Anti-Fogging Treatments for New Masks. (a comparison of techniques)
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If it had some kind of coating on the lens, like an anti-reflective coating, then you could scratch that. You're not going to scratch the glass itself with Softscrub.
The lenses in these masks are REALLY hard. When Hollis told me recently that they would replace the mask I destroyed because of this thread, they asked for me to destroy it (more) and send pictures. I took it upon myself to not only break the frame into a couple more pieces but also smash one of the lenses.
I set both lenses inside the mask box (to contain the pieces) and propped the end of one up on the edge of the other. I used a small ball peen hammer to whack the lens. I ended up hitting it about 5 times! Each time progressively harder. I didn't even make a mark until I finally hit it HARD. Then it shattered into a million pieces and went all over my garage.... I didn't really think that part through very well.... Note to self: Ziploc bags are your friends....
I'd been using Softscrub on that mask for years. No point in upsetting the children.
And let us remember not to wash our dishes with certain kinds of Scotch Brite pads.
"Scotch-Brite. ... Although the base polymers may be considered benignly soft, the composition with other materials greatly enhances their abrasive powers; to the extent that a heavy-duty Scotch-Brite pad (which contains both Aluminum oxide and Titanium oxide) will actually scratch glass."
"Scotch-Brite. ... Although the base polymers may be considered benignly soft, the composition with other materials greatly enhances their abrasive powers; to the extent that a heavy-duty Scotch-Brite pad (which contains both Aluminum oxide and Titanium oxide) will actually scratch glass."
I'd been using Softscrub on that mask for years. No point in upsetting the children.
I use Softscrub, as well. It rinses cleaner than toothpaste.
As far as I can tell, ammonia is bad for some types of plastic. Good luck telling if the plastic you have is one of those types, so I am keeping all plastic away from it.
Silicone and glass seem to be fine with ammonia.
The glue in a mask? So far, it seems like the glue (glues?) used are not affected, but I have no way to say for sure.
For ME, for now, I'm going to cut my protocol back to:
- run it through the dishwasher
- dive it
- if it has a fogging problem (after the dishwasher treatment), THEN put ammonia on the inside and let it soak, in a well-ventilated area.
- continue waiting for Dr Lowvizenstein to invent a treatment that is foolproof, mask-safe, and permanently cures fogging.
is this pretty much the conclusion of the 70 pages of posts? This is a case where I seriously want to see just the punch line.As far as I can tell, ammonia is bad for some types of plastic. Good luck telling if the plastic you have is one of those types, so I am keeping all plastic away from it.
Silicone and glass seem to be fine with ammonia.
The glue in a mask? So far, it seems like the glue (glues?) used are not affected, but I have no way to say for sure.
For ME, for now, I'm going to cut my protocol back to:
- run it through the dishwasher
- dive it
- if it has a fogging problem (after the dishwasher treatment), THEN put ammonia on the inside and let it soak, in a well-ventilated area.
- continue waiting for Dr Lowvizenstein to invent a treatment that is foolproof, mask-safe, and permanently cures fogging.
johndiver999
Contributor
As an FYI.. I once took a new mask and used the burn method - leaving a good bit of soot - black carbon on the glass. Instead of carefully washing this off, I immediately added some dawn dish soap and then rubbed and scrubbed really hard with a paper towel using the detergent- water-soot slurry.
After a minute or so I rinsed the soap and soot out... I had TOTALLY destroyed the mask by scratching the inside of the lens terribly - presumably the soot is incredibly abrasive.. I would have never suspected this. Thought we might want to include things to avoid.
After a minute or so I rinsed the soap and soot out... I had TOTALLY destroyed the mask by scratching the inside of the lens terribly - presumably the soot is incredibly abrasive.. I would have never suspected this. Thought we might want to include things to avoid.
I have had good luck with toothpaste, flame but once in a while you find a mask that offers some serious resistance for those I’ve found the dishwasher seems to work some wonders I also did the whole thing to my Zeagle and also since the lens can be removed did a long soak in ammonia, it been very fog free with just a very light application of defog. I would like to try my Tusa Paragon in ammonia (removable lens) but they have a coating and since Stewart had some indication of damage to a coating I haven tested it.
Ammonia is a gas that is in a soapy solution for household use so I’m not so sure open or vented use will work for longer exposure without changing the effectiveness.
Ammonia is a gas that is in a soapy solution for household use so I’m not so sure open or vented use will work for longer exposure without changing the effectiveness.
Yeah. I think leaving it to soak in a ventilated area might require refreshing the liquid every day, perhaps.
I mentioned this many posts ago, but I'll mention it again.
When I soaked my Mako mask, it happened that the whole mask was submerged except for the last 1/2 an inch to an inch of the plastic buckles, which were sticking up out of the ammonia solution. It sat it in its closed mask box for a week like that.
When I took it out, the portions of the strap buckles that were not submerged had a white crust on them. The crust scrubbed off fairly easily. But, I can't help wondering if the ammonia vapor affected the exposed plastic in a similar way to how it affected the submerged plastic. I have no evidence that either part was actually affected in a negative way - on the Mako mask. But, I still hold it as a possibility that the plastic has been weakened and could fail in the future as a result.
For that reason, I will not expose the plastic on future masks even to long-term concentrated ammonia fumes (i.e. in a sealed container with liquid ammonia for a week).
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