IMPORTANT: Before you begin, please thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Do not “try on” a respirator. If you are experiencing symptoms of illness, do not begin this project. Keep the N95 respirators in a clean, dry environment, and remove them from the manufacturer’s box one at a time as you work on them.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR REPLACING N95 RESPIRATOR ELASTIC STRAPSThank you for being part of our sewing initiative! Your efforts will help keep our front-line health care providers safe as Tidelands Health responds to the COVID-19 pandemic.Follow these instructions to replace the elastic straps in the provided N95 respirators.

STEP ONEWith scissors, cut two lengths of the provided elastic material – one 15 inches long and one 11 inches long.

STEP TWOJust as you would open a seam, carefully open the edge on each side of the N95 respirator until you have revealed the ends of the blue straps. Remove the blue straps, and discard them.

STEP THREEPut the two pieces of elastic you cut in Step One together, with the longer piece on top of the shorter piece. With the pink side of the N95 respirator facing up, place one end of the elastic pieces onto an opened edge of the respirator.

STEP FOURSet your sewing machine on 2.5, and use a small, narrow thread. Place the N95 respirator into your machine, and do a box stitch to attach the straps and hold them in place. Put your machine in reverse, and reinforce your stitching. Once complete, trim the thread.

STEP FIVEBring the other end of the elastic straps together, and place them onto the other opened edge of the N95 respirator. Repeat Step Four.

STEP SIXTuck the newly attached straps neatly inside the N95 respirator.

STEP SEVENStack the completed N95 respirator back into the manufacturer’s box. When all respirators are complete, return them to Tidelands Health as directed.