clear silicone on mask gets colored

[kensuguro]

well, I've only had my masks for an year, and they're sort of turning slight yellowish. Probably just due to the material aging. Is there something that takes out the coloration? Or is it a fact of life that I should just accept? (and my wife got the black mask... smart choice!)
Mine's a Cressi Matrix by the way.

I just found out since I pulled out my gear to clean it off.. It wasn't cool at all. I'm in Miami, but haven't been diving much since mid November.. which makes it like 3 months in the shelf for me and my wife's gear. 3 months in the shelf, as it turns out, totally sucks for the gear. Nothing serious, but we got slight discolorations of some of the rubber stuff (turned a bit white, no prob) and there were ants living in my wife's BC weight pockets. That sucked big time. We just threw the BC in the tub and drowned the entire colony. We were lucky the ants didn't cause any permanent damage.

If your gear's been sitting somewhere during the winter, now is a good time to check if everything's alright. I guess I learned it the hard way: if the gear's gonna sit, take it out like once or twice a month to do some maintenance. I still can't figure out how the ants got there tho.. Ants in BOTH left and right weight pockets, and nowhere else. Something about ants and weights? What's strange is, the weights weren't even there.

 

[Robert Phillips]

Nothing you can do about the discoloration except... You guessed it, get a black mask.

 

[Rick Inman]

well, I've only had my masks for an year, and they're sort of turning slight yellowish. Probably just due to the material aging. Is there something that takes out the coloration? Or is it a fact of life that I should just accept? (and my wife got the black mask... smart choice!)
Mine's a Cressi Matrix by the way.

Yeah, they get that way. I think someone said that it's a chemical reaction from contact with.... humm... something.

Black. Right. That's what mine is now.

 

[kalvyn]

Yeah, they get that way. I think someone said that it's a chemical reaction from contact with.... humm... something.

I read (on ScubaBoard, I believe) that it's a reaction with neoprene. My old clear skirt mask did that too. When it broke, I got an all black mask too.

Jimmie

 

[Warren_L]

I think it may be because of contact with neoprene, at least from what I understand.

 

[kensuguro]

ha, and a black mask was the way to go, right from the beginning.. I guess my next mask's gonna be.. pink? na, black.

 

[scubaaaronh]

I've been diving with my mask like that since about 1995. My friends finally bought me a new mask and they said i need to toss the old one, it is far from clear now

 

[kensuguro]

well, I guess the coloration gomes from deteriation, but the mask's probably still going to last me a long time. So, it'll be some time before I get a new one. But some day..

 

[Nemrod]

The discoloration is normal. It has no effect best I can tell on the silicone in terms of softness, strength or durability. One of my favorite masks is a clear skirted Dacor I bought to cover a gash in my face in 1982. I got the gash (5 stitches) when I fell down on vacation and hit my face on a rock. The mask covered the gash from seawater. I fell in love with that mask and still use it, used it a bunch this past summer. Yes, it turned yellow a long time ago but it dives as nice as ever and other than being little yellow is just fine. Don't let it bug you. When you get a new mask someday it will serve you well as a back up. Wash your clear silicone masks after use with warm water and a gentle antibacterial soap like Ivory Liquid dish soap. Softly using your fingers cleanse the mask and then pat it dry and let it finish drying before putting it away in a plastic bag. Works for me. You can dust them lightly wih pure talcum available at drug stores--pure asbestos free talcum only. The talcum works well on many neoprene and other rubber products to keep them from sticking as well as silicone products. I would not use things like Armorall on my clear silicone masks. N

 

[Kevfin]

The silicone on the mask I bought last summer is getting discolored too. It's normal.

I'm sure there are lots of factors, including UV rays, contact with neoprene, natural aging, corporate conspiracy, --- whatever,,, it's just going to happen...

The only way to keep your gear like new, is not to use it... which, to me, isn't a viable alternative...