Homemade face masks are becoming the norm as the coronavirus epidemic continues to ravage the United States, with some places requiring them to be worn in public. But if you are a glasses wearer, you may have noticed that wearing a face mask can cause your lenses to fog. So, what can you do to prevent this?
Keep Your Glasses From Fogging Up While Wearing a Face Mask
Fortunately, there appears to be a simple solution. A study from the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England found that washing the glasses with soapy water “immediately” before wearing a face mask prevents them from fogging up.
Simply give your glasses a rinse with soapy water and then let them air dry or gently dry the lenses with a soft tissue before putting them on. When you wear your face mask, you should find that they don’t fog up.
Glasses fog up because the air exhaled from your mouth moves upward and comes into contact with the lenses, causing condensation to form on the inside of the lens. The vapor droplets form because of the inherent surface tension between the water molecules. Washing the glasses with soapy water before wearing them leaves behind a thin surfactant film that reduces this surface tension and causes the water molecules to spread out evenly into a transparent layer.
There are many other ways to help your glasses from fogging, too. Place a tissue under the top of your face mask to prevent condensation forming. Also, wearing a mask that forms to the bridge of your nose – one with wire, for example – can help prevent the warm air from your mouth from reaching your lenses.
If you’re looking for more information regarding COVID-19, please visit our COVID-19 Resource Center. We hope this information will help guide you during these unprecedented times. The team at Hoffman Brown Company are here for you during this troubling time. Get in touch to learn more about how we can help.
