This article focuses on how to educate and to sensitize us on how to stop dive mask from fogging up, ways of protecting your diving mask against fogs, tips to prevent fogging of the snorkel mask, what to do if your dive fog ups and other useful guides based on the topic.
How to Stop Dive Mask from Fogging Up Steps
Now, I will go tell you step by step on how to stop dive mask from fogging up.
Cleaning Diving Goggles from Fogging Up
The reason for your mask to fog up is due to the different temperatures between the water and the body. When the diving goggles are put on, the air is trapped, warmed up due to the body heat. If you immerse yourself in cold water, the air condenses on the diving goggles’ glasses due to the temperature difference.
The same phenomenon can be observed when we get sweaty in the car after exercising. The windows fog up due to the radiant body heat.
To prevent your mask from fogging up during diving, it must be cleaned before every dive. There are various methods of doing this, of which we list the most common and effective ones, so the diving goggles no longer fog up.
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Spit in the Mask
Method number one, and by far the cheapest and fastest method, is cleaning with saliva. What may sound a bit disgusting to many beginners is the most common way of getting the diving goggles clean among divers. To do this, moisten the glasses with a little water and then spit into them. To achieve the desired effect, rub the saliva in well and then rinse the mask with water.
Clean Diving Goggles with Wash
If you would like to forego the first method for hygienic reasons, traditionally cleaning the diving mask with washing-up liquid is possible. To do this, mix water and washing-up liquid and rub the glasses well with your fingers. After letting everything work for a few minutes, rinse the mask with clean water.
Clean Diving Goggles with Toothpaste
The last method is to use toothpaste to clean the glasses. This variant of cleaning may sound a bit strange if you hear about it for the first time. This method is prevalent among divers and at least as effective as dish soap or saliva.
Rub the glasses with some toothpaste and let it work for a few minutes. Then rinse with water – if it is filthy, leave the paste on for several hours and wipe dry. Toothpaste is used because the “abrasives” it contains to create a slightly abrasive effect and remove dirt well. This method is particularly useful before removing silicone residues and silicone oils that have settled on the glass during the manufacturing process.
Anti-Fog Spray for Diving Goggles
Brand new, the anti-fog spray for diving goggles has been on the market for some time. It creates an antistatic effect that prevents the glasses from fogging up and, at the same time, cares for the silicone of the diving goggles. Since diving shouldn’t neglect environmental protection, it is also environmentally friendly and biodegradable.
After the primary cleaning, spray the screen of your diving mask sparingly with the anti-fog spray and distribute the liquid on the glass. After the spray has dried, a white haze forms. All you have to do is rub it in with a dry cloth until it disappears. From now on, you have a clear view, and your diving mask will not fog up any longer. Repeat spraying after a few dives to keep the effect.
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Ways of Protecting Diving Mask against Fogs
Preparing a brand New Diving Mask
When you buy your first diving mask, you want to try it out as soon as possible, maybe even in the bathtub! But wait, you HAVE to prepare your mask before going into the water with it for the first time. The tempered glass in the diving mask is surrounded by a thin film created during the product’s manufacture and must be removed before wearing it. You can’t see or feel this film, but it will cause the mask to fog up enormously no matter which and how many anti-fog products you use. You may hear of the traditional “toothpaste” method, but I do what I call the “advanced toothpaste method.” One uses toothpaste and burns the diving mask with a lighter. Most people are surprised when I recommend
The Burning
To efficiently protect the mask from fogging by burning it in, I first go to a sheltered place. Next, I hold the lighter’s flame against the inside of the glass until the entire pane is black. You can see the invisible film being burned away by the heat of the lighter. That looks nice! I am particularly careful with the silicone part of the mask, and I never use this method on diving masks with glued-on bifocal or optical lenses, as I fear that the heat will harm the adhesive.
You should also watch your thumb as the lighter will get very hot if you let the flame burn for more than a second or two. The diving mask is now very hot. So put them aside to cool, without touching the hot pane. As with all objects made of glass, the glass can crack if there is a sudden change in the atmosphere’s temperature either from hotness to very coldness; you need to be careful exceptionally.
