• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

mask maintenance

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

Drrayb

Member
May 6, 2018
12
2
13
38
Hi all,

I have a black silicone omer alien mask, about 2 years old. I use it 2ish times per week for UWR. I have done the toothpaste and/or sea-buff to it roughly every 6 months, and soap-water or before swimming for defogging (glass lens).

I have noticed in the last few months it just doesn't defog as adequately as it did before. Is this expected for masks? do they have a lifespan? Is there something else I should be doing to rejuvenate it?

Thank you!
 
Hi Drrayb,
Normal, to prevent, I regularly clean my mask at least 1 time a month.
I got very good results last time in the dishwasher , 'glass program 45°C'.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Drrayb and Mr. X
I did the toothpaste thing several times to my.old Omer Alien mask, which has a reputation for fogging up. After a couple of years I used a lighter to burn off the silicone left during manufacture, it finally stopped fogging up so badly. Glycerine/glycerol makes a decent anti-fog alternative to commercial offerings or spit ;)

Periodically washing with dish washing liquid and warm can help keep things clean.

The Omer Alien was ok, the spearo masks I've owned are all very similar. But other masks have been less hassle. The technisub aqualung micromask is my current favourite spearo mask. My wife's Typhoon mask, very similar to the Cressi big eyes mask, is more comfortable and offers a greater field of vision l think.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Drrayb
thanks for the advice guys. I'm so nervous to try the lighter for fear of damaging the mask. I'll give it another good scrub maybe..

how do you recon the mask has a higher propensity to fog up than others, Mr. X?

And I know the technisub mask you're mentioning :) a few of my team mates use it. I'm limited somewhat by my schnozz but am exploring other ones slowly. i love the look of the truly micro masks and especially the mares viper aka batman mask
 
Hi

From Mr. X
‘...the silicone left during manufacture...’

A silicone spray is sprayed into the mold where the material (grain of molten silicone) will be injected.
It’s to facility the extraction of the moulded skirt that the pulverited spray is used.
It is therefore on the skirt that the residues remain ... and migrate to the glasses ... later.

The lighter does not eliminate what remains on the skirt, which is why the skirt must above all be cleaned internally and externally.

I have had several masks since I started in 1965.
No problem with my traditional way to clean ( dishwashing liquid)…no lighter.
My penultimate mask => https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cressi_minima.JPG

But it was very difficult with this mask to avoid the fog where the glasses touch the skirt. => http://www.omersub.com/en/products/freediving/masks-snorkels/up-m1/

And recently ... "I got very good results by putting it in the dishwasher," 45 ° C glass program "."

On another forum, a diver (doctor of medicine) did not manage to eliminate the fogging by my traditional method… She went to the diving center (Maldives) to have her mask “burned”… It was OK… but later she came back to the forum to say ... sorry, despite the lighter ... the mist returned.

Why ? —> because the lighter don't eliminate the silicone of the skirt.

This one is fog free => https://www.cascoantiguo.com/en/apnea/free-dive-masks/sphera-lx-mask-aqualung
 



Hi
Nearly everybody says ‘…during manufacturing …silicon residue…on the glass lens’.

They forget to consider silicone mainly is on the skirt.

The guy from 'MAKO spearguns' says at 2:37 from his video : ‘…sun screen products…from your face …migrate to the glass lens over time..

It's exactly what the residue of silicon spray, on the skirt, ( not eliminated by the lighter) will do…migrate from the skirt to the lens over time…like the testimonial I read on a forum…described on my #5

Have they ever seen an injection molding machine and the people who use it?

Don’t use a lighter (*) says…the video specially at 7:23 =>

(*) why taking any risk when soft methods are doing the job…like the dishwasher I experimented successfully recently for my ‘UP-M1’
 
DeeperBlue.com - The Worlds Largest Community Dedicated To Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing

ABOUT US

ISSN 1469-865X | Copyright © 1996 - 2024 deeperblue.net limited.

DeeperBlue.com is the World's Largest Community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving, Ocean Advocacy and Diving Travel.

We've been dedicated to bringing you the freshest news, features and discussions from around the underwater world since 1996.

ADVERT