Durban woman designs masks that won't fog up your glasses during exercise

Alison Chadwick wearing her mask, tailored for spectacled runners and cyclists. Picture: Duncan Guy

Alison Chadwick wearing her mask, tailored for spectacled runners and cyclists. Picture: Duncan Guy

Published May 17, 2020

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Durban - The latest type of face mask on the catwalk of Durban beachfront is for spectacled cyclists and runners.

It has a piece of wire on top that wearers can press against their noses, preventing the flow of air on to their glasses.

"It’s more comfortable. My glasses were always misting up," said Alison Chadwick who started making masks after her business of taking people on walking tours of Durban had to go into lockdown hibernation.

"I kept having to touch my mask, keep touching my glasses. I began experimenting with different masks and I found the one with a piece of wire over the nose works the best."

She cracked the design after looking at a sample of a proper medical masks that also have wire in them.

“After a while I started making masks without the wire but then so many people wanted them with the wire, so now I am making them with the wire again.”

When Chadwick isn't diversifying her household's economy by sewing masks, she is using the time to research more about Durban's history with the help of many people posting old pictures on Facebook.

"Idle is not one of my strong points," she said. "I am always busy."

Chadwick hopes to resume her tours. For the meantime she calls herself “self-employed with no income”.

She resigned from her job as a personal assistant to start a new vocation, taking people on historic walking tours.

She is a massive fan of the Durban beachfront. “I love it,” she said.

The Independent on Saturday

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