How Do You Know When The Protective Film Is Off A New Mask

[CRAZYBOBC]

ok i read all the reasons to use toothpaste on a new mask
i understand to remove protective coating but how do you know when protective coating is removed
i have 2 new masks genesis panview, and dacor phaz they are identical. does it matter how long or how i rub toothpaste on them?
thanks

 

[hodgson]

Simple answer is to try the mask after you do the toothpaste thing. This can be as simple as dunking your head in a sink of cool water for a while. I found that if you vary the water temp in the sink, it will force your mask to fog sooner. By vary the water temp, I mean, dunk into fairly cold water and the turn on the hot and warm the water up just a little. You of course should use the anti-fog of your choice, be it commercial, baby shampoo, or plain old spit.

If it fogs, rub more toothpaste. Watch a movie on TV while you rub the toothpaste, so you won't get bored and quit to soon.

ok i read all the reasons to use toothpaste on a new mask
i understand to remove protective coating but how do you know when protective coating is removed
i have 2 new masks genesis panview, and dacor phaz they are identical. does it matter how long or how i rub toothpaste on them?
thanks

 

[MechDiver]

ok i read all the reasons to use toothpaste on a new mask
i understand to remove protective coating but how do you know when protective coating is removed
i have 2 new masks genesis panview, and dacor phaz they are identical. does it matter how long or how i rub toothpaste on them?
thanks

There is no protective film on masks. There is a coating caused by the silicone offgassing so to speak. This is all you're removing with the toothpaste, and thats to help the glass to not fog.
A couple minutes is all thats necessary.

MD

 

[pipedope]

And do it again if the mask starts fogging too much.

When I was diving 4 or 5 days a week I would do a toothpaste rub on the mask once a week as part of my normal gear maintenance.

 

[Seasaw]

According to my Mares rep, the silicone sort of "offgasses" as it cures. Different manufacturers use slightly different blends of silicone and it cures at different rates. When you first get your new mask, you need to remove a significant build up caused by the initial curing action. As the months go by you may need additional toothpaste cleaning to remove newly "offgassed" build up. Eventually, as the curing process is completed (typically 4 months - a year), it becomes unneccessary, although I find that an occasional toothpasting helps my defog, maybe its a build-up of skin oils or rinse bucket "slime". I also find it useful to scrub the inside of the silicone skirt with a soapy washcloth from time to time to maintain a supple face seal.
happy bubbles,
Steve

 

[metaldector]

I've had many a mask and always used toothpaste for the inital clean-up. Yesterday I bought again, another mask. Interestly, the product brochure states " Avoid using the following products on your mask: Mask defoggers which contain alcohol, Products which contain peroxide or petroleum, Abrasive products, such as toothpaste, household cleaners:" According to the brochure these product may be damaging and may cause oxidation cracks in the mask frame. "Please consult your dealer for the correct product to use. The LDS suggested, you guessed it - TOOTHPASTE!
I dove this morning and the right side fogged, the left side was clear. Back to the toothpaste! :dazzler1:

 

[Turtleguy9]

ok i read all the reasons to use toothpaste on a new mask
i understand to remove protective coating but how do you know when protective coating is removed
i have 2 new masks genesis panview, and dacor phaz they are identical. does it matter how long or how i rub toothpaste on them?
thanks

I always tell my students to scrub twice as long as they think they should have to. I do not know that there is a perfect amount of time.

 

[crispos]

I think the toothpaste has to be quite granular to work. I used some Aquafresh on some new masks I bought and it didn't do much. They fog in the pool.

 

[goofygirl]

I'm still a newbie, so don't profess to be an expert, but I had a lesson on mask scrubbing from one of the DM's on my recent (returned yesterday) trip to Coz. He said everyone always has fog problems because they don't scrub their masks well enough to get the 'slime' off them. He produced an unmarked jar of his super secret mask cleanser (it looked an awful lot like Comet) and promised it wouldn't scratch our masks. We wet the masks added some of the powder and some water and used a scrap of a rag to scrub the mask with some real elbow grease 'until they squealed.' It really does start to squeal when you start getting it clean. The other test he said was to put a thin film of water in the mask, if it beads up there's still goo on it, if it sheets then you did well. Still use your typical defog, but don't let it dry out on the mask before the dive

The end result after 2 scrubs I didn't fog once for the rest of the trip! Worked for me, but I'm not sure what that powder really was. Magic Scuba Fairygodfather dust maybe!

 

[A.G.Pennypacker]

ok i read all the reasons to use toothpaste on a new mask
i understand to remove protective coating but how do you know when protective coating is removed
i have 2 new masks genesis panview, and dacor phaz they are identical. does it matter how long or how i rub toothpaste on them?
thanks

The reason masks fog is really quite simple. Dirt and oil on the interior of the mask allow microscopic drops of water to build according to the amount of dirt and oil on the glass and the relative humidity and temperate between the outside of the mask and the interior. The process by which the silicone "cures" is called sublimation-the process by which a solid becauses a gas, hence skipping the liquid phase. During sublimation silicone particles build on the interior surface and promote dirt and oil to build. This allows water vapor to form small bubbles or fog which interferes with your vision. The cleaner or more planar the glass (quality of the glass) will restrict the level of small bubbles to form on the interior and allow the water to sheet down the mask rather than stay in one place as small droplets or fog. So, the trick is to keep the glass very clean and to buy well made glass to begin with. Toothpaste works well as will softscrub in initially removing the dirt, oil and residual silicone from the interior. There are numerous mask defoggers that work well and in tests far exceed the abiility of human spit to clean glass.