The Toothpaste
The next step is to put some toothpaste (not gel paste) on your finger and rub it on both sides of the inside of the mask. Thoroughly rub the black soot with the toothpaste, then let it dry. Wait up to two hours before rinsing off the mask. If you don’t have the time, you can rinse it off immediately. This step probably works just as well, anyway.
The Rinsing Out
Before diving, you have to thoroughly rinse the glasses, for example, under a tap, to remove the remains of the black soot and the toothpaste. You can use your fingernails to get into all the nooks and crannies if some of the black toothpaste is left.
Another precaution must be taken before every dive to prevent the mask from fogging up. Don’t worry; this is less of a hassle than the steps above for a brand new mask. The diving masks often fog up because the heat and oil on the skin react with the water’s coldness and the air in between. Sunscreen or makeup can also cause a mask to fog up.
Read More: Is Scuba Diving an Extreme Sport?
Different Ways to Prepare the Mask before each Dive
Au Naturel
We call this unique form of the anti-fog technology of a diving mask “Au Naturel” because our body itself produces the necessary raw material in the form of saliva. Exactly – spit! This method is perfect because there is no need to buy unique products and good for the environment. Although you may initially feel uncomfortable spitting into the mask, over time, you will find that using your saliva is a simple and effective way to prevent fogging. Very important! I’ve found this method to be most effective when you spit into a completely dry mask. If you take off the mask in the water and spit in it, it will likely fog up while snorkeling or diving. In summary: dry mask, spit, rub in, rinse with water.
Commercial Anti-Fog Agents
There are many different products, but they are always identical and can be bought in every diving shop. By using this method, ensure that the agent does not harm the reef and is environmentally friendly. Divers usually apply the agent on the inside, rub it in with their fingers, rinse out the diving mask, and get started! Every diver has their favorite brand that they swear by.
Baby Shampoo or Dish Soap
A very cheap option to prevent the mask from fogging up. Many diving boats have empty plastic bottles on board with a hole at the top and are about a quarter filled with baby shampoo or washing-up liquid and three quarters filled with water. A small amount of soapy water is enough to make the mask ready for use again. Always remember to rinse out the mask well; otherwise, the soap could get into your eyes hence the baby shampoo may result in a tear or two if you use too much of it.
Tips to Prevent Fogging of the Snorkel Mask
Snorkeling beginners often have the problem that the snorkel mask fogged up. Those who encounter this problem on their first trips are understandably quickly frustrated. If the mask steams up, you have to turn up frequently to clean the glasses. Choosing a good snorkel mask is a sensible starting point, but it does not entirely prevent fogging.
The truth is, pollution is what causes the mask to fog up. Oily fingers, dirty water, sand, and other debris are common causes. All of these things are no reason to hang up your snorkel mask. Numerous underwater worlds want to be explored – and with a clear view.
With our tips, you will prevent your visor from fogging up so that nothing prevents you from discovering the fantastic underwater landscapes and the unique wildlife.
Cleaning the Snorkel Mask
OK. It’s clear. The exact implementation is different than expected. The snorkel mask is cleaned, not even briefly seawater, and then scrubbed off the fingers. If you want to prevent the snorkel mask from fogging up, you have to thoroughly clean the mask. This cleaning is done at home. The glasses of the mask are thoroughly scrubbed with toothpaste – yes, with toothpaste. Don’t use your fingers for this; use a toothbrush.
Then the glasses are rinsed with warm tap water. The visor should not be touched with the fingers afterward. For visors made of hard plastic, you can also use household detergent as an alternative. It is advisable to brush with soft bristles to avoid scratching the plastic. In an emergency, a simple washcloth will do the job.
Use Anti-Fog Spray
If the housewives’ method with toothpaste doesn’t help, an anti-fog spray for diving goggles might do. The spray liquid is called “Anti Fog Spray” and can be ordered online.
You can also make anti-fog sprays yourself. Mix ~ 10 drops of baby shampoo with 50 milliliters of tap water. It doesn’t matter whether you buy the spray or make your own – the application is always the same. The solution encompasses over the entire visor. More so, it would be advisable not to touch the mask with your fingers.
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Keep the Mask on
After the visor is cleaned, shake the mask out to remove the remaining water droplets. The drier the snorkel mask, the better it fits your face.
