Group of Texas women form company to make masks with zippers

AUSTIN, Texas - Last week a group of women in Texas launched a company called “Shut Your Mouth” to make face coverings with a front zipper so your trip to the grocery store or restaurant is a little more hassle-free.

Sarah Cordill, along with her friends Madison Herington and Haley Manley, have been working for weeks to develop “Shut Your Mouth”. Cordill works for a tech company in downtown Austin, while Herington and Manley live in Houston. 

Manley has a Master’s in Epidemiology from Columbia University and Herington went to UT Austin with Cordill and came up with several designs for Shut Your Mouth.

The cotton material makes the face coverings machine washable with adjustable elastic around the ears.

"These facial coverings aren’t CDC approved, they aren’t medical-grade, it's more for everyday use," Cordill said. "If you’re running errands and as the city is opening back up we wanted people to have something they can leave on in the car, jumping from place to place and you want to stay hydrated."

Austin Public Health, when asked about the zipper, referred FOX 7 to the CDC’s website. The national public health institute advises the use of simple 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.  

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Cordill says they encourage people to wear these while traveling due to the new facial cover requirements from airlines like Southwest, JetBlue, Delta, United, Alaska, Frontier, and American.

They want to raise enough money to give to the Charity Water Foundation which works with communities in developing countries to have clean water.

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