[lazy]

The only solution is to use a mask with a nose clip - surgical masks, or N95s etc.

I have a speccy myself, so hugely bothered by this fogging myself.

cheers
lazy

[gthang]

Back in the days of wandering, living out of a duffel bag and motel/hotel rooms, there was a tip I had picked up to prevent bathroom mirrors from fogging.

Smear a little toothpaste and rub dry with a tissue or paper towel. Worked like a champ every time.
Haven't tried it on glasses, but worth a shot?

Good luck and stay safe.
Cheers.

[anandhsub]

The main reason to weak a mask is so that you don't infect others when breathing/coughing/sneezing. It isn't of much help in protecting you from others, especially when wearing a normal cloth mask.

Hence wearing a mask with a valve completely beats the point of wearing one since that lets all the droplets into the air outside. In fact I believe many countries have banned the general public from wearing masks with valves in them.

As for the fogging, I wear specs with anti fog yet it does fog up momentarily. Not usually a big problem except while running when the breathing becomes heavier.

[Jeroen]

I don’t think I have seen any advises here in the west about wearing glasses. Mask yes, obviously. And yes your glasses, (I wear regular glasses) might fog up.

I have found that using masks that have a good bendable nose piece usually solves it. If you can shape/mould that across your cheek/nose it works fine for me.

I don’t have that much experience yet, as we only have to wear mask when on public transportation. Which in my case is limited to taking ferries when I am out on my bicycle. Which usually means I am hot and sweaty when I put on the mask. But the above still seems to work for me. Earlier I had simpler masks, that just did not close properly on my cheek/nose. Could not see a thing. Not a good way to ride a bicycle on/off a ferry!

Jeroen

[PrideRed]

N95 masks with adjustable clips for Nose will help you avoid fogging. Just tighten the clips and no more fogging. It might get little uncomfortable initially but you get used to.

[DicKy]

So dangerous when driving, and was a BIG irritation in the initial days.
Other than the thin wire equipped masked, which we can pretty much contour on our noses the only other practical way is to pull the mask all the way up. High enough not to cause irritation to our eyes.

Lowering it may negate the efficacy of wearing masks, though when driving it maybe done, since it's just us or our family members inside the car.

[AbhiJ]

Originally Posted by GTO

When I exhale, the breath comes out from above the mask and fogs the glasses up. I asked Vid6639 and he is facing the same problem.

If you are fogging up your glasses while exhaling, you are wearing your mask wrong / your mask shape is not suitable for your face.

Why?

If the air is coming out from near your eyes when you exhale, unfiltered (virus-containing) air could also be entering your nose from near your eyes. Not ideal.

Solution

A nose pin is supposed to solve this, but it doesn't always.

I bought cloth masks from Van Huesen and they have a nose pin. I still ended up having fogged glasses.

So I decided to copy the design from my Mi Anti Pollution mask. I used these masks for DIY projects and they make a perfect seal around my face.

Instead of using a nose pin, they have a brilliant foam cutout which solves the purpose. I just used a cutout from an old MI mask and pasted it to my Van Heusen mask with 4 drops of Fevikwik. This cutout can be easily made using any foam and scissors.

It works brilliantly. Absolutely Zero air leakage near eyes.

The better your mask fitment, the lesser you will touch it and the more you will wear it.

[Brumby]

Fogging up of the glasses when wearing a mask or a balaclava is a problem that is very common. Couldn't find a solution though. Once I thought about the toothpaste and tobacco on the lines of using it on the car windshield, but common sense prevailed and I did not scratch my glasses. Toothpaste and tobacco are slightly abrasive in nature and most of the glasses (sunshades or spectacles) these days are having lightweight fibre lenses which are prone to get scratched easily. The glasses having lenses made of glass with anti-reflective coating too will suffer scratches.

The only way to prevent is to make way for the exhaled air to pass from the bottom as against the top of the mask.

Originally Posted by agambhandari

Attachment 2023086

Agree with the use of a particular type of eye protection, but even this type of goggles will not provide full protection for the eyes as there are holes on the sides.
For proper sealing goggles used for protection against chemical splash would be appropriate. Something like this.

[The Rationalist]

As a Intensivist who uses prescription lenses and working in a Covid ICU, I can’t wear the protective goggles which fogs like anything. It becomes very difficult to do life saving procedures with fogging. I’m using a Faceshield and N95 mask which has a metal clip on top. Zero fogging (for 10-12 hours, don’t think any of you would wear masks for that long).

