Having your swim goggles fog up makes wearing them pointless. Wearing swim goggles when swimming is supposed to allow you to see while your face is in the water, but the fogging can obscure most if not all of your view. You don't want to have to stop swimming every few minutes to wipe off the lenses, either, and you certainly wouldn't be able to do that if in the middle of a race. Take the time before swimming to fix your goggles so they won't fog up.
Step 1
Apply toothpaste to the inside of the goggles. Put it on the lens and the surrounding material, and start to rub it against the material and lens. Applying toothpaste both cleans off a coating that goggles have when they're new and cleans the goggles in general. Rinse out the goggles repeatedly until no toothpaste remains. If you notice the goggles fogging up no matter how many other preventive steps you take, repeat the toothpaste cleaning process.
Step 2
Wet the inside of the lenses by spitting on or licking the lens, followed by rinsing the lens, or by just dipping the lens in water. Note that if you choose to actually lick the lenses, they absolutely must be clean so you don't end up ingesting anything nasty. They must be dry beforehand, too. Dave Tanner of Indiana University's Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming notes that any water already on the lens will render licking it ineffective.
Step 3
Coat the lenses of the goggles with an anti-fog solution. These are available commercially and involve either spraying or spreading a solution onto the lens and wiping off the excess. You might have to coat both sides. Each brand has its own directions, but generally you have to keep applying the solution every few days if you use your goggles a lot.
Tips and Warnings
- When buying swim goggles, look for those that are specially made to avoid fogging up.
Things You'll Need
- Soft cloth
- Toothpaste
- Water
- Anti-fog solution
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