How to stop glasses from fogging up while wearing a mask in winter

A woman's eyeglasses are fogged up as she wears a face mask in cold, winter weather during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Nearly two years into the coronavirus pandemic and wearing face masks has become the new normal. But sporting a mask with glasses can still be quite tricky, even months later.

Those with corrective eyewear have had to adapt to the dreaded foggy lenses that often result when we're out and about, especially as the seasons change and the outdoor air shifts from warm to cold, amplifying the annoyance all the more.

When hot air hits a cold surface -- in this case, your breath hitting the lenses of the glasses -- condensation forms on the surface. The effect can be easily seen just from walking into a warm building after being out in the cold. Put on a mask, especially one that doesn't fit your face very well, and the condensation is seemingly inescapable because the hot, moist air from a person's breath instantly hits your glasses and fogs them up.

"Since condensation is a function of temperature, the colder the glasses the more the condensation," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck said. "One thing you can do is try to warm up your glasses before entering a building -- but watch where you are walking. Scratches and smudges can increase condensation, so make sure your glasses are clean."

His glasses fogged by his face mask, J. Christopher Mihm, managing director of the Strategic Issues Team of the Government Accountability Office, appears for a hearing on the 2020 Census on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

While mask-wearing and foggy glasses have posed an irritating dilemma for many since the pandemic began in early 2020, one group has been dealing with it for a long time -- medical workers. Neysa Ernst, a nurse manager in the biocontainment unit at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, and other health-care workers offer some simple tips on how to thwart the dreaded fog:

Ernst does not wear glasses to work herself, but a handful of the nurses she works with do, and they have come up with a simple solution using a common household item.

"Some of the staff has talked about using Dawn dish soap, and cleaning their glasses with Dawn dish soap," Ernst told AccuWeather.

Ernst said many co-workers have turned to dish soap to prevent fogging.

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According to AARP, the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England published an article in 2011 that explains how the soap and water method can prevent fogging.

"Immediately before wearing a face mask, wash the spectacles with soapy water and shake off the excess," the researchers wrote. "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."

Sometimes it's just a matter of adjusting the fit and creating a good seal between the mask and your face so air can't escape. This can be done by simply adjusting the ties or twisting the ear loops on a surgical mask to ensure the mask fits snugly against your face.

"If the air is going out the top, you don't have your mask on correctly," Shan Soe-Lin, a lecturer at the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, told The New York Times. "Most of the breath should be going through the mask. If you feel the air going in or out around the mask, tighten the ties."

Adjustable elastics may also work.

Another way to ensure an optimum fit is to buy a mask with an adjustable metal nose bridge or clasp.

Look for a face mask that has a more tailored fit as well as a built-in, bendable clip that you can mold to the contours of your nose to reduce the gap that allows puffs of warm moist air up toward the glasses.

If those techniques fail or if you don't have a mask with clips, medical or athletic tape will work equally well to create the seal you need by holding the mask down against the nose and cheeks to cut off the hot air from inside the mask from rising into the glasses. If you don't have tape that's specially designed for and, hence, safe to use on skin, a simple adhesive bandage will also do the trick.

You may want to consider a different type of mask altogether. For instance, a KN95 mask sits away from your mouth so it directs your breath forward into the filter rather than shifting it upwards where it can fog up your glasses.

The KN95 mask also has multiple layers, making it among the most effective masks available to protect against the transmission of the coronavirus.

If you are willing to invest a little bit of money into a solution, anti-fogging sprays and wipes may do the trick. Online, the products are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased for under $10. They can typically last long enough to require being used only once daily for the desired results against light fogging.

Edward Johnston, a registered nurse at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, uses Fog Gone spray, which can be purchased on Amazon or Etsy for $10-20, depending on the size of the bottle. He said he just sprays the Fog Gone on his face shield at work, waits for it to dry a little and then wipes it off. The product lasts a few days for him. Johnston told AccuWeather that he thinks Fog Gone is more effective than the dish soap trick. He said he has also heard of using Pam cooking spray as a solution.

"Everyone comes up with their own tricks of the trade so to speak," Johnston said. "I was on a disaster team and we had gas masks, and I used something similar to [Fog Gone] on the gas mask we were given."

An easier tip for day-to-day mask wear is to use the weight of your glasses to block the air. Pull the mask up over the bridge of the nose as high as you can (make sure it's still under your chin too) and let your glasses rest on top of the mask.

Your eyeglasses should create a seal that will block escaping air. Depending on the type of mask and style of glasses this might not work, however.

Another common household item -- shaving cream -- has also been used to prevent foggy lenses. According to Fitz Frames, shaving cream is a great moisture repellent and can create a barrier against any condensation forming on the lenses of a pair of glasses, as well as other glass surfaces prone to fogging, such as your car windshield.

AccuWeather tried the method with shaving butter, shaving gel and shaving cream products, which involved dabbing some shaving cream on the lenses and then wiping with a dry towel. The results were mixed, but largely disappointing.

The original shaving cream formula did not work well, and within a few minutes, the glasses had fogged up. The shaving butter formula also did not work at all. The shaving gel reduced fogging, but not entirely. The condensation on the glasses was less thick with the gel than without any product at all. This method may be better for making your glasses smell nice than to actually defog them.

"It's whatever works for you," Johnston said of the many available methods. "If it works for you, use it."

No matter what the solution, Ernst emphasized the importance of wearing a mask during the pandemic to thwart the spread of the contagious virus. She explained that when masks and other personal protective equipment are used properly, very few infections are transmitted.

"Whatever you can put between you and the bug, you want to do that," Johnston advised.

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