New Dive Mask

[Maui Manini]

I picked up a new dive mask at a local shop and was told in techno babble how all of the new masks have to be "specially" treated with a $5 bottle of "scrub" to prevent them from fogging. And, apparently toothpaste won't work with the new manufacturing process. I just shook my head and said "no tanks".

 

[ThePir8]

For the sake of a $5 sale the store has lost a potential life customer! Idiots...

Find somewhere else to shop would be my advice.

 

[Bogie]

Toothpaste the first time.

You can also brush your teeth with this high tech advanced product.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

While toothpaste is the traditional new mask prep (old school white paste) and rubbing until the foam turns pink (blood?) is the rule of thumb, soft scrub and a teflon scrubby pad are how most of my employers have handled our rental masks; and if a rental mask can then survive thousands of rental uses, your expensive mask will do just fine as well.

 

[covediver]

reminds me of the store in socal that used to spray a new pair of fins with protective silicone spray in front of the new buyer and tell them that it helped preserve the fins. They sold a lot of silicone spray that way.

 

[Shaka Doug]

I swear by simple toothpaste the first time and then every once in a great while if the mask starts to look like there is any kind of film building up on the inside. I have two shops in mind that would tell you the load of BS you described and I don't typically shop in either of them...

 

[bobmaggi]

along the same lines.... you can use store brand baby shampoo (~99c a bottle) for defog, too! A charter in FL taught us that! Maggi

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

We are not talking about anti-fog.

 

[BrewingDiver]

Good for you for walking out on it.

Of course it can be scrubbed with something else.

You might also think that in the service industry they would treat it for you before you left the store. Think about it. If it cannot be used without removing the film they are essentially selling you an incomplete product. So either it comes with the stuff or they clean it before you leave. "Batteries sold separately" I guess.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Scuba mask design is constantly changing. Today, some manufactures are including a lens coating on the inside and outside of the lens. Some masks come with anti-fog coatings and color filter coatings. The coatings will of course wear down and eventually wear off. The life of the coatings can be prolonged by using very mild detergent, no abrasiveness, and minimized rubbing.

The primary thing that causes fogging is particulate matter (dirt, make-up, etc) on the lens. A clean lens is very unlikely to fog.

A sneaky lens contaminant is facial make-up or any material used on the facial skin. Materials on the face will transfer through the water within the mask and attach themselves to a clean lens. The lens will then begin fogging.