Masks that don't fog glasses

November 2, 2020 10:54 AM

I've seen plenty of ads for masks that claim to be anti-fog. Can you recommend any mail-order masks that you have direct experience with that don't fog glasses? (Might as well throw in the same question for patterns for masks for those that want to sew their own.)

I have masks with a metal nose piece, but still get fogging.

I've tried an anti-fog cloth for my glasses - it sort of works, just clearing the fog more quickly, and only if you remember to use it before you go out.

posted by ShooBoo to Health & Fitness (18 answers total)

Wearing a Stark's and glasses right now. I won't say they never ever fog: going in and out of doors on a cold day, or breathing heavily through my mouth will result in temporary fogging. But I'm able to wear them for normal office work all day with little-to-no fogging. Pulling the nose guard up underneath my glasses fixes 95% of the problem.
posted by Knicke at 11:03 AM on November 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

I work for an optometrist. I have yet to see many masks that do zero fogging in all circumstances. Face movement and forceful talking can unseat pretty much all of them. Though I will say, to my knowledge, no one has come in wearing one that was designed with eye glasses in mind. The things that seem to help the most are: a good seal and a mask top that ends either way above the bottom of the frame or way (way!) below the bottom of the frame. It's sort of counter-intuitive, but the first thing I have patients do is bring the top of the mask up to bank-robber heights - right below their lower eyelid.

There are some lens treatments that work better than others. I can't remember what we sell at work, but our office manager tested it for a week before we sold it and gave it good reviews. It uses a drop on each lens that needs reapplied every 3 days or so. I also know my ski friends swear by Cat Crap brand.
posted by piedmont at 11:06 AM on November 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

I came here to say what piedmont did - if you have a mask that comes up below the bottom of your glasses, that helps a great deal with the fog problem.
posted by coppermoss at 11:19 AM on November 2, 2020

Recently (with a previously within that question).
posted by hydra77 at 11:24 AM on November 2, 2020 [2 favorites]

Another workaround I've used to some success is to use medical tape along the top of the mask to attach it to the skin. It's less comfortable, but I have much less of a problem with fogging on my glasses.
posted by Aleyn at 12:03 PM on November 2, 2020 [4 favorites]

Im probably going to go the opposite direction—might make sense for you. Smaller lenses, maybe frameless and out of the zone.
posted by tilde at 12:06 PM on November 2, 2020

I've found that I get better results with simple Hanes fabric masks without a nosepiece, by using the nose-rests of my glasses to hold the fabric tightly against the bridge of my nose. This gets the mask into the "high" position described by piedmont above, and prevents as much of my breath from escaping along the sides of my nose.
posted by Johnny Assay at 12:15 PM on November 2, 2020 [2 favorites]

I use a Stock Mfg Co mask, and cut little bits out of the cloth so that I can sneak a paperclip into the top seam, and then shape the mask to fit my nose. It's way sturdier than other nosepieces, and if you adjust it correctly, it's fog free as long as you aren't breathing super heavily. Tried a lot of other approaches and none of them worked. I bet other masks are similar enough to the Stock one to do the same trick.
posted by tmcw at 12:28 PM on November 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have a DIY Aplat mask and it works great.
posted by aniola at 12:31 PM on November 2, 2020 [2 favorites]

Also - pretty sure anti-fog is a coating you can get on lenses.
posted by aniola at 12:33 PM on November 2, 2020

I also wear the Aplat masks aniola linked. I pull the mask all the way up to my undereyes and place my glasses on top. Zero fogging.
posted by third word on a random page at 12:49 PM on November 2, 2020

I have used a variety of masks (I like Tom Bihn the best so far for filterless and Vistaprint for ones with filters) but neither is perfect, so I add Fearless Wardrobe tape for sensitive skin and that has made all the difference. I put it on the inside of the bridge section of the mask and between that and the wires/I get a mostly fog-free mask experience. My bridge of my nose is very narrow and the wires never quite get tight enough. I don't find wearing my eyeglasses over the mask works for me (I think because I wear trifocals and it puts them out of alignment just enough to make me unhappy).
posted by agatha_magatha at 1:36 PM on November 2, 2020

Most off-the-shelf metal nosepieces seem to be soft enough to be moulded directly on the face, which also makes them too soft to maintain their shape under tension.

All my homemade masks are the simple rectangular pleated design, but with ties that go behind the head and removable nosepieces made out of a much more rigid plastic-coated wire (which I shaped to my nose using pliers before use -- they stay permanently curved, which makes them a little tricky to insert and remove, but it's not impossible). When I wear glasses with a mask (I usually wear contact lenses during the day, but not always) I find that the combination of the rigid nosepiece and the ties tied tightly around my head gives me a pretty good seal.

I would suggest adapting your favourite type of mask to have these features -- whether you make it from scratch or modify an existing mask to swap the nosepiece and replace ear elastics with ties. I remove my wires before washing the masks (I only have 3 or 4 wires for 10+ masks), but if you want to sew yours in permanently, I would suggest sealing the exposed metal ends with epoxy glue. (I should probably do that with mine anyway, to make the ends less stabby and likely to tear a hole in the fabric.)
posted by confluency at 1:57 PM on November 2, 2020

I have a silicone mask by Castlegrade and it mostly keeps my glasses clear. Also, it's very breathable, because it doesn't smash up against your nostrils, and it takes little n95-type filters.
posted by hungrytiger at 3:05 PM on November 2, 2020

The KN95 actually works better for not fogging my glasses than any other mask I've tried.
posted by Gadarene at 9:42 PM on November 2, 2020

Someone recommended layering a Kleenex on one's nose so the mask's nose piece holds it where it can absorb breath.
posted by Cranberry at 11:59 PM on November 2, 2020

I've been having great luck with Marcellamoda's face masks. They rarely fog my glasses up, even when I'm speaking quite loudly while teaching. Usual transitions in/out of cold places will still get me, like usual.
posted by lilac girl at 10:13 AM on November 3, 2020

I tried some mask tape, and it worked really well. This is something like what I used: https://www.amazon.com/Cabeau-Face-Mask-Tape/dp/B08C7BDY5H
posted by coberh at 7:49 PM on November 3, 2020