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

[Aquanomad]

Late to the party and not sure if this was mentioned somewhere in the 50 pages of this thread.
I despise mask fogging. I would pay a premium for a "no fog" mask out of the box. I dive ccr 90% of the time and usually prefer to hold optimal loop volume by exhaling through my nose rather than going loose lipped and building water in the loop. So even more prone to fogging throughout the dive especially on ascent. I also I have 2 NERDs on my DSV so clarity is even more important.
Iv been through several masks looking for a proper fit while wearing the gag strap on the rEvo. I picked up a Mako Minimus recently and applied a variety of techniques from this thread. Mostly tried and true stuff Iv used in the past but a few new techniques that seems to have helped.
Step 1: Burn baby burn. Watch the "burn run" to the edge of the mask and then pull the flame. I try to avoid applying the flame to the skirt.
Step 2: Wash lens with a little soap and rinse to remove minor soot.
Step 3: Toothpaste with SONICARE! (Awesome advice. Seems obvious now that its been pointed out.)
Step 4: Ultrasonic bath with Crystal Simple Green at 30:1 dilution at ~115°f for 15 minutes. (Iv had several masks that hold the white film layer on the skirt after several washes with soap. This method totally removed it!)
Step 5: Sonicare with Sea Buff lens cleaner. Rinse and quick wet fit to fog check. Repeated Sea Buff in the 2 edge spots that had minor fog. Hit the rest of the lens again bc why not.
Step 6: Fitted mask with a little moisture inside. Exhaled through nose several times. ZERO FOGGING! Took it for a spin with a little baby soap rub and rinse and by far the best results Iv ever had. Especially with a brand new mask.
Could be totally arbitrary. Idk. I plan on buying an Omer Apnea mask this week and repeating the process. I have other masks that Iv burned and rubbed tooth paste on dozens of times with dismal results. I'm glad I stumbled on this thread. It got me rethinking something Iv just been accepting as bothersome and "gets better with time". Ill see how it does over the several dives and if the results are repeatable on a second mask.

 

[stuartv]

Late to the party and not sure if this was mentioned somewhere in the 50 pages of this thread.
I despise mask fogging. I would pay a premium for a "no fog" mask out of the box. I dive ccr 90% of the time and usually prefer to hold optimal loop volume by exhaling through my nose rather than going loose lipped and building water in the loop. So even more prone to fogging throughout the dive especially on ascent. I also I have 2 NERDs on my DSV so clarity is even more important.
Iv been through several masks looking for a proper fit while wearing the gag strap on the rEvo. I picked up a Mako Minimus recently and applied a variety of techniques from this thread. Mostly tried and true stuff Iv used in the past but a few new techniques that seems to have helped.
Step 1: Burn baby burn. Watch the "burn run" to the edge of the mask and then pull the flame. I try to avoid applying the flame to the skirt.
Step 2: Wash lens with a little soap and rinse to remove minor soot.
Step 3: Toothpaste with SONICARE! (Awesome advice. Seems obvious now that its been pointed out.)
Step 4: Ultrasonic bath with Crystal Simple Green at 30:1 dilution at ~115°f for 15 minutes. (Iv had several masks that hold the white film layer on the skirt after several washes with soap. This method totally removed it!)
Step 5: Sonicare with Sea Buff lens cleaner. Rinse and quick wet fit to fog check. Repeated Sea Buff in the 2 edge spots that had minor fog. Hit the rest of the lens again bc why not.
Step 6: Fitted mask with a little moisture inside. Exhaled through nose several times. ZERO FOGGING! Took it for a spin with a little baby soap rub and rinse and by far the best results Iv ever had. Especially with a brand new mask.
Could be totally arbitrary. Idk. I plan on buying an Omer Apnea mask this week and repeating the process. I have other masks that Iv burned and rubbed tooth paste on dozens of times with dismal results. I'm glad I stumbled on this thread. It got me rethinking something Iv just been accepting as bothersome and "gets better with time". Ill see how it does over the several dives and if the results are repeatable on a second mask.

Since you didn't read, I'll summarize: This thread used the same mask you're talking about (the Mako Minimus) to identify what works the best. Tests included everything you mentioned (except possibly the Simple Green - I can't remember if that was one of the tests) plus more.

What works THE BEST - meaning, even better and more reliable than the methods you tried - is to run it through your dishwasher (with automatic dishwasher detergent), then soak it for a week in undiluted household ammonia. No burning or scrubbing needed.

