Removing salt residue from silicone/rubber part of mask (Atomic Subframe)

[snoballz]

I thought I was very careful rinsing my gear in fresh water after every dive. Recently I dove in the Caribbean (salt water) and rinsed my gear after every dive.

However, just yesterday I was going through my gear and noticed that there was this chalky salt residue on my Atomic Subframe. So I soaked the mask in fresh water overnight but the residue is still there, particularly around the nose part of the mask.

Is there a way of removing it or am I just SOL? I'm thinking back what I could have done wrong. Perhaps the mask dried in the hot sun while it was sitting on the boat in any one of the multiple dives. I'm not certain.

It's just more noticeable since the mask is black.

:14:

 

[vixtor]

is the residue still salty? does it not disolve in water? just leave it for a few hours in warm water, it should go away if it is salt.

otherwise, maybe it is just the residue from your tap water, not salt from sea. when I wash my equipment, on the silicone and glass areas, the tap water leaves some white areas.

 

[Diver Lori]

Could it be residue from sunscreen? I use zinc oxide based sunscreen and always had a white residue around the nose area until I started using sunscreen with clear zinc oxide.

To get it clean, I just had to use very warm water, a rough wash rag and some elbow grease. I too, have black silicone masks.