Mask fogging issues...

[The Kraken]

Use Kraken Spit . . .
. . . otherwise knows as Johnson's Baby Shampoo

Coat the inside of your lenses liberally with it. Let it dry if you can, and then gently rinse the mask before diving.
Kraken Spit can be used, also, to facilitate entry into dry suits, booties and things like that by smearing it on seals and inside boots, etc.

Safe dives . . . . ..
. . . safer ascents

the K

 

[freewillie]

The toothpaste has to be the original paste and not the gel. I've also found that over time the masks can build up residue from the repeated dives and defog so I've been in the habit of repeating the tooth paste cleaning periodically when the mask starts to have issues with fogging over time.

Also, be sure that you are not rinsing all of the defog out of the mask. If you put a few drops in, wipe, then rinse the mask you may be rinsing so much of the defog there is not enough left in the mask. Since some of the commercial defog preps can sting I will second the recommendations for baby shampoo. A large percentage of dive boats I've been on use the baby shampoo as their defog, but since it's watered down you are supposed to spray in the mask and not rinse. I like to put a few drops of the shampoo directly into the mask, rub, rinse gently with just a little bit of water and making sure there are still bubbles from the shampoo left in the mask.

 

[SWAMPY459]

It's the pool water. Any time I use a mask in the pool it will fog like crazy until I clean it really good with toothpaste. After I do the toothpaste I can dive it as much as I want in the caves. Once I use it in the pool again though, its right back to fogging up until I toothpaste it again. Something in the pool water gets on it and stays on it.

 

[tridacna]

The key to the effectiveness of toothpaste is it's RDA. (Radioactive Dentine Abrasive) index. Not gel vs white. The higher the RDA, the better at removing the residue on a mask. Colgate 2-in-1 Tartar Control Whitening toothpaste has an RDA of 200; Arm & Hammer Dental Care is only 50. Also not a good idea to regularly brush with a very high RDA toothpaste.

There is a table published on the net with RDAs for each toothpaste. Freysmiles.com if I remember correctly.

 

[Patoux01]

Eh. I'll also add something, because I see many people suggesting scrub scrub scrub. If you have a sight corrected mask (which aren't that rare or expensive, and some forget to mention it), you usually DO NOT want to scrub it at all.
+1 for spit here. Wondering how one would get eye infections through that... I mean, there's whale **** in the water that goes in your mask, and you expect that to be cleaner than a rinsed out spit? We're not talking about a nice green slimy one, just saliva.

Spit, rub it a bit, give a quick rinse, go diving. Worked like a charm in both cold and warm situations.
And if it fogs up a little, simply let water in, look down and make the water go where there's fog. More brutal way is taking the mask off, but I hate that in salt water

However, please, don't ask someone else to spit in your mask, that's simply awkward and disgusting.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

There may be something else going on.

When I teach a class and find people's masks fogging up during instruction, it is typically because the students are exhaling through their noses continually. That means there is a constant source of warm, moist area entering the mask and making contact with the cool glass, where it condenses. If you are not exhaling through the nose, where is that fog-inducing moisture coming from?

Great point.

Here in warm, humid Hawaii I've always found that I get pretty "steamy" once I have my wetsuit on and hump my gear to the water's edge. Part of my pre-dive routine for years has been to splash water onto my face and head to "cool off" just before putting on my mask. This seems (along with plain old spit) to prevent fogging 99% of the time. My feeling has been that if I just slap a mask over my hot and sweaty face (sorry for the image) and then submerge in cool water I'm much more likely to have fogging than if I cool off my face first.

Best wishes.

 

[RJP]

+1 for cooling the face first.

Also a plug for low volume masks. Less volume = less warm, moist air. Regardless of source.

 

[kwinter]

Or maybe a plug for full face mask. The gas path flows fresh, dry, cool breathing gas over the faceplate before you breathe it. Hence they never fog.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.

 

[htatton]

I had fog problems until I did the following:

1- Use defog (spray spit) several hours before the dive.
2- Wipe it out with tissue
3- Polish with a clean dry cloth
4- Don't rinse

NO FOG

Works for me.

 

[Texasguy]

Depends on acidity of the water. Higher acidity, less "spit and duct tape" methods work out well.