For all practical purposes those of you are not health care workers, you don’t need face shield or goggles that cover the lens inside your own cars. Fogging while driving can very well cause accidents. Being scared and taking precautions is fine, but it shouldn’t become paranoia. Just don’t keep the AC in recirculation mode. I would be more worried about people touching the face masks and surrounding areas inadvertently, as yesterday I touched the face area 10-15 times in a shift, although I used a Chlorhexidine rub on my hands before touching. It’s risky even with rub, sometimes the irritation is too much and one takes the risk.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by The Rationalist

As a Intensivist who uses prescription lenses and working in a Covid ICU, I can’t wear the protective goggles which fogs like anything. It becomes very difficult to do life saving procedures with fogging. I’m using a Faceshield and N95 mask which has a metal clip on top. Zero fogging (for 10-12 hours, don’t think any of you would wear masks for that long).

For all practical purposes those of you are not health care workers, you don’t need face shield or goggles that cover the lens inside your own cars. Fogging while driving can very well cause accidents. Being scared and taking precautions is fine, but it shouldn’t become paranoia. Just don’t keep the AC in recirculation mode. I would be more worried about people touching the face masks and surrounding areas inadvertently, as yesterday I touched the face area 10-15 times in a shift, although I used a Chlorhexidine rub on my hands before touching. It’s risky even with rub, sometimes the irritation is too much and one takes the risk.

Same here. I don't use the googles at all in Covid ICU while performing intubations, central lines etc. Even my shifts are stretching 14-15 hours everyday. It's highly annoying and practically impossible to do these procedures when the googles keep fogging continuously every second. Infact in the rush of doing life saving procedures, inadvertently we may touch goggles to clear the fogging and then touch surroundings, tube, scope etc that may cause more chances of infection. Hence I have stopped wearing goggles altogether and protect myself only with face shields. Some of these hairband like face shields are also a big pain causing severe headache but better than the annoying foggy goggles. I may have already gotten the covid and out of that too, so I am not as paranoid as my nursing staff or other colleagues. Life's more miserable and you can't do actual work or save patients if I become so paranoid with these never ending precautions.

[--gKrish--]

I use masks with bendable metal clip on top which seals properly and reduces fogging. In cloth masks I pull it up a bit higher and use the specs nose pads to keep it snug.

OT : I wash my glasses with liquid soap everyday and dry it by beading the water off. When water starts sheeting, I use the wash and wax car shampoo and rinse it. This way, I rarely have to use the microfiber to clean the glass and also helps prevent scratches. This has reduced fogging to some extent. My previous pair of glasses used to fog up slightly on humid mornings when I look down even without the masks.

[distiller]

That's the advantage of being part of a community! I was so annoyed with the fogging issue and was curious to know if other's are experiencing the same problem and how they are dealing with it. And voila we have a thread on it
As for me, I just accepted it as new normal. The fogging issue is prone with soft mask or the similar to surgical type. With N95 it's not there as it fits snugly on the nose bridge. And yet I've to get my hand on the mask with the breathe out valve.

[wheeledwanderer]

I have faced this problem when i went to motorcycle trip to Norway. The helmet visor used to get fogged up and we could not keep the visor open due to heavy rain and -1 deg C temperature. We used an anti-fog solution from oxfordproducts and somewhere half the way down we found a Schuberth helmet shop where they had visor with an insert to prevent fogging. May be something like attached helps?

[sourishganguly]

I am currently using good old shaving foam as an anti fog coating on my lenses. I just dab a little on my lenses and rub it with a spare microfiber cloth to wipe it down.

Here's a link to a Chrisfix video that made me do this.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8Vj9avZxuwI

Alternatively, when driving, I position the AC blowers to blow cold air directly on my lenses, helps the the built up fog to mitigate faster.

[FerroVolante]

If you have this problem with fogging then you're wearing the mask wrong, to the extent of risking your life in critical situations.

The mask is supposed to have a good seal around the edges, such that airflow is directed through the filter material. Air takes the path of least resistance, so if there's a big hole where your nose meets your cheek, all the air is flowing from there and nothing is being filtered.

Proper mask wearing technique involves checking airflow after wearing the mask, and proper masks will have a clip, bendable metal strip, padding, or multiple ways to help you adjust the mask to an air-tight position.

Wearing a loose fitting mask is just for show as you do not receive any health benefit from it.