Glasses-wearers know the inconvenience that can come from your eyeglasses steaming up. Cooking, showering, and exercising are common causes of foggy focals, but a new cause, arising due to coronavirus safety measures, is wearing a face mask.
There's increasing pressure for everyone to wear face masks, and we've even covered how to make your own face mask at home, but for those following guidance and avoiding face-touching when they're out and about, the curse of foggy eyeglasses is in need of a better solution.
Responding to requests from nurses and doctors looking for a solution to their eyeglasses fogging up, as well as from customers, GlassesUSA is launching an anti-fog coating to its lens options in the coming week. This could be a game-changer for frontline workers in particular, but also for those of us who wear eyeglasses and feel better protected when wearing a face mask on our daily walk or when buying essential groceries.
GlassesUSA, which sells some of the best eyeglasses online, is also expanding its ranges by adding much-needed protective glasses and goggles, which is superb news for frontline workers. The company does have an existing line of anti-fog products, but the range is limited to protective goggles for now. Incorporating anti-fog technology into eyeglasses will be a big help for the 64% of people who wear glasses in the US.
One of the health measurements taking during the COVID-19 pandemic is the use of face masks when outside the house. This is an issue for people who wear eyeglasses, since they fog up every time you exhale. Not only is this frustrating, it's also potentially dangerous because you have to keep touching your face to wipe your glasses.
How to stop your glasses fogging up when wearing a face mask
Your glasses will fog up when wearing a face mask if there's a gap around your nose. This is because hot air escapes out of the top of your mask when you exhale, rising straight to your glasses' lenses and creating condensation.
When making face masks from home, many people have been sewing in pipe cleaners and other bendable metal materials to allow the top seam to be molded to the face and nose, creating less of a gap for steam to escape.
According to the New York Times, many medics have been using medical tape to keep the tops of masks flush to the face. This is a more extreme measure, but will be more effective and less time-consuming than sewing metal into a face mask.
Contact lenses and coronavirus
You may think that investing in the contact lenses and taking glasses out of the equation entirely is a smart solution to steamy glasses. However, GlassesUSA suggests opting for eyeglasses for the meantime. This is because of health advice to keep hands away from your face in order to prevent catching the virus.
Even the best contact lenses can sometimes be itchy, and avoiding wearing them is a surefire way to resist the temptation to touch and rub eyes. Not to mention, putting in contacts involves a whole lot of face-touching. So, if you still choose to wear contacts, it's more important than ever to wash your hands thoroughly before putting them in, and absolutely do not use saliva instead of proper contact solution.
