How To Keep Swim Goggles From Fogging Up | Safeworkswear

Nothing can be uncomfortable as wearing swim goggles that are fogged. Not only do they blur your vision. During training, blurred swim goggles can easily ruin your rhythm and flow since you will frequently have to stop to clear them. However, the blurriness is not limited to disrupting your performance.

Blurred goggles can very well leave you at hazardous risks – including accidentally stumbling onto pool walls. Therefore, learning how to keep swim goggles from fogging up is a good idea. In this brief guide, we’ve shared some of the most common methods to ensure that your swimming goggles never fog up.

how to keep swim goggles from fogging

Reasons For Fogging

Before learning how to defog your goggles, it is worth knowing the reasons why it happens in the first place. Doing so, allows you to prevent this from happening in the future. Some of the common reasons for swim goggle fogging include;

  • Condensation due to temperature changes between the water and skin
  • Lack of proper ventilation
  • Lack of goggle anti-fog feature
  • Poor quality goggles

How To Keep Swim Goggles From Fogging Up – 10 Easy Ways

You can find a myriad of methods to defog your swim goggles. Below, we’ve shared the easiest and most convenient ways to remove fog from your goggles.

1. Buy High Quality Goggles

To avoid having to frequently defog your goggles, it is better to simply avoid those that tend to fog up. In this case, you want to invest in a pair of good quality swim goggles. When choosing the best swim goggles, you want to look out for several features to ensure they will not easily fog up. Some of these key features include double-layered lenses, adequate ventilation, and anti-fog coating.

Double layered lenses normally feature a single lens layer and a delicate anti-fog layer. The hydrophilic anti-fog layer functions to absorb water and spreads it through the lens anti-fog elements. Thus, when you emerge from the water, the little droplets easily scatter along the lens surface, where they are absorbed and spread – leaving you with a clear vision.

Properly ventilated goggles on the other end prevent condensation as they promote adequate air circulation to balance the interior and exterior lens temperature.

2. Applying Anti Fog Spray

If your swimming goggles don’t enjoy the much stronger and long lasting anti-fog lens construction, this shouldn’t be an issue. From time to time, you can always reinforce the anti-fog performance of the lenses on your swimming goggles by applying the anti-fog spray. Anti-fog sprays work for goggles that don’t feature anti-fog treated/coated lenses either.

When choosing the right anti-fog spray, you want to opt for one that effectively sticks to the surface of the lenses to ensure long lasting anti-fog performance. Ultimately, fog forms on your goggles when the interior lens temperature doesn’t match that of the exterior lens surface. During this time, water droplets are formed on the lens surface to create fog vision.

The anti-fog spray eliminates the liquid tension created by the rapid temperature changes, thus, forcing the water droplets to glide down the lens surface instead of sticking to it. Thus, rather than spreading the water droplets across the surface as double-layered lenses do, the anti-fog spray simply makes it impossible for the water droplets to stick to the lens surface.

Nevertheless, before you apply the anti-fog spray on the lens surface, you want to make sure you clean them. This is because the spray is less effective on dirty or moist surfaces. After all, water droplets simply stick to any host they can find. So, if your goggles are swarmed with specks of dirt or oil residues, the water droplets will still stick to the goggles even with the anti-fog spray applied.

3. Splash Cool Water On The Surface

Now, this is a method you can execute even if you are not close to a bottle of anti-fog spray. In this case, you simply want to spray the goggles with water to help balance the temperature. After all, in most cases, the temperature changes are normally perpetrated by the heat given off by your body. Thus, the logical solution is to douse the lens with cool water.

However, you also want to make sure the lenses are clean enough so you don’t leave any residues that may still attract water droplets. So, begin by first apply a small drop of dish soap on each lens surface. Then, rinse the lenses by splashing cool water for about a minute or two until the surface is free of the soap. Then, they should be ready for use – free from the fog!

4. Use Saliva

If at all you have no access to any other resources, your best next move is to use saliva – of course, if you don’t mind spit on your goggles! Saliva is a natural anti-fog solution; thus, it is quite effective at removing the water droplets on your lens surface.

Simply add a little bit of saliva on the interior surface of the lenses. Adding this layer of saliva inside the goggles prevents condensation from forming when you put on your goggles.

5. Use Baby Shampoo

Similar to saliva, baby shampoo does an excellent job when it comes to anti-fog performance. This is because baby shampoo is a very good surfactant – delivering excellent removal of liquid surface tension.

So, if you don’t like the idea of saliva on your goggles, the next best solution is baby shampoo. Like saliva, simply apply the baby shampoo across the interior lens surface and then, wipe off the shampoo from the lenses – your goggles should be good to go!

6. Use Toothpaste And Toothbrush

Just like how you brush your teeth to protect them, brushing the lens surface of your swimming goggles protects them from fog too. Dab some toothpaste on a toothbrush and then, gently brush the interior and exterior surfaces of your lenses to create a protective film and your goggles will be fully protected against fog.

If you choose to follow this method, however, you have to keep two key things in mind. First, you want to wash the goggles thoroughly to ensure there isn’t a speck of dirt or residue before you apply the toothpaste. Additionally, during the brushing process, you want to be as gentle as possible to prevent scratching the lenses.

7. Use Potato Piece

If you want to go for a more traditional and inexpensive method to defog your swim goggles, you can always use a potato. Potato is also another excellent natural anti-fog substance. To use it to defog your goggles, wash the potato first to ensure it is free of any soil and dirt. If you have any old potatoes, especially those that have begun to sprout, this is a great way to make use of them.

After washing the potato, cut it into half, and rub the freshly cut part on the surface of your lenses – on either side. Doing so cleans the lens whilst leaving a thin layer of anti-fog protection. Leave the surface to dry before you continue using the goggles. The potato method is quite effective and lasts almost as long as commercial anti-fog spray would last on the lens surface.

8. Don’t Touch The Inside Of Goggle Lenses

Frequently touching the inside of your goggle lenses can eventually cause fogging. This is because touching the interior of the lens will eventually damage the anti-fog coating and render it useless. The same happens when you use abrasive materials such as paper towels or hard bristle brushes to clean the surface of your lenses.

9. Use Shaving Foam

Alternatively, you can opt for shaving foam. Shaving foam is also a good surfactant. To defog your swimming goggles using shaving foam, simply spray a smidge on each lens surface. Then, gently rub the foam around the lens and wipe it off with a soft cloth – making sure you don’t scratch the lens surface.

The remaining residue of the foam is what creates a thin layer of anti-fog to prevent condensation on the lens surface. Again, just like you do before you apply anything on the lens surface, you want to make sure the goggles are clean and dry.

10. Always Keep Your Goggles Clean And Dry

On most occasions, your swim goggles will simply fog up because they are not clean. After all, remember that water droplets will not only stick to surfaces that are not coated with anti-fog treatment. They are also drawn to surfaces with dirt and other residues such as oils.

Thus, before you store them in their case or even put them on – make sure they are clean and dry. The reason why your goggles need to be dry is that the remaining droplets of water can further create fog on their own.

Conclusion

How to keep swim goggles from fogging? I hope after reading the above article the answer to this question is clear. Equipping yourself with the know-how on cleaning and defogging your swimming goggles allows you to focus on your activity without any interruptions. Plus, there is a cross section of different methods you can employ to prevent fog up.

However, the best part is that you have a wide selection of options to pick depending on your circumstances – whether you can afford expensive high quality swimming goggles or simply have no access to other resources – leaving your saliva to be the best option!

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