Anti-Fog shower mirror/spray

April 23, 2005 9:59 AM

I'm looking for one of two things: 1. A shower mirror that actually doesn't fog up, ever (without in-line installation or electrical installation), or 2. An anti-fogging spray that works well on, say, cheapy suction mirrors without giving me, say, lead poisoning over the course of a year or something. Any suggestions?
posted by sirion to Home & Garden (16 answers total)

Shaving cream. Rub shaving cream across the mirror, then wipe it clean. Re-apply as necessary.
posted by headspace at 10:02 AM on April 23, 2005

or soap.
posted by andrew cooke at 10:03 AM on April 23, 2005

or deodorant/anti-persperant
posted by falconred at 10:05 AM on April 23, 2005

What's the logic behind using the aforementioned bathroom products?
posted by SeizeTheDay at 10:08 AM on April 23, 2005

Response by poster: I've been using shave cream, but I'm looking for something with a bit more image clarity
posted by sirion at 10:17 AM on April 23, 2005

What's the logic behind using the aforementioned bathroom products?

water likes to stick to itself more than to glass (water-water bonds are pretty strong, water-glass bonds aren't). so it tends to form beads rather than spreading in a single sheet.

soap, and similar molecules have two different ends. one end sticks well to things like glass, the other end sticks well to water. so a layer of soap sticks to the glass and provides a surface on which the water spreads out rather than beading. you end up with a kind of sandwich, with glass on one side, a layer of water on the other, and the soap in between holding the two together.

although, having said that i'm now wondering how capillary action works. i think there's no contracdiction because then the comparison is between water-glass and water-air. but it is possible i'm confused somewhere.
posted by andrew cooke at 10:33 AM on April 23, 2005

RainX Antifog.

Also, I find that toothpaste is excellent for cleaning the mirror so that water doesn't want to stick to it in the first place; and holding it up to the showerhead heats it up enough to prevent condensation.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:33 AM on April 23, 2005

forgot to add that condensation is annoying when it's made of lots of tiny droplets - it's like looking through bumpy glass. but when it's spread out in a single sheet you don't notice - like flat glass. hence using something that makes the water spread out.
posted by andrew cooke at 10:37 AM on April 23, 2005

I got a suction cup antifog shower mirror at Target and it seems to work for me.
posted by grouse at 11:27 AM on April 23, 2005

In SCUBA, they teach you to spit in your diving mask and rub it around so that it won't fog up. I do this in my shaving mirror in the morning. Seems to work just fine, although I bet that RainX stuff would work pretty good. I've never tried it.

BTW, you don't need to "hock a loogie" or anything. Just get a good amount of saliva, spit it on there, and rub it around.

Oh, and doesn't shaving in the shower rule?
posted by redteam at 12:37 PM on April 23, 2005

(Andrew, might I ask why you change the size of the text in your posts? It's a bit irritating.)
posted by delfuego at 2:40 PM on April 23, 2005

A few years ago, I spent $20 on the "Z' Fogless Shower Mirror, which promptly fogged up. But I discovered that if once every couple of weeks I lather it up with a dab of soap and rise it off, it works great. I'd thought it was something special about the no-fog surface -- turns out, I've learned today, any ol' mirror would work the same.
posted by waldo at 4:06 PM on April 23, 2005

This should work. It's heated with water that bypasses the shower head.
posted by klarck at 5:03 PM on April 23, 2005

Do you have a detachable shower head? I do. I take hot, steamy showers. I have a cheap, suction mirror. Before I shave, I take the shower head and spray hot water on the mirror for about 5 seconds. The increased temperature of the mirror inhibits fogging for long enough to shave with a clear view.

(I live in a semi-arid climate -- don't know if this would work in a humid climate. Works like a charm for me, though. Of course relative humidity is really friggin' high when I shower, so it might not matter at all.)
posted by teece at 12:13 AM on April 24, 2005

yeah, I have the zfogless too, for the suction cup. It comes pre-coated with soap, and they give you a little soap wipe to recoat it. But you don't need it. All you need is a bar of soap. Drag it across the mirror, being careful not to suds it up. Fog won't condense on the soap, for the reasons described above.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:59 AM on April 24, 2005

delfuego - sorry - i did them small because they were off-topic (normally i reply full-size).
posted by andrew cooke at 1:53 PM on April 24, 2005