A snorkeling trip should only be started with a dry mask and a dry face. Even if your face gets wet, you will not remove the mask when you surface. The mask is put on before the trip begins and only then removed.
The mask must sit on the face the entire time. Please do not push the mask upon your forehead or wear it around your neck. The idea behind this is that the moisture should be kept away from the diving goggles. If you breathe on the visor to clear the fogging glass again, you will achieve precisely the opposite.
Spit does it in Action
If you are already in the water, of course, you don’t have an anti-fog spray or toothpaste with you. If – despite all the preparations – the visor should fog up, a different solution is required. And this is called: spit. Yes, you heard, right. If the snorkel mask steams up during a trip, you have to remove the mask and spit in it. Even now, the spit is not spread with the fingers. Instead, shake the mask back and forth until a thin layer covers the entire glass.
Dump the spit out and put the snorkel mask back on. If the fog is gone, things can go on. If your view is still restricted, please take off the mask and rinse it out with water. Saltwater is acceptable in this case too.
Solutions on What to do Against Fogged up Diving Goggles
Goggles’ fogging is probably the best known and most widespread problem in diving, swimming, or snorkeling. In this article, we would like to get to the bottom of what causes fogging of the diving mask and how you can prevent or counteract this.
Why do Diving Goggles fog up at all?
The diving mask’s fogging means that water in the form of water vapor or condensation is deposited on the inside of the glasses. This makes the lens cloudy, and the view through the lens becomes worse. We are talking about fogging up the diving mask.
What is the Cause of the Fogging of the Glasses?
Without going into too much detail or using chemical compositions and physical events as an explanation: Cold air can usually absorb less water in the form of water vapor than warm air.
This is why fogged glasses usually always occur when air at different temperatures and thus with extra humidity (this is precisely why there is increased humidity in tropical climates). In the vicinity of the cold air, usually, the diving goggles’ glasses, the moisture in the air settles in the form of condensation – the diving goggles steam up.
What you can do to Prevent the Mask from Fogging up
There are four widely used options to prevent the glasses from fogging up. Depending on the mask, some methods work better or worse. Of course, the implementation of the individual processes is also directly related to their effectiveness.
We have seen that cold air or the difference in temperature in the air causes or promotes the window’s fogging. Thus, we should strive to keep the air inside the mask at the same temperature as possible. At warm temperatures, it happens in particular that the glasses or the mask overall have a normal to cool weather, but the face, when heated by the sun, generates increased air heat.
The previously described phenomenon occurs through the sweat and the water on the skin, in which the moisture from the warm air settles on the glasses when it meets the cold air. To prevent this, we should keep our face as cool as possible or cool down before putting on the diving goggles. For example, you can cool your face down in the water or stay inside or in the shade for some time.
The Well-tried Spit
Here, too, we don’t want to go into the chemical composition of saliva, but its design prevents liquid from deposited on the mask glasses. Even if water vapor or condensation water forms or wants to be deposited, in the best case, this will roll off by applying and rubbing saliva on the diving mask glasses. The same applies to the following two tips.
Like the spit, you can rub baby shampoo or washing-up liquid onto the glasses of the diving mask, let it work a little and then rinse off. The effect should be the same: the condensation water cannot be deposited on the lens due to a film on the glasses’ glass and pearls. The mask does not fog up or only slightly.
Of course, you can also use the commercially available anti-fog spray from the dive shop. Here, too, the pane should be protected from “taking in” water and allowing it to deposit on the diving mask’s lenses. Overall, of course, you have to find the path that works and suits you. However, the balanced air temperature and the use of one of the three other anti-fogging agents help prevent or reduce the diving goggles’ fogging or diving mask.
What to do so that the diving mask or goggles do not fog up when swimming or snorkeling?
As a general rule and regardless of the anti-fog method you choose, it is best to apply it with a dry mask. If it is going to take time to jump into the sea, never leave the mask dry. Always leave a few drops of water to form a small uniform film on the glass. Before jumping, remove the water and, without drying the mask, please put it on and dive.
Anti-Fog Tricks/Methods
Dishwasher Detergent
This trick is a classic and used on almost all live aboard dive cruises, where they leave a bottle with a little detergent for community use.
