and leading health authorities.”
An all-American workforce makes Maskerade facemasks in the USA.
APJeT Inc. also has committed to donating 10 percent of all proceeds to the St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
