The Deal with TSHU Cloth Masks

Updated on April 25th, 2020.

Health first

First and foremost, we hope you are well. Safe, healthy and serene. Know that we are safe, healthy—and, in spite of juggling between work, homeschooling and a tornado-baby, we’re doing quite well. 🙂 

Cloth Masks: do you make them?

Several of you have been writing to know if we make cloth masks. 

At first, we were making cloth masks using KUFU’s shared pattern, handing them out free of charge to people in our surroundings, such as local healthcare professionals in dire need of medical supplies, local shop owners, law enforcement personnel and school teachers who care for healthcare professionals’ children.

We are still doing this, and know that we will continue to do so as long as we are facing this sanitary crisis.

What’s changed is that we have upgraded our cloth mask pattern to respect norms as indicated by Afnor.

So YES, we do make cloth masks.

Cloth masks: do you sell them?

Truth be told, we’re not comfortable selling cloth masks, even if your job is not considered “at risk”. We’d feel like we were taking advantage of a bad situation and that just seems wrong.

So, if you’re in need of a cloth mask, we’d be happy to offer you one, free of charge. Since we don’t charge for shipping, we’d be more than happy to mail you one along with any order via the TSHU online shop—no matter how small. This way, we give away fabric and time, but we avoid unmanageable demand and costs.

In the past few weeks, we’ve sent out quite a few cloth face masks to our loyal clients and we’ve been delighted to read your kind and touching messages. By all means, if you need one don’t hesitate to ask, it’s a genuine pleasure to be able to help.

To claim your cloth mask, it’s quite simple, simply add a purchase note as you check out, or email us after ordering online. We’ll mail cloth masks as long as we have materials in stock, so if you want to make sure to get one with your order, don’t hesitate to email us beforehand and we’ll let you know what’s possible!

Our cloth mask anatomy

Initially, our cloth masks were made with two plies of cotton (inner and outer shells), with one ply of tightly woven fabric as lining - for a total of three plies of fabric.

We were using spare pieces of fabric that were too small to make handkerchiefs out of, or samples that we’d ordered to make handkerchiefs, but didn’t make the cut. (Not quite soft enough, for instance.)

Now, our masks follow Afnor recommendations and feature 2 plies of thinly woven cotton (sateen and/or poplin with a high thread count and when possible, organic!) and the design has 3 folds for a better, more comfortable fit. 

We do still have quite a bit of fabric left - fabric with lovely patterns and solid colours, so if you’d like, you can even tell us if you have any preference and we’ll try to make a cloth mask that suits your taste.

Shipping shipping shipping

As long as postal services are maintained, we will be shipping handkerchiefs (and free cloth masks if you’d like one) on a daily basis. As a quick reminder, we offer free shipping worldwide, with the fulfillment of your order in 5 to 8 business days—and express shipping within 24–48 hours (business days only).

Remember that this does not mean you will receive your order in that delay… Unfortunately because of the situation, we are aware that there can be some unexpected delays. On a brighter note though, all packages that have been mailed earlier this month have arrived at destination!

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Stay safe, guys. Stay home if you can. And if you can’t, be careful!

Good vibes from our family to yours,

Marion, Cofounder & handkerchief maker