Prevent Your Glasses from Fogging Up While Wearing a Mask

We’ve posted quite a bit about the pandemic and ways to keep kids safe and occupied. Today, let’s tackle an issue that affects both kids and adults equally. It's time to discuss how to prevent your glasses from fogging up while wearing a mask.

Glasses and Masks

Last week, we showed you how to help kids put on their COVID-19 masks. This time, we’re focusing on a specific issue that many children and their guardians are experiencing. Namely, people are discovering that it can be tricky to prevent your glasses from fogging up while masked. 

It’s the same situation many of us have seen while skiing, playing paintball or even swimming. Glasses may do wonders for our vision during normal times. Unfortunately, when combined with masks and certain strenuous activities, your glasses can become clouded. This makes it difficult for a person to see. Obviously, when talking about safety, this can also include driving safety for adults. A person with occluded vision can become a danger to themselves and others. In addition, foggy glasses will cause the mask-wearer to touch their face more frequently in an attempt to clear the glass. This is a big no-no when it comes to avoiding the coronavirus. The purpose of this post will be to help avoid these risks.

Why Do My Glasses Fog Up While Wearing a Mask?

No matter how old you are, your glasses fog up while you are wearing a mask because of temperature anomalies. In a nutshell, the presence of the mask pushes our warm breath upward toward our eyes instead of forward. This creates condensation on the lenses, which can block your vision. It’s annoying and it can affect anyone, young or old.

Prevent Your Glasses From Fogging Up While Wearing a Mask

This leads us to our next question: how can you prevent your glasses from fogging up while wearing a mask. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to solve this problem:

The Right Fit Prevents Fogging

First and foremost, you’ll want to be absolutely sure that you or your children are wearing glasses that fit properly. Only your obstetrician can help you here. Rest assured, the correct pair of lenses can make all the difference in the world.

Moving slightly south, let’s talk about your COVID-19 mask. These days, people are using a wide variety of masks. Whether it's an N95 mask or a homemade face guard, you’ll want to be sure that it it fits snugly and securely over your nose and mouth. As long as the mask is closed off at the top, it should prevent the hot, moist air from hitting your glasses. Modify your homemade masks to prevent as little leakage as possible.

Soap and water

Next up, let’s talk about soap and water. Believe it or not, a simple pre-wear wash can help prevent your glasses from fogging up while you are wearing a mask.

This study from the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England shows a simple method to prevent spectacle lenses from misting up:

"Immediately before wearing a face mask, wash the spectacles with soapy water and shake off the excess. Then, let the spectacles air dry or gently dry off the lenses with a soft tissue before putting them back on. Now the spectacle lenses should not mist up when the face mask is worn."

As you can see, washing your lenses with soapy water and a soft cloth can help prevent buildup. The film left behind by a soap-washing acts as a barrier. Additionally, you can purchase special defogging sprays. These can be very helpful, but you should absolutely ask your doctor before proceeding with any home remedies.