Union Made In USA
Face Shields Engineered for Daily Re-Use
Face masks hinder workplace communication and don’t protect the eyes or provide a liquid barrier. So why aren’t clear face shields ubiquitous? Because the traditional “foam + elastic + clear sheet” face shield was designed as disposable splash protection for surgery–not every-day use.
We’ve reimagined the Face Shield to be something comfortable and truly reusable.
Unionwear is the leading domestic manufacturer of baseball caps. Our products sit comfortably on heads all day, every day. And we’ve been making traditional face shields since NYC’s quarantine started, continuously upgrading our product based on client feedback. We are now launching the Replaceable Universal Face Shield (the “RUF Shield”). Features:
No Foam: Foam is why traditional face shields are disposable. You can sanitize the clear shield but how do you clean spongy foam that’s been pressed up against a sweaty forehead? You can’t. We use a black cotton baseball cap sweatband, removable for washing.
No Bulk: Traditional face shields are bulky. Bulky to ship—especially with FedEx and UPS new penalties for dimensional weight, bulky to store, even bulky to dispose of. The RUF Shield ships disassembled, flat.
No Latex: Latex sensitivity and allergy affect a sizable portion of the population, and due to skyrocketing demand for elastic for masks and shields nearly all available elastic right now contains latex.
No Sizes: Elastic face shields are not one size fits all, which means you need to order in sizes-but who knows his or her face shield size? Unknown size ranges require excess inventory.
No Scratches: All of our fronts are protected with film—made possible because the shield is not attached until it is ready to be worn. Without this protection PET is bound to scratch during shipping or handling.
The clear shields are sold by Unionwear’s promo products distributors with an MSRP of $1.45 (s) each. The plastic visor/cotton headband that holds the shields are $3.50 (s) each. Case size is 100 units.
Download a white label, Client-Safe sell sheet here.
Distributors please email PPESales@unionwear.com, call 973-497-0102, or fill out this form to resell.
You can also purchase retail online from RUFshield.com.
Mitch Cahn, President of Unionwear, on Lean and Pivoting to Shields & Gowns
Mitch tells us how, a month ago, orders for political campaign hats and items evaporated as the Democratic presidential field consolidated. So, Unionwear needed to pivot and they started calling hospitals to find out how they might be able to help by making personal protective equipment (PPE) to help in the Covid-19 crisis.
Read more here
Rootstock: Unionwear Switches to Manufacturing PPE in the Fight against COVID-19
Under normal circumstances, Unionwear is the leading manufacturer of union, made-in-USA headwear, bags, accessories, work wear and safety gear. 2020 was shaping up to be a great year for the New Jersey-based company – between the presidential campaign, the Olympics, the US Census and other events, Unionwear’s employees would be busy all year.
But when the Democratic presidential campaign abruptly ended and the coronavirus pandemic arrived, circumstances became anything but normal.
“A lot of our jobs were canceled,” says Mitch Cahn, Unionwear President. “We do a lot of event merchandise, and a lot of events were canceled and some of our military projects were scaled back to make funds available for emergency relief.”
Like many companies coping with the challenge of operating with mandated social distancing amid sharply reduced economic activity, Unionwear quickly went from trying to keep up with orders while working at full capacity to not having much to do at all. The company cut their staff, sent workers home and tried to figure out how to succeed in a world changed by COVID-19.
Then they decided that they needed to come up with a new business model to carry them through the crisis.
The pandemic created a huge demand for personal protection equipment (PPE) to keep front-line health care workers, law enforcement and essential employees safe. Unionwear not only wanted to shift production to keep operating but also to make a difference.
Read more here