How to stop swim goggles steaming up/best way to apply anti-fog ?

 

Does your spit regularly include abrasive materials/particles?

Old and well-known tip, works perfectly (for glass scuba masks though...dunno about plastic swimming goggles).

Surely the toothpaste would scratch the goggles. Even if it did stop fogging wouldn`t you just end up with googles which were so scratched it`d obscure vision anyway ? And wouldn`t the toothpaste itself obscure vison ! ? ! Or are you supposed to polish it off ?

Surely the toothpaste would scratch the goggles. Even if it did stop fogging wouldn`t you just end up with googles which were so scratched it`d obscure vision anyway ?

And wouldn`t the toothpaste itself obscure vison ! ? ! Or are you supposed to polish it off ?

The 2 alternatives are (again, scuba masks):

(i) for new masks, run a flame (butane lighter) over the inside surface (burns off residue protecting compounds applied to mask fresh from factory, which contribute the most to new-mask-fogging)

(ii) for ordinary use, spit/rub/rinse with seawater just before fitting & diving

I've never used toothpaste (no need) and use (ii) all the time and don't fog up, ever. But a friend of mine and buddy diver started using it last week, reported excellent result and no marking whatsoever after repeated use. I guess he fogs up all the time because he clears his mask through repeated nose puffs (more ambient CO2), rather than fill-from-top-and-clear (less ambient CO2).

Right, I`ve been doing some research over the last few months........

As far as goggles with anti fog coatings, they don`t stay anti fog forever, and anti fog spray never worked on them for me.

The secret is to keep them clean.

Now this might sound obvious but I was trying harsher and harsher solvents to no avail before it came to me, it`s water soluble staining on those goggles (it must be, it was in the water) so just try washing up liquid. And hey presto, it works !

Use a bit of Fairy Liquid with some water (fairly concentrated) and something soft so as not to scratch the surface, I used wet toilet roll, and yes it doesn`t last long before disintegrating but that doesn`t really matter. Make sure you thoroughly rinse the goggles after cleaning them (use warm water) otherwise when you swim the goggles will still be fog free but the small amount of detergent left on them will sting your eyes ! I experimented with how long I could leave the goggles (once cleaned) before they start fogging up again, thus having to wash them again, and it`s about three swims for me, you might do better with different goggles !

As for goggles with no anti fog coating when I had some cheap Speedos I used to spray them with anti fog before each swim and dry it off again with toilet roll, from memory (it was years ago.......) that worked.