Our Response to COVID-19: Making Face Masks

As communities around the world are struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, Denali has stepped up by shifting efforts at its production facility in Janesville, WI from making high-quality blankets to making protective face masks. See our response to COVID-19 and learn about the Washable & Reusable 3-Ply Protective Face Masks we’re producing to help communities across the country.

Inside Denali’s Shift From Blankets to Face Masks

On March 17th, our management and development teams began researching and developing a reusable protective face mask to help front-line hospitals, doctors, nurses, and caregivers currently dealing with shortages. 

In the early stages of the transition to producing face masks, the facility was only able to produce about 1,000 per day. However, within a few weeks production was scaled up and we’re now able to produce roughly 65,000 reusable face masks each day. Since then, we’ve received orders from first responders throughout Wisconsin and we’re now supplying the Wisconsin National Guard, the City of Madison, the Sauk County Department of Health Services, Sixteenth Street Community Health Center in addition to several senior living centers and hospitals across the nation.

Recently, we’ve also made our face masks available for businesses and individuals to ensure the public has a way to protect themselves as the nation slowly reopens in the coming weeks and months. 

Denali’s Safety Measures to Protect Employees

The president of our company, Dan Sinykin, understands the importance of face masks and taking protective measures because he and his family actually contracted the virus in mid-march while traveling through an airport. 

To protect our employees, we’ve taken extra steps at our production facility to help prevent the spread of the virus. These measures include staggering breaks and lunches, cleaning high-traffic areas frequently, switching to contactless time clocks, and providing masks to all employees that are washed daily. It is our hope that these actions will help protect our employees and serve as a shining example of how other businesses can mitigate the spread of COVID-19 as organizations slowly reopen.

About Denali’s Protective Face Masks

We designed our face masks to be protective, reusable, and comfortable for people that need to wear them on a daily basis for long periods of time. Our face masks have been extensively tested through an infectious disease regimen and subjected to washings at 170 degrees, which the masks passed with high reviews at multiple state and national health systems. They can be worn independently or in conjunction with N95 masks for added protection. 

Each face mask is comprised of three layers. The first layer is a protective spun-bond that is non-woven and liquid-repellent, the second layer is an air filtration media, and the third layer is soft cotton fabric for maximum comfort. Combined, these three layers serve as a protective barrier to prevent particle droplets, splashes, sprays, splatters, and other potentially harmful airborne particles (viral and bacterial) from reaching your nose or mouth.

Our face masks are an ideal choice for hospitals and businesses because they are reusable, and can be cleaned in industrial or home washing machines as needed. In fact, our masks have been ordered and re-ordered by the largest hospital systems in the nation, in addition to multiple Fortune 500 businesses and now consumers.