New Dive Mask

[KrisB]

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.

The coating INSIDE the lens is not usually desirable, however you are correct about the outside. If you get a mask that has some sort of "underwater colour enhancing" properties, DO NOT scrub the outside with anything abrasive, even toothpaste!

Personally, I like to avoid those... stick with the clear glass, then, in a pinch, it can be defogged underwater with a handful of sand.

 

[Paco II]

Ugh, anything but toothpaste! Some things should be minty clean, but my dive mask is not one of them.

 

[Maui Manini]

I'll always shop local before ordering off the internet. To replace my dive mask, I have to go store to store and try on everything till I find a good fit for my chubby face. I don't get hustled at the real dive shops, but they have a small inventory so my last stop is the other place on S. Kihei Rd.

 

[BUGBAGGER]

To each his own. For what it's worth I have bought two new masks in the last couple of years. One with a black skirt that I prefer for photography and one with clear which I prefer on low light dives. At first I tried my old method of cleaning them with toothpaste so that a mild soap solution would stick better to the lense and keep it clear a bit better than my old spit method. Both times the toothpaste at first seemed to do the trick but the silicone seemed to still feel slimy and the slime seemed to keep getting on the mask. The defog wouldn't stay on the lens like it used to.

For kicks I tried the mask cleaner stuff (didn't want to use soft scrub because I actually borrowed a mask that had been scratched this way).

Anyway, the slimy feeling went away and my mask stays clearer longer with the defog I mix now. Every once in a while when I forget to mix my own I even use commercial defog. It works. What's the big deal.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

In my experience, if a dive mask is scratched while soft scrubbing it is not due to the soft scrub. It is either from the wrong scrubby pad being used or a foreign object was present, like sand or dirt.

As always, YMMV, but I have successfully prepped hundreds of masks this way, including the Cressi's I own and use.

 

[friscuba]

In my experience, if a dive mask is scratched while soft scrubbing it is not due to the soft scrub. It is either from the wrong scrubby pad being used or a foreign object was present, like sand or dirt.

As always, YMMV, but I have successfully prepped hundreds of masks this way, including the Cressi's I own and use.

I had a guy show up at a store I worked at about 10 years ago with a broken mask... said the soft scrub broke it. I think he used a screwdriver to try to scrape the soft scrub out rather than just rinsing it.

 

[DiveWestOahu]

soft scrub and todays toothpaste do almost nothing as they are NON ABRASIVE, if you have 10 year old toothpaste it will work, i personally use ajax, comet or heavy duty car rubbing compound, works perfectly and only takes about 30 seconds

 

[scubadrewvideo]

.... however you are correct about the outside. If you get a mask that has some sort of "underwater colour enhancing" properties, DO NOT scrub the outside with anything abrasive, even toothpaste!

If I see someone scrubbing the outside of their mask, then I ask to see their cert card, and then I suggest a physics class.

 

[Mopar]

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.

I must be lucky were I live. I seen a LDS clean a new mask for a stutent who bought a new mask. I was a little shocked.

 

[KrisB]

If I see someone scrubbing the outside of their mask, then I ask to see their cert card, and then I suggest a physics class.

hahaha...

Well, you obviously have not had the privilege of diving in some of the scuba-only pools around Wailea. Believe me... you NEED to put defog on the OUTSIDE of your mask in at least one of those by mid-afternoon!