Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, more people than ever have experienced that dreadful moment where your face mask causes your glasses to steam up.
While this experience has now been felt by many glasses wearers across the globe, previously this dreaded moment was only really experienced by professionals.
There are a number of different professions where you may have to wear a face mask and glasses.
For example, if you are a surgeon, a dentist, or a nurse who wears glasses, you may be used to this experience. However, the industry where this pain is felt the most is the construction industry.
When you are working with heavy-duty equipment, you should always wear safety glasses to protect your eyes.
But depending on the materials that you are working with, you may have to wear a mask for safety purposes too. In this case, you are likely looking for ways to prevent fogging on your eye protection or to prevent foggy glasses, which can be common when you are wearing a mask.
In this guide, we’ll be taking a look at 5 tried and tested methods that are guaranteed to work. So, if you want to find out more, keep on reading!
What Are Safety Glasses?
First things first, let’s take a look at what safety glasses are. As the name suggests, safety glasses are glasses that are used to protect your eyes.
If you work in construction, then it is a good idea to wear safety glasses because they can protect your eyes from damage.
Your eyes are one of the most important parts of your body, so it is very critical to keep them safe at all times. You want to ensure that your eye protection has a tight seal, to keep any debris from entering.
Safety glasses, or goggles as they are sometimes called, are designed to create a barrier between your eyes and the outside world.
Essentially, they prevent any dust, debris, or fibers from entering your eyes and causing damage. They can also protect your eyes against chemicals if you are working in an environment where you might encounter them.
This tighter fit means that when worn in combination with a snug fitting mask, warm air hits the lenses, which in turn causes foggy lenses!
Why Should You Wear Safety Glasses?
Now that we know what safety glasses are, let’s quickly touch in on why you should wear them.
Well, as we have said, the primary reason why you should wear safety glasses is to protect your eyes from damage. In construction and DIY scenarios, there are all sorts of situations where your eyes could be at risk, safety glasses will protect them.
Safety glasses form an incredibly important part of safety when you are working in an environment that is high risk.
But wearing them alongside a face mask can be tricky because they will often steam up over time. So, if you want to find out some great ways to keep your safety glasses from fogging when you are wearing a mask, keep on reading!
5 Ways To Keep Eye Protection From Fogging While Wearing A Mask
Let’s dive right in and take a look at 5 clever ways to keep your eye protection from fogging when you are wearing a face mask.
1. Wash Your Glasses Before
One of the best hacks for protecting your safety glasses from fogging up is to wash your glasses before you wear them. You might be wondering how this works, and that is a good question, so let us explain.
When you wash your glasses with a soap or detergent, a film will form over the glasses. This film will be clear, so you won’t be able to see it, but it will form a rough coat over the glass.
In fact, you could even use dish soap if that’s all that you have to hand. The roughness of this thin film will prevent the glasses from fogging up with condensation.
If you can, it is best to let your safety glasses air dry as this will allow the film to form more effectively.
But, if you are stuck on time, then simply pat your safety glasses dry with a soft cloth and they will be good to go.
2. Position Your Mask And Glasses Correctly
Another great hack is to position your mask and glasses correctly. Finding the perfect position can be very tricky, but once you find it, you will never have to worry about your glasses fogging up again.
Most of the time, your glasses will fog up because your mask is not properly fitted to your face. So, the first step to positioning your mask and glasses correctly is ensuring that the top of your mask is fitted properly to your nose.
With your mask fitted correctly, you simply need to position your safety glasses so that they are over the top of your mask. These two small steps should stop your glasses from fogging up in the future.
This can also keep hot air and warm breath from recirculating within the mask, which can be damaging to sensitive skin.
Wearing masks is great in combination with other personal protective equipment, but you need to ensure that there is a snug fit with face coverings and protective eyewear to prevent warm air from cycling round.
3. Tape Your Mask Down
Sometimes it can be a little tricky to get your mask to fit to your nose correctly. Some face masks simply aren’t that well made and these masks are likely to let air out of the top. It is this air that is causing your glasses to fog up.
So, if you cannot get your glasses to fit to your face on their own, you should consider using tape to secure your mask to your face.
You could even use an adhesive bandage or double sided tape. This definitely isn’t the most stylish approach. But, if you are really struggling with your glasses fogging up, this is a good hack to try.
4. Anti-Fog Spray
We mentioned how cleaning your glasses before you wear them can be a good way to stop your glasses from fogging up earlier.
Likewise, using an anti-fog spray can have a similar effect. This is because an anti-fog spray will work very similarly.
There are all sorts of different anti-fog sprays that you can purchase for a very small amount of money, and most will do the job incredibly well.
All you have to do is apply the anti-fog coating before you want to get started and it should prevent your glasses from fogging up.
Different anti-fog sprays will come with different instructions, so we won’t give you any instructions on how to apply anti-fog coating. Instead, simply follow the instructions on the bottle of anti-fog spray, and you will be good to go.
5. Prescription Safety Glasses
Finally, you could consider investing in a pair of prescription safety glasses. This type of safety glasses are specifically made for you, and so you can design a pair that will fit your face perfectly.
Prescription safety glasses are also designed to suit your eyesight. So, if you usually wear glasses, prescription safety glasses will allow you to only wear a single pair of glasses while you are working.
So, instead of wearing a pair of safety glasses over your prescription glasses, you can simply just wear your safety glasses.
These safety glasses will also often come with a coating that reduces the chance of fogging up.
So, if you are really struggling with this issue, and usually wear glasses, then purchasing a pair of prescription safety glasses will be a great investment to resolve this issue.
Summary
In short, there are lots of different ways to keep your eye protection from fogging up when you are wearing a mask.
From using tape to washing your glasses, we have looked at all sorts of methods that definitely work. Find out more in the guide above.
Thank you for reading!