Mold in mask-how long before it explodes?

[Gombessa]

I noticed yesterday that my mask is developing a mold problem:

Yes, it's nasty, yes, it's sometimes stored damp (I'm fastidiously clean with my equipment, but I do have a neoprene slap strap on the mask, and sometimes I put it back in the case before it's 100% dry), and yes, I've searched and have found some very useful threads on how to bleach the mold out.

My concern is that the mold is clearly infiltrating the seams between the skirt and the glass, and also the seal between two glass panes (yes, I have one of those "three-window" masks).

Since I don't have any bleach and didn't have much time to worry about it this morning, the mask is now marinating in a delicious blend of half water, half isopropyl alcohol, white vinegar and single malt scotch whiskey, and half bear-pig.

Due to the flesh-searing alchemy above, this may very well be a moot point by the time I get home, but my question has to do more with function rather than hygiene - will this mold-in-the-seams compromise the integrity of the mask? After all, it's eating its way through the junk that keeps water out and the mask from falling apart.

I've been hankering to get a new mask anyways, but I know that I really shouldn't until I absolutely need to, so this post is kind of a last-ditch good faith effort at fiscal responsibility.

 

[captndale]

Get a mask with a black skirt. It will still get mold but you won't see it.

 

[Gombessa]

Get a mask with a black skirt. It will still get mold but you won't see it.

I don't care about seeing it, I just want to know if it'll cause hull integrity to be breached.

 

[Deefstes]

One patch of mold doth not a catastrophic failure of the structure make.

 

[almitywife]

ive seen masks so mouldy that you can write your name on the glass.. youre got plenty of time before it falls apart

but... if OP wanted to remove it, is there any magic solution that wouldnt destroy the silicone??

cheers

 

[Luis H]

I think this would be the best solution (DepHyze™), but I only know what I have read...no first hand experience with it.
DepHyze™ Products

Here is a place to buy it:

DepHyze™ from School Kids Healthcare

DepHyze™ from Emergency Medical Products

 

[lmorin]

Get some bleach. Brush it into all corners. Lift the edge of the mask that sits on the glass and allow bleach to get underneath the edge. Swish bleach around all surfaces. This will kill the fungus. Then, rinse with water. Follow by soaking the glass and adjacent surfaces with hydrogen peroxide straight from the bottle (available from drugstores). Be sure to let some peroxide slide under the mask edge on the glass. The peroxide will chew up the residual dead fungus. Rinse in water, including under the mask edge sitting on the glass. I did this with my wife's mask that has prescription lenses glued to the mask glass. The lenses created tight little niches that do not dry easily. I had to use a toothbrush to get the bleach and peroxide solutions into these areas, but it worked. Now, her mask never goes into its case for a prolonged period without 4-5 days of drying time.

 

[Gombessa]

Now, her mask never goes into its case for a prolonged period without 4-5 days of drying time.

I think my mask case from now on will be relegated to holding save-a-dive tidbits. Then again, maybe everything that goes in there will grow ugly mold at an accelerated pace...<obscure>if I flood it with argon will it become a time machine? </obscure>

 

[Jimmer]

I put a mask away damp once and got some pretty gross mold in it. I spritzed it with Tilex mold and mildew shower spray, let it sit like 30 minutes, then rinsed with white vinegar/warm water mix, then just water. It's been fine for about a year and a half now, and I took a wire coat hanger, bent the ends up and hang my 2 masks on it after I rinse them, and only put them back in their boxes when I'm going diving.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I really liked your impromptu approach to cleaning the mask, but from what I remember from my patchy past as a biologist, I have doubts as to whether the "flesh-searing mixture" will phase the fungi. You basically created a 50% alcohol mix and most microorganisms laugh at that. Mold, especially, since all that black stuff that tints your mask is actually not the fungus, but the spores. These microcapsules withstand much of what humans would perceive as pretty high up on the nastiness scale. I suggest this: Dump the mask in a pot of water with copious amount of bleach (vinegar won't do much, it is very weak acid) and boil it for a few minutes. A word of caution: I don't THINK this would hurt the mask, but I haven't tried it myself. Alternatively, soaking it in bleach overnight could make the problem disappear. As far as your fear of "exploding" goes, don't worry about it. Contrary to what you see in movies or stupid commercials, mold doesn't "eat" through anything. All this microorganism does is grow on surfaces, and because it is a microorganism, it can invade spaces that are tiny enough that the human eye doesn't perceive them as spaces. But that's really all the fungus does. It doesn't destroy any material, it just covers it. I'd say don't worry too much about it, just soak the mask in bleach and it'll be fine.