Question Is baby shampoo really that bad?

[kevjli]

Shampoo in the rinse tank doesn’t eat the camera o-rings, but it could dissolve the very light coating of grease used to coat the o-rings. Although the main o-ring is often removed and re-greased, the small o-rings for buttons and controls cannot easily be re-greased. My Nauticam housing needs to be completely disassembled to re-grease the buttons. It’s a big job. Please don’t dunk your mask in the rinse tank. If you really need some of that water, scoop it out with a clean hand and then put it in your mask.

 

[covediver]

Common knowledge by a dive industry that wants to sell you a $7 bottle of defog vs a $3 bottle of sampoo. Been using baby shampoo on the mask for 20 years and have notice no degradation. I agree that masks should not be placed in rinse tanks. I noticed one resort has two rinse buckets. They use old mask boxes as dippers to put rinse water into masks. Much more hygenic,

 

[Searcaigh]

You have a rinse tank on the boat

I agree though that a small drop of baby shampoo on each lens is not going to have a major impact on the coral.

Many dive boats that I've been on use it diluted in water to spray on the inside of the mask prior to diving.

 

[Richard Dayan]

You only need 2 drops of sea drops a bottle last 100-200 dives. The problem is that sea drops doesn't come with good instructions. 2 drops on the inside of a dry mask one side only., then let it dry, you can do this in your room the night before or on the boat then 2-5 minutes before your dive fill your mask with sea water or any water, let it sit in the mask 2-5 minutes then rinse. The view will be fog free. It might last 2 dives but i reapply after each dive. It's a bit of a pain but it works great.

 

[Altamira]

This thread is pretty funny. Apparently some of us are really worrying about a few tiny drops of baby shampoo or other defog chemical in a mask. This is right after we drive our oil leaking and air polluting cars to and from the shore dive site or dive boat dock. Some of us then hop into a dive boat that is usually leaking oil, gas, and pumping engine exhaust right into the water over the reef while we do a nice two tanker. When we are finished diving, we drive our tanks to the LDS for fills from an air polluting compressor. Using baby shampoo is the least of what we do to damage the reef every time we dive. Don't even get me started on the "big boys" polluting our waters!

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

Baby shampoo is brilliant because it’s multipurpose and cheap.

You can use diluted baby shampoo to:
- Defog your mask
- Find leaks - regs, SPGs, hoses, drysuit, CCR counterlungs, whatever you can think of - and it’s probably better than a diluted detergent in terms of damaging seals or o-rings
- Emergency clean and wash things, especially things that are in touch with skin (think dry glove liners, flushing P-valves when you don’t have a disinfectant and so on)
- Wash yourself when you can’t find a soap

And it smells nice.

Try all that with sea drops.

Also, don’t put any gear that goes on your face into shared rinse tanks…

 

[heftysmurf]

Yeah -- Myth I'm sure. Are camera o-rings more fragile than babies?!

 

[arkstorm]

Shampoo in the rinse tank doesn’t eat the camera o-rings, but it could dissolve the very light coating of grease used to coat the o-rings. Although the main o-ring is often removed and re-greased, the small o-rings for buttons and controls cannot easily be re-greased. My Nauticam housing needs to be completely disassembled to re-grease the buttons. It’s a big job. Please don’t dunk your mask in the rinse tank. If you really need some of that water, scoop it out with a clean hand and then put it in your mask.

That is correct. Baby shampoo, like any soap, breaks down grease. The grease on the o-rings in camera housings is integral in keeping them sealed. That is why most boats have a separate bucket marked "cameras only".

Diluted baby shampoo works okay as a defog, about as well as spit.

As for baby shampoo harming coral or the environment, I find that claim to be dubious. Any research to support this contention?

 

[tridacna]

That is correct. Baby shampoo, like any soap, breaks down grease. The grease on the o-rings in camera housings is integral in keeping them sealed. That is why most boats have a separate bucket marked "cameras only".

Diluted baby shampoo works okay as a defog, about as well as spit.

As for baby shampoo harming coral or the environment, I find that claim to be dubious. Any research to support this contention?

Baby shampoo works better than spit.
No it doesn't.
Yes it does.
No it doesn't.
Yes it does.
No it doesn't.
Yes it does.
No it doesn't.
Yes it does.
No it doesn't.
Yes it does.
No it doesn't.
Yes it does.
No it doesn't.
Yes it does.
No it doesn't.
Yes it does...

 

[Still Kicking]

You only need 2 drops of sea drops a bottle last 100-200 dives. The problem is that sea drops doesn't come with good instructions. 2 drops on the inside of a dry mask one side only., then let it dry, you can do this in your room the night before or on the boat then 2-5 minutes before your dive fill your mask with sea water or any water, let it sit in the mask 2-5 minutes then rinse. The view will be fog free. It might last 2 dives but i reapply after each dive. It's a bit of a pain but it works great.

Curious where this procedure came from as the manufacturer's website just says apply, rinse and dive. Is it from your own trial and error?

Personally I use Sea Drops Gold (as directed) or my own patented spit recipe and both seem to work fine (except when I used some Blue Lizard reef safe sunblock, which caused no end of fogging).