Removing stubborn white residue off mask

[Dan]

How much did you spend on products Dan? Good masks like my all time favourite, Holls M 1 are not too expensive, I just bought a 'knockoff ' of the M1 as a spare mask and was surprised how good it is. I did enjoy reading about the different products used in in this topic though. Please tell us you purchased a new mask and what you bought.

Around $40 for the Cleaning Vinegar, Bon Ami & Cerium Oxide. They are useful for cleaning up other household items so I don’t mind spending some money for these stuff.

Bon Ami may work. I just don’t have the patience to do a lot of brushing with glazier improvement. I think Cerium Oxide is harder material than Bon Ami and hard enough to remove that stubborn white residue, but not hard enough to remove the glass surface.

I’m hesitant to use HF as it would dissolve glass.

I really like my mask (Atomic Aquatics). I have 2. One is a spare. It fits my face perfectly and I can wear underwater for an hour without fogging up. That’s why I want to know how to remove that stubborn white residue and prefer to have it rather than get a new one that would need to be broken in like having a new pair of shoes.

 

[Dan]

I’m interested if magic eraser would accomplish the same task. It’s something that a lot of us probably already have easy access to, and also a mild abrasive

Try it on your mask & report your finding here.

 

[Dan]

It looks like Atomic don’t make Aquatics anymore and replaced it with Venom for $180.

 

[Dan]

While it is much improved, it might be time for a new mask.

The mask works fine for me for > 1000 dives, other than that annoying white residue. Now that residue is gone, that mask worths more than a new one, which needs to be broken in.

 

[scubadada]

Hi my friend @Dan

You are much more persistent than I would ever be. Hope the masks works out. I still wonder what that white stuff is/was.

 

[Dan]

But one would first have to ask how the mask got to such a disgusting place in the first place

Sometime in the past I used to dunk my mask in a gallon bucket full of water that the boat provided for rinsing the mask. That bucket was often placed under the sun and got pretty warm. The water in the bucket could have high level of calcium. The calcium carbonate has that weird reverse solubility (it becomes less soluble in hot water). So, that bad habit of dunking the mask in warm hard water accelerates the precipitation of calcium carbonate on the glass surface.

From now on, I’m going to minimize the time of rinsing the mask in hard water. After diving, I’m going to rinse it for a few seconds in freshwater and just let it dry until the next dive.

 

[Joneill]

Hi my friend @Dan

You are much more persistent than I would ever be. Hope the masks works out. I still wonder what that white stuff is/was.

I’d bet it was surface etching that the cerium oxide polished out - a rotary buffer/ pad on a drill would work even better than a brush if you have access to one.

 

[Dan]

Hi my friend @Dan

You are much more persistent than I would ever be. Hope the masks works out. I still wonder what that white stuff is/was.

I’ll be going back to Indonesia on 7 September, leading a group of 8 to Banda Sea. So, I have an incentive to get it done before I leave.

My guess is CaCO3.

 

[Dan]

I’d bet it was surface etching that the cerium oxide polished out - a rotary buffer/ pad on a drill would work even better than a brush if you have access to one.

I have used a rotary buffer before and made a concave surface on my wood floor from putting too much energy into the buffing action. I don’t want similar situation happening on my mask and distorting the vision.

 

[lexvil]

Just gunna lay this right here

Atomic Aquatics 04-0525-00 Frameless Mask for Scuba Diving and Snorkeling Medium 882689083815| eBay

Atomic Aquatics 04-0525-00 Frameless Mask for Scuba Diving and Snorkeling Medium.

www.ebay.com