Anti-Fogging Treatments for New Masks. (a comparison of techniques)

[lowviz]

Could just the heat be the main factor or are you certain the ammonia is doing most of the work?

Becoming more sure that it is the ammonia. Reasoning below:

Mask out of box showed the expected hydrophobic glass. Note how round and pronounced the droplets are:


Next put mask into undiuted common household 'clear' ammonia. No change in mask after one hour, still beaded water the same way. Same result after about 4 hours in room temp ammonia. Heated ammonia solution to near boiling and inserted mask. After about 15 min the mask showed the beginnings of becoming wettable:

Note how the droplets are no longer round and high but more smeared out and affected by gravity.

After your post, I quit periodically heating the ammonia bath that the mask is soaking in. It has been roughly ten hours and the mask is still progressing without any heating. It is now at (what I call) the 'edge beading' stage:


If the mask progresses to pure sheeting (from edge beading without using any heat) then it will take a lot to convince me that this isn't all about ammonia. Ammonia and water are all that this mask has ever seen.

 

[lowviz]

Recent development.

Now (after 10-15 hours) the plastic box, itself, is defogged! I got another box and put ammonia in it just to show how the box fogs. So yes, more and more sure that it is the ammonia and not the heat...

 

[Lorenzoid]

Understood, but I assure you that not all masks act that way.

Maybe, but I would suggest people with new masks try the straightforward method first, before all the oddball methods involving flames, toothpaste or whatever, and then perpetuating online the idea that those are the only tried-and-true methods. “All” masks may not be so compliant, but it’s possible most masks are. I don’t think we have the data.

 

[lowviz]

...//... I would suggest people with new masks try the straightforward method first, before all the oddball methods involving flames, toothpaste or whatever ...//...

Perfectly reasonable suggestion.

...//... “All” masks may not be so compliant, but it’s possible most masks are. I don’t think we have the data.

Again, I agree. We don't have anywhere near the data to do any sort of statistically significant analysis.

Going back to the very beginning of Post #1:

As simple as it seems that it should be, treatments to alleviate mask fogging remain a subject of hot debate. I remain surprised that one definitive answer has not been found long ago.

I am in no way suggesting that an ammonia treatment is the 'be-all and end-all' mask treatment. I do believe, however, that this team approach produced one more simple and effective treatment for at least a subset of all those Masks-From-Hell. The distributor of this particular mask agrees that it can be a challenge to defog.

I will have more data in about an hour from now. At that point, the new mask will have been soaking, undisturbed, for 24 hours...

 

[RayfromTX]

 

[lowviz]

Soaked the new mask in ammonia for an entire day. One lens sheeted, the other still showed 'edge beading'. This leads me to believe that this isn't as much about silicone from the skirt as much as it is hydroxylating the glass surface.

Continued soaking at room temperature for 8 more hours. Perfectly clean mask, both lenses. 1/100 baby shampoo 'defog' works like a charm:


I need to review this entire thread and then do a proper write-up. "Knowing when to quit is an art" Not my quote, someone I know...

 

[lamarpaulski]

After comparing a bunch of products and substances over many years I also believe baby shampoo to be best.

 

[tridacna]

View attachment 570947

Almost $70 for that stuff. Phew.

 

[tridacna]

Progress.

New mask (in a perfectly sized soaking tub) showed up at noon today. It looks like Dano's people shipped it the instant that it was ordered. Yes, water beads on it. Look carefully...
View attachment 570714


Removed my old worn mask from the ammonia bath, rinsed in tap water and let it drain in a vertical position. OMG! No water beading from the skirt, just a ragged curtain of water draining down under the force of gravity. EXTREMELY hard to photograph. Best I could do is shown below, look for a change in hue halfway between the 'R' in 'Tempered' and the skirt.
View attachment 570721

Notice the white lines from the evaporated tap water at the very bottom of both lenses. This is the cleanest mask that I have ever seen.
View attachment 570720

New mask (without warning label) is now soaking in ammonia, stay tuned...

Edit:
3 hours in straight household clear ammonia at room temperature produced absolutely no change. Ammonia solution still beads on glass. Really want to lose the Aspirin step so heated the ammonia to near boiling and put mask back into it.

Boiling point of Ammonia is -33C (-28F). Explain your boiling process...?


Hint: What you'e using isn't really Ammonia. It's water with some ammonia gas, NH3, dissolved in it; an aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide, NH4OH or NH3•H2O

 

[RayfromTX]

Almost $70 for that stuff. Phew.

Yes but it is effective on many very troublesome things and you will never need to buy it again. In fact, split it with your buddy. A pint will last most handy guys for decades. I had a pint of 3m adhesive remover and it lasted me 30 years. They quit making it 20 years ago. I replace it with this. Use it judiciously and carefully. It will remove the suction cup rings that show up on windows in foggy conditions. Only thing I have found that will.

If my cigarette lighter didn't work so well on removing silicone from my masks, I would use DSR-5 instead.