Supermanwoot
Registered
Ha I was gonna say this as well. I love my seavision and reading this post makes me happy that I bought one. No fogging, ever.
New mask fogging badly
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Ha I was gonna say this as well. I love my seavision and reading this post makes me happy that I bought one. No fogging, ever.
LanceLisenby
Contributor
Of course, you don't know if your mask's factory coating is good and gone until you get in the water. So don't forget that you were trained to fill your mask and clear it a depth if you have this problem during a dive. Annoying yes but practicing this simple skill is always good and it will save your dive viz.
Soft scrub with bleach rubbed around with a cotton ball or a gauze pad. And don't just scrub it once, but several times.
Regular "Comet" cleanser sounds like a bad idea -- too abrasive. Soft scrub is called that because it tends to not scratch durable surfaces such as glass.
The flaming thing scares me. You just cannot have precise control of the flame or the temperature. The silicone skirts are so thin and soft that, one boo boo with the flame, and you could be buying a new mask or at the least defacing it. And heating that tempered glass to a high temp just does not sound like a good idea to me. Sounds easy, but sometimes easy is not the best or safest. Apply a little elbow grease instead and scrub the thing.
Apply a good commercial defog and DONT RINSE IT OFF TOO MUCH! I like Aquaseal Sea Drops. Apply only a couple of drops and rub it in an even thin layer on the inside of the mask. Apply it just before you are about to get in the water if you can and then dip it ONCE ONLY to rinse out excess and even it out. Typically I will apply the defog, giant stride into the water and while waiting for my buddy or the rest of the group to get in the water I'll remove the mask and give it one good dunk.
Some complain that commercial defog is too expensive. There are a whole lot of drops in that little bottle. If you can afford to dive so much in a season that you go through more than one bottle of the stuff, then you can spring for the few bucks a bottle costs and get a convenient package of a product that is reliable and consistent.
I have noticed that new divers will often exhale through their nose some instead of fully through the reg. Try to avoid this. Your moist exhalations will eventually overcome any defog or any degree of scrubbing. Only blow air into the mask for equalization of the mask.
Lastly, once the mask is on your face -- KEEP IT ON YOUR FACE!! You don't have to remove the mask to talk on the surface. Yeah, you'll talk "funny" like you've got a bad cold, but so what? And if you feel like you have to remove the mask on the surface because it is uncomfortable -- well something is not adjusted right or just plain does not fit.
Toward the end of an in-water training session I often have students floating on surface looking at me with masks so fogged up you can't even tell they have eyeballs. I point out to them the even though I have been in the water a couple of hours with them my mask is still crystal clear and try to emphasize these points so they can follow my example.
Works for me. It will work for you.
Regular "Comet" cleanser sounds like a bad idea -- too abrasive. Soft scrub is called that because it tends to not scratch durable surfaces such as glass.
The flaming thing scares me. You just cannot have precise control of the flame or the temperature. The silicone skirts are so thin and soft that, one boo boo with the flame, and you could be buying a new mask or at the least defacing it. And heating that tempered glass to a high temp just does not sound like a good idea to me. Sounds easy, but sometimes easy is not the best or safest. Apply a little elbow grease instead and scrub the thing.
Apply a good commercial defog and DONT RINSE IT OFF TOO MUCH! I like Aquaseal Sea Drops. Apply only a couple of drops and rub it in an even thin layer on the inside of the mask. Apply it just before you are about to get in the water if you can and then dip it ONCE ONLY to rinse out excess and even it out. Typically I will apply the defog, giant stride into the water and while waiting for my buddy or the rest of the group to get in the water I'll remove the mask and give it one good dunk.
Some complain that commercial defog is too expensive. There are a whole lot of drops in that little bottle. If you can afford to dive so much in a season that you go through more than one bottle of the stuff, then you can spring for the few bucks a bottle costs and get a convenient package of a product that is reliable and consistent.
I have noticed that new divers will often exhale through their nose some instead of fully through the reg. Try to avoid this. Your moist exhalations will eventually overcome any defog or any degree of scrubbing. Only blow air into the mask for equalization of the mask.
Lastly, once the mask is on your face -- KEEP IT ON YOUR FACE!! You don't have to remove the mask to talk on the surface. Yeah, you'll talk "funny" like you've got a bad cold, but so what? And if you feel like you have to remove the mask on the surface because it is uncomfortable -- well something is not adjusted right or just plain does not fit.
Toward the end of an in-water training session I often have students floating on surface looking at me with masks so fogged up you can't even tell they have eyeballs. I point out to them the even though I have been in the water a couple of hours with them my mask is still crystal clear and try to emphasize these points so they can follow my example.
Works for me. It will work for you.
Digger has actual good advice here. If I get a foggy mask I keep a little water in the bottom and tilt my head every now and then to swish the water around like a windshield wiper. This was much easier before I started wearing contacts.
Damselfish
Contributor
are you kidding? I wouldn't want to chance hot pepper residue in my eyes any more than I'd want residue from any kind of household cleaner. (Ever cut hot peppers then accidentally rubbed your eyes?) At least most cleaners are designed to wash off, pepper oils do not just rinse off so easily. I'd stick with toothpaste.
Troutmaster
Contributor
He was kidding. The hot pepper thing is a horrible idea. Almost as bad as using Icy Hot to put on a condom cath.
We really need a sarcasim marker of some kind.
Damselfish
Contributor
yes. (I pretty much passed over the the Icy Hot condom cath thing, having no experience with eitherTroutmaster:
silly as it sounds, I wouldn't have wanted any chance someone might believe the hot pepper thing....
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Or maybe the same silly thing as recommending/buying the $14 per 1 ounce squeeze bottle of ZooDrops Mask Defog Titanium.
It's scraped from the sweaty brows of rescued Chilean miners.
Mask Defog is the minor scam of the retail diving industry. There are worse, but this is the most pervasive.
Seriously: Toothpaste, once before every dive... if your mask is tough enough to stand it.
Man up. It''s either toothpaste or pepper spray.
sled600
Registered
Lemon flavored soft scrub for a new mask???
I have never tatsed my Sof-Scrub........Lemon sounds good though!
I have never tatsed my Sof-Scrub........Lemon sounds good though!
Mask from hell treatment.
I went years without having a “Mask From Hell” and when I heard someone complain that their mask would fog, I gave the usual advice about toothpaste, Soft Scrub, etc. Then, I got a MFH. Then ONLY thing that solved the problem is the lighter trick. I’m not saying do this first, but if you've completely cleaned every square inch of the mask and strap which is important because you can cross contaminate, then do as others have suggested with the lighter. Because glass is porous, some of the preservative chemicals make their way into the pores of the glass and the only way to get rid of them is to use flame. Just wave the flame under the glass not holding it too long in one spot-just until it is blackened.
Also, note there are plasticizers in the case your mask came in that may off gas and attach to the lens. It’s not been a problem for me, but some people drill breather holes into the case.
Now, all of this advice is well and good, but one needs a good test before taking a mask on a dive only to find out “The Mask From Hell” has still not been tamed. So here is my test:
Pour very cold water into the mask and get the lenses chilled. Then bring the mask up to your mouth and exhale some of the deepest, steamiest breaths you can muster onto the inside of the glass. The mask shouldn't fog. If it does, continue treating the areas that formed fog. When you cannot get fog to form on chilled lenses you have a well treated and clean mask.
A word about toothpaste either as a cleaner or defogger, it is best to use non-gel, non- mint or other highly aromatic toothpaste which may irritate eyes. Johnson’s baby shampoo works well and it won't burn your eyes.
Good luck,
Couv
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