With having to wear a mask while teaching this year, the big problem with goggles is dealing with fog. The mask funnels moisture directly into your ski goggles, which is where you do not want it. Because of this, I’m on a mission to find ways to keep ski goggles from fogging up and icing. Here is what I’ve found so far.
1. Start With Less Moisture
Using a mask that doesn’t allow moisture to flow directly into your goggles is the first place to start. If there’s a gap in your goggles, that’ll put moisture where you don’t want it. You need a tight seal on your face – nothing under the foam.
2. Ventilation
What you need is air moving through your goggles to get the moisture out. Your goggles probably match (butt up to) your helmet pretty close. If your helmet doesn’t have vents right there, allowing air flow, then moisture will just build up inside your goggles.
This is just like a car. You see people driving around with fogged up windows and that’s because there’s too much moisture in the car. In the winter, humidity is usually pretty low – the air is dry. All you need is good airflow (and do not recirculate air in your car in the winter; use fresh air) and that clears things up.
With skiing and snowboarding goggles, consider getting a helmet with vents right where your goggles meet your helmet. Just look at the helmet and see if there are vents there to let air get in or out of your goggles.
Make sure there’s no snow blocking the foam so that air can flow through.
3. Apply Anti-Fog to Lenses
OK, so I’ve tried a bunch of these anti-fog sprays and rub-on products including the original Cat Crap brand. A lot of them don’t work at all. So far, what I like best are RainX Anti-Fog Wipes.
Do they help 100%? No, but they do help quite a bit… it’s better WAY than nothing.
Use the wipe on the inside of the lens (I also use it on the outside because… why not?) and wait a minute for it to dry. Next. get a microfiber cloth and basically buff the lens to work it in and make it clear.
I see some comments on Amazon where people didn’t do the step and complained they couldn’t see. Well, that’s what you get for not reading the directions, right?
I’ve even used these wipes on my bathroom mirror to reduce steam and they work well. I’m pretty impressed.
4. Shake Excess Snow – Do Not Wipe
If you get snow in your goggles, shake it out instead of wiping. Wiping will remove the anti-fog from your goggles and may scratch the lens.
5. Don’t Put Goggles on Forehead
Putting goggles up will cause them to fog up.
Conclusion
If your goggles do get fogged up, place them in a warm, dry pocket of your jacket. You can also try shaking them up and down to create air flow. If needed, go into the lodge to dry them out – the hand dryer in the bathroom should help.
Doing all I list here should help keep your goggles fog-free. Getting this annoyance of fogged up goggle lenses out of the way will help make your skiing/boarding more enjoyable and, most of all, safer.
I hope to add more to this article as I find more solutions, so please bookmark it and share it with your friends.
If you have any more ideas about how to keep ski goggles from fogging and icing, please post them in the comments below – thanks!