Add the detergent with the mask dry. Rub the glass until it is immaculate. I rub with my finger until it makes a sound similar to a cramp that indicates no grease or dirt left. Rinse the mask, but it is not convenient to do it with pressurized water (like the one that comes out of the shower). It is best to dip the mask once or twice in a bucket of clean water and nothing else.
Remember to leave a little water in the mask until you are going to jump into the sea.
Child shampoo
It is similar to that of dishwasher detergent, but it has the advantage that if you do not rinse it well and get some shampoo in your eyes, it hardly stings.
Toothpaste
Similar to the previous two. Apply a little toothpaste to the mask’s dry grass and rub until you notice that the glass is clean. Then rinse to remove the toothpaste film that has formed.
4Spit on the mask
It is perhaps the oldest, most used, and most widely used method.
It works for me but applying it as a professional diver explained to me: with the mask dry, it spits on the glass of the mask, with your finger rub to form a film. Finally, add only a few drops of water and do not rinse, unlike the previous methods. Just before jumping in, drop the water, and dive in.
In some places, it says that there is a risk of bacteria getting into your eyes with this method. First, it is only applying a thin layer of saliva on the glass; it does not consist of pouring half a liter. Second, have you never cleaned your lashes with spit without getting an infection that causes you to lose your eye?
Anti-fog Preparations
There are anti-fog preparations that ensure that the mask is not going to fog up. It is another option used by many divers. However, like all these methods, it is not foolproof.
The Potato
This method is not mostly used for logistical reasons as it is rare for me to travel with potato when I go diving.
The trick is to rinse off the mask, rub a piece of raw potato across the glass so that it forms a layer of starch that would act as anti-fog. Let it dry, then rinse it off, and you’re done.
How to Prepare a New Diving Mask for the First Time?
If your mask is new, you should always use one of these methods since they come from the factory with a silicone layer that makes them fog up a lot if you do not remove it. There are two methods for this:
- Degreasing product that is sold ready-made, for example, Prenofog from Cressi. It is used to remove the silicone layer from the factory and can also be used in isolation when the mask is very dirty. It is not advisable to use it before each dive because the product contains abrasives, precisely what does the job.
- Traditional homemade method. It is the most used without a doubt. It consists first of lightly burning the inside of the mask glass, but carefully, just passing the lighter’s flame.
Then toothpaste is applied, and the glass is well cleaned with the finger, finally rinsed and ready.
How do you know if the Mask will fog up on the Next dive?
There is no safe and foolproof way, but a trick to know if your diving mask is going to fog up is to breathe in before putting it on:
If it gets foggy, you have to clean it again, even if you just did it. If you don’t, your mask will surely fog up.
It does not fog up; the risk of fog forming while diving is low, although not impossible.
What to do if you get Foggy While Diving?
As I have already told you, whatever you do, your diving mask or swimming goggles will fog up on occasion. I assure you. If they are swimming goggles, it is more comfortable. You can stop, clean them, and even spit on them to see if this time it works and does not fog up again. If you are diving, things get complicated since you cannot go to the surface. The option to despair and curse, although I have used it on occasion, I admit that it does not solve anything. The only thing you can do is:
Clean the Mask Underwater
Stop. Please take off the mask, rub the glass a little (better without gloves because they tend to be very dirty), put the mask back on, and empty it. If your buoyancy is not perfect or there is a current, your partner should hold you to avoid that while you clean the mask, being with your eyes closed, you go up or down a few meters in an uncontrolled way.
Bring some Water in the Mask
Let a little water enter the mask so that you will have a few seconds of clarity every time you pass it through the glass. Yes, I know this method is short-lived, but sometimes it’s the only thing you can do.
Last Words
Snorkeling is a unique experience. New underwater areas want to be explored, and animals are discovered. There is hardly anything more annoying than when the snorkel mask steams up. Without a clear view, snorkeling is just not fun.
As a first step, snorkelers should switch to a full face mask. Usually, these fog up less because the air circulation is separated from the mask.
If the full face mask also steams up, our tips & tricks will help. With anti-fog sprays and the like, the diving goggles are clear again in no time at all. With the right care, fogging can be prevented in advance.
Nothing should prevent you in the way of your next snorkeling adventure. Now you know how to stop dive mask from fogging up.
