Do Your Eyeglasses Get Foggy While Wearing a Mask? Some Solutions...
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Masks are a crucial way to decrease the spread of COVID-19, but these mouth-and-nose coverings cause a few nuisances, including fogged-up eyeglasses. When it's cold, your breath puffing up through the top of the mask clouds the lenses, especially when you go from the chilly outside to the warmer indoors and the mask isn't tight around your face. But there are other options, including antifog lens coatings, sprays and wipes.
DIY techniques
The tissue will absorb the warm, moist air, preventing it from reaching your glasses. Also, make sure the top of your mask is tight and the bottom looser, to help direct your exhaled breath away from your eyes.
The Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England published an
article in 2011 that offered a simple method to prevent fogging, suggesting that, just before wearing a face mask, people wash their spectacles with soapy water, shake off the excess and then allow the lenses to air-dry.
Antifog lens coatings
Most antifog coatings are hydrophilic, meaning they act as a kind of microscopic sponge, allowing droplets of water to absorb into the coating, which prevents an opaque film from forming on the lenses. They are bonded to the lenses during the manufacturing process, before the eyeglasses are cut to fit your frame.
Over-the-counter wipes and sprays
If you don't want to swap out your lenses, you can treat your specs with an over-the-counter protectant, such as an antifog spray or portable premoistened wipes.
These treatments usually work by depositing a super-thin film of
chemicals onto your lenses that prevent droplets from forming. Sprays usually need to be rubbed into lenses with a microfiber cloth to evenly spread the product. You may need to try a few brands to see which antifog spray works best.
Be sure they indicate that they won't harm any protective coatings you have on your lenses .
Best Face Mask Materials: Cotton With Chiffon
If you are making a homemade mask,
a new study published in the scientific journal ACS Nano found that
homemade face masks that use a combination of tightly woven cotton and
polyester-spandex chiffon or silk will provide a very effective filter
for the aerosol particles that spread the COVID-19 virus. Even a 1 percent gap reduces the filtering of all face masks by 50 percent or more.