How to Pre-Treat a Dive MaskUpdated a year ago
Have you ever seen a mask fog up underwater? Or wondered why your brand-new mask fogs up immediately? It's all about Surface Tension.
It is sometimes caused by the manufacturing residue left behind on the glass by the moulding process, this residue is Hydrophilic and allows water to stick to it in the form of condensation and can be extremely frustrating!
However, imagine a mirror in a hot bathroom. It fogs up as the water (steam) adheres to the glass surface. But if you smear shaving foam or shampoo onto the glass and buff it clean. This changes the Surface tension allowing the water to then bead and fall to the bottom of the glass, maintaining a clear lens! We can pre-treat masks to achieve the same effect.
It is important to note that masks with special anti-fog, UV or other coatings can be damaged by this process so please only use it on normal lenses. If you are unsure please contact us and we'll be happy to assist you.
Fortunately, there is a very quick and easy way to stop this from happening, just follow the simple steps below;
- Get your mask and either a mask pre-cleaner like McNett Sea Buff or some ordinary abrasive toothpaste (Not Gel!)
- Place a small amount of Sea Buff or a blob of toothpaste on the inside and outside of the lenses
- Rub the paste around on the glass, you can do it quite hard as it won't scratch the glass!
- Thoroughly rinse the paste off (no need to leave it to dry, it is not a chemical reaction but an abrasive action!)
- Dry off the lenses and buff
- Repeat this process as necessary, normally a couple of times is sufficient!
- To finish and after each use apply an anti-fog solution such as the McNett Sea Drops to maintain a protective layer over the lenses to help prevent condensation from forming on the glass.
For more information watch the below videos!
While this is just an industry recommendation, these days, with such good quality checks during manufacture of masks. Good habits before a dive using a quality defog such as McNett Sea Drops will mean trouble, fog-free diving.