Frustrated of foggy glasses when Wearing Masks & Eyeglasses together?

Here are 7 ways to avoid foggy glasses!!

While face masks help us avoid unknowingly transmit Coronavirus, millions of eyeglass wearers are discovering and being troubled by the nuisance of mask-induced foggy lenses.
With the World Health Organisation(WHO) recommending face masks to curb the spread of Coronavirus, fogged-up glasses are a problem affecting a large chunk of the population. What can you do about your fogged-up glasses?

Let’s understand why our lenses fog-up.

Body heat and air flow lead to foggy lenses. When you are wearing a face mask, you repeatedly breathe out warm air. This air then can sneak out of the top of your mask and steam up the lenses of your glasses. A face mask usually directs much of the exhaled air upwards. Of course, this can make it difficult for you to see.

The “misting” of lenses happens when warm water vapour from your breath lands on the cooler lenses, producing tiny droplets that scatter light and reduce the lenses’ ability to transmit contrast (when light colours remain light and dark colours remain dark). The droplets form because of the inherent surface tension between the water molecules.

Now that you know why your lenses fog up, let’s review ways to prevent this fog.

7 ways to avoid foggy glasses

1. Soapy water and lenses

Before slipping on a face mask, you should wash the lenses of your glasses or sunglasses with soapy water and shake off the excess moisture. Then, let your glasses dry or gently dry the lenses with a clean microfiber cloth.

Using this method, the lenses shouldn’t fog up once you put on the mask and glasses. Why? Cleaning the lenses with soapy water leaves a thin film that reduces the “inherent surface tension” and prods the water molecules to form a transparent layer.

To avoid damage, don’t clean your lenses with products like baby shampoo, toothpaste or shaving cream.

2. Seal the mask

A common trick employed by doctors involves sticking a piece of double-sided tape across the bridge of the nose before putting on a mask.

You can also place an additional piece of cellophane or masking tape over the mask.

3. Wear a well-fitted mask

A loose-fitting mask lets exhaled air head toward your glasses, but a snugly fitting mask can shoot that air out of the bottom or sides of the mask away from your glasses. For a better fit, look for masks equipped with mouldable pieces around the nose (such as a metal strip) or masks that come in various sizes. If the mask is well-fitted, it will dramatically help to prevent the amount of warm air that can reach the lenses. If you’ve crafted your own cloth mask, create a seal around the nose by inserting a mouldable item into the upper part of the mask. This could be a paper clip, pipe cleaner, twist tie or folded piece of aluminium foil.

4. Glass adjustments

If your glasses have nose pads, you can tweak the pads so that the frames sit slightly farther from your face.

This will allow that warm air to escape instead of getting trapped between your face and the lenses of the glasses.

Altering the nose pads may slightly change your vision if you wear glasses with progressive lenses or lenses with a strong prescription. If that happens, you might need to hold your head at a different angle to compensate for the vision change.

5. Try de-fogging products

Applying over-the-counter anti-fogging sprays, waxes and gels to your lenses before putting on your glasses can quickly disperse tiny fog droplets when you’re wearing a mask.

Some work better with different body chemistry, so you may need to try a few brands to see which one works best for you.

6. Downward breathing

Well, it might be awkward, but breathing downward can be a quick ant-fog fix, this sends the air away from your glasses.

How do you breathe downward? Hold your upper lip over your lower lip. Then blow air downward, as if you’re playing a flute.

7. Look out for anti-fog lenses

This won’t fix your foggy-lens problem right away, but you might consider buying lenses with an anti-fog coating. An anti-fog coating gives you a hassle-free answer to foggy lenses, regardless of whether the obstructed vision is triggered by a face mask or something else.