Mask fogging.

[Paladin]

I am having a problem that has never happened to me before. My wife bought me a new USD Pacifica mask for my birthday back in March and I just can't keep it defogged. I have cleaned the glass three times with toothpaste, I've used spit and commercial defogger but it just keeps fogging up. Anybody got any ideas?

 

[spectrum]

Yes, after cleaning do you test it by chilling it cold tap or ice water and breathing heavily into the chilled mask? I usually have to go at least 3 rounds before I'm happy with a new mask. The beauty of checking it this way is that you don't trash a string of dives before getting it right.

Be sure your toothpaste is one that includes the abrasive, some gels do not. I use soft-scrub cleanser.

Pete

 

[BrittneyA]

I have had this issue before; the only thing that worked for me was to burn the inside of the lenses with a lighter. It will burn off the coating that is on there that is causing it to fog. Just be really carefull to not burn the skirt of the mask or get the lenses too hot. You only need to get it hot enough that a black film appears on the mask. Make sure to let the lenses completly cool off before rinsing it out.

This has worked really well for me and some of my customers in the past, just take caution when doing it. Hope it helps you as well!

 

[Johan Broere]

I put one small drop of shampoo on my fingertip and apply to the mask when it is still DRY. This very very small amount will dry in seconds. Less is better and you do not even rinse but you can if your drop was to big. And yes in between dives I try to dry my mask again. Those little bottles from the hotel are great and last a long time. Happy diving, Johan.

 

[spectrum]

I put one small drop of shampoo on my fingertip and apply to the mask when it is still DRY. This very very small amount will dry in seconds. Less is better and you do not even rinse but you can if your drop was to big. And yes in between dives I try to dry my mask again. Those little bottles from the hotel are great and last a long time. Happy diving, Johan.

That will not work on a mask that has manufacturing residue or has been contaminated with sunscreen, make-up or salad dressing. If it's working for you somebody cleaned the mask before you or you are diving in consistently very warm water. The mask must be cleaned to resist droplet formation and to promote sheeting.

 

[The Kraken]

Use "Kraken Spit".

Rumor has it that "Kraken Spit" is nothing more that Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo used at full strength smeared on each lens and then gently swashed about before donning one's mask.

the K

 

[Marek K]

Yes, after cleaning do you test it by chilling it cold tap or ice water and breathing heavily into the chilled mask?

Yeah, I'd always understood (as you say on your web site) that it's residue left over from the mask's manufacture that makes the lenses fog.

But that may not be the case. We've just gotten four new masks for our family, all with corrective lenses (How blind are bats, anyway?) that I know were installed by the shop.

I assumed they wouldn't fog up, because the lenses weren't part of the masks' manufacturing process.

Wrong. I just tried your cold-water-warm-breath test (great idea -- thanks!), and they all fogged up. Scrubbed them with white toothpaste (using fingertips), and they're fine now.

Just a caution footnote... there are many corrective lenses that aren't glass, but polycarbonate plastic. I suspect a toothpaste scrub would damage them...

 

[Mike Boswell]

My wife had the same problem with her mask, and we had to use toothpaste on it four or five times before it finally worked. You have to really rub hard.

I think they must not put as much abrasive in toothpaste as they used to - many years ago I remember polishing out the scratches on my watch crystal with toothpaste, but I don't think you can do that anymore.

It might be easier with auto rubbing compound, if you have a can of that around. Try it out on a window first to make sure it doesn't frost the glass.

 

[spectrum]

Yeah, I'd always understood (as you say on your web site) that it's residue left over from the mask's manufacture that makes the lenses fog.

But that may not be the case. We've just gotten four new masks for our family, all with corrective lenses (How blind are bats, anyway?) that I know were installed by the shop.

I assumed they wouldn't fog up, because the lenses weren't part of the masks' manufacturing process.

Wrong. I just tried your cold-water-warm-breath test (great idea -- thanks!), and they all fogged up. Scrubbed them with white toothpaste (using fingertips), and they're fine now.

Just a caution footnote... there are many corrective lenses that aren't glass, but polycarbonate plastic. I suspect a toothpaste scrub would damage them...

I also dive with bonded scripts and they have always come back as foggers. I have had them from the LDS (don't know who did them) as well as prescriptiondivemasks.com. All of mine have been glass and cleaned successfully just like the factory tempered lenses.

I would hope that nobody is doing plastic overlays. Weight isn't an issue and with the likelihood of sand contact they would be easy to wreck. If anyone can confirm plastic overlays in a dive mask application I'll be sure to flag that in my feature, I may add a caution not anyway.

Thanks,
Pete

 

[Marek K]

I would hope that nobody is doing plastic overlays. Weight isn't an issue and with the likelihood of sand contact they would be easy to wreck. If anyone can confirm plastic overlays in a dive mask application I'll be sure to flag that in my feature, I may add a caution not anyway.

Not overlays, but solid lenses.

For instance, SeaVision (http://www.seavisionusa.com/), make their corrective lenses out of plastic. Their web site says the lenses are "made from the highest quality materials (CR39) that are stronger, and more efficient than glass."

I just looked up CR39; Wikipedia says it's not polycarbonate, but "a plastic polymer commonly used in the manufacture of eyeglass lenses."

Plus the SeaVision web site says, "Please do not clean your SeaVision Mask with any abrasive substances (toothpaste, scrub cleansers) this will damage the anti-fog quality." I think what it'll actually do is scratch the lenses, and/or damage any coating they put on.

As an aside, weight does get to be an issue when the (glass) lenses are as thick as mine are, with a -9.5 correction. They make my mask quite negatively bouyant. I use a Marsoops neoprene strap that compensates for the negative bouyancy, making the whole mask pretty much neutral -- I figure if I lose it, it'll just hang there in front of me, and I'll at least see the lime-green strap to find it. Plus the strap turns inside-out to double as a soft padded case to protect the mask when I'm not using it -- not a minor point for me.