Baby shampoo *is* the best defog

[diver 85]

I might add---my common ole spit has done well for almost 30 years....As I remember our instructor telling us--' the thicker, the better..'......Great advise, too......

EDIT:......& CHEAP, too........

 

[BUDMANOK]

+1 for shampoo as defog it works great on drysuit seals also so they slide easily

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I bought a bottle of Sea Drops in 1987. It was still full ten years later when I finally threw it away. Spit works great.

 

[Timmyjoe]

I like the Johnson's Baby Shampoo, but that "No More Tears" is for the birds. Tried using it all through my Open Water pool sessions and every time I had to flood my mask (before I discovered closing my eyes when my mask floods), I was getting the JBS in my eyes, and boy did it sting. Stopped using it by the time we did our open water dives, and kept fogging my mask. My instructor had some "Top Secret Formula" and I let her put some in my mask. Worked great. After certification I asked her what it was. "Johnson's Baby Shampoo"! So that's what I've been using since.

Best,
-Tim

 

[TSandM]

The nice thing about spit is that you don't have to remember to put it in the mask ahead of time. And when you get to the water, you have it with you.

I have found a number of defog preparations over the years that work BEAUTIFULLY -- if you remember to use them. Spit is there when I remember I haven't defogged my mask, so it's ended up being my go-to defog.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

We've had good success with these techniques for new masks.


[video=youtube_share;TxywBgSkBe4]http://youtu.be/TxywBgSkBe4[/video]

 

[Crowley]

I'm with diver85 and TSandM - spit! - the greener, the cleaner! It's a surfactant that's been in development for millions of years, there's always some around, it's not been tested on animals (except each other, sometimes) and it's free!

But - on that note then yes - Baby shampoo comes a close second. Any soap product will do - in fact I always preferred dishwasher liquid as defog for my motorcycle visor, but baby shampoo is the people's choice for alternative de-fog. Like others who have already posted, I'm not a big fan of the commercial de-fog products; I am sure they are made with the best intentions but they do seem to be overpriced by comparison and some certainly don't seem to be very effective but that may be down to mis-application as much as anything.

Finally, although we're talking minute amounts of product here, I would suggest that spit is a little more environmentally friendly than chemical soaps....

Cheers

C.

 

[knotical]

I've had almost diametrically opposed experiences to those posted by many above.

My spit is of apparently different composition than y'all - it sucks as a defog.
And I've had much better success with several commercial defogs than with shampoo.
I have found that actually reading and following the directions on the defog bottles can make a big difference in effectiveness.

 

[drrich2]

Before my trip to Bonaire earlier this month, I thought people who 'believed in spit' as conquerable to commercial defog had to be fooling themselves. Then shore diving fairly intensively, I'd forget defog and use spit.

I gotta admit, it worked at least as well as anything else I've tried. And lasted fine, too; I'd thought it'd rinse out quickly when swishing water in the mask for clearing, but no, not really. This was not a new mask, but it wasn't an 'ancient' one, either.

I'd like to try the shampoo thing sometime, but good to know a fine product is, um, always close at hand. And another good reason to hydrate before your dive (so you don't have dry mouth).

Richard.

 

[dmoore19]

My spit is hit and miss, mostly miss.

I've probably used more of the commercially prepared defogs than anything. I must have 6 or 8 little bottles of the stuff and no telling how many I have loaned out and not gotten back or just misplaced. It all seems to work fine, just not my spit.