This process gets the whole mask CLEAN, and the ammonia also has the effect of literally changing the surface of the glass itself. It's a chemical reaction between the ammonia and the glass - a process called hydroxylation. It makes the glass very fog-resistant. Much more so than the untreated glass - which, on a Mako Minimus, seems to be even more fog-prone than most.

My Minimus has been my MOST fog-prone mask that I own, out of 12 or more masks, currently. After only the dishwasher and then 2 days soaking in ammonia, I was VERY pleased at how much more fog-resistant my Minimus is now than it was after only scrubbing it and burning it (multiple times).

Just FYI.

 

[tridacna]

^^^^^^

That's it folks. All up there ^^

No need for a paper @lowviz

Stewie just nailed it.

 

[lexvil]

Just for fun and plenty time on my hands; I have a Tuse Freedom 50 that I like but it’s only fog free in warm water so it’s now on day two of sitting with ammonia just deep enough to cover the glass inside.

 

[stuartv]

Late to the party and not sure if this was mentioned somewhere in the 50 pages of this thread.
I despise mask fogging. I would pay a premium for a "no fog" mask out of the box. I dive ccr 90% of the time and usually prefer to hold optimal loop volume by exhaling through my nose rather than going loose lipped and building water in the loop. So even more prone to fogging throughout the dive especially on ascent. I also I have 2 NERDs on my DSV so clarity is even more important.

2 NERDs?! Are you diving with redundant CCRs and 2 loops running into one DSV?

What is your config? Is 1 NERD a controller and 1 a monitor for the same loop?

 

[Schwob]

Since you didn't read, I'll summarize: This thread used the same mask you're talking about (the Mako Minimus) to identify what works the best. Tests included everything you mentioned (except possibly the Simple Green - I can't remember if that was one of the tests) plus more.

What works THE BEST - meaning, even better and more reliable than the methods you tried - is to run it through your dishwasher (with automatic dishwasher detergent), then soak it for a week in undiluted household ammonia. No burning or scrubbing needed.

This process gets the whole mask CLEAN, and the ammonia also has the effect of literally changing the surface of the glass itself. It's a chemical reaction between the ammonia and the glass - a process called hydroxylation. It makes the glass very fog-resistant. Much more so than the untreated glass - which, on a Mako Minimus, seems to be even more fog-prone than most.

My Minimus has been my MOST fog-prone mask that I own, out of 12 or more masks, currently. After only the dishwasher and then 2 days soaking in ammonia, I was VERY pleased at how much more fog-resistant my Minimus is now than it was after only scrubbing it and burning it (multiple times).

Just FYI.

Thank you! You just saved me from reading 20 pages I had not read yet ... or was it 30??? No idea why my devices forget at times where I last was (I sure won’t remember).

Anyway, certainly for this post, but others too, I wonder if either the OP, in this case @lowviz with or w/o moderator help could post (if they so choose) such a summary (or one of his choosing) like even in front of the first post, or right there with it...

 

[kelemvor]

Thank you! You just saved me from reading 20 pages I had not read yet ... or was it 30??? No idea why my devices forget at times where I last was (I sure won’t remember).

That happens to me all the time on SB. I suspect they're storing this in cookies, which aren't permanent. It would be far better if they stored it on the server side.... oh well, it's frustrating but not the end of the world.

Usually when SB forgets my place on a long thread that will end my participation in the thread. Either that or I'll skip whatever I missed up until the current end of the thread.

 

[lowviz]

No need for a paper @lowviz

Ha! It won't be a paper.

I'm trying to resolve all observations in this thread with respect to the diswasher/ammonia treatment.

I'm down to surface texturing vs surface etch by the ammonia and @Diving Dubai's observation of salt vs. freshwater fogging. Still finding interesting info on both...

IMHO, problem solved. However, there are still a couple of unanswered questions that I find interesting. This has been a very enjoyable team effort and I want a proper write-up that shows the efforts that everyone put into this.

 

[Jcp2]

Looking forward to quick summary and scubaboard sticky so that we won't forget as we age. Kudos to lowviz, now hiviz in my mind (until I get cataracts).

 

[stuartv]

That happens to me all the time on SB. I suspect they're storing this in cookies, which aren't permanent. It would be far better if they stored it on the server side.... oh well, it's frustrating but not the end of the world.

Usually when SB forgets my place on a long thread that will end my participation in the thread. Either that or I'll skip whatever I missed up until the current end of the thread.

I used to have that same issue. I recently noticed that there is a button at the top of each page that says "Go to First Unread". When I think my current place in a thread has been lost, clicking that button always takes me to the right place.