Your mask is considered your window to the world beneath the waves. If you want a Clear vision to greatly enjoy the stunning underwater scenes, you should know how to care for your dive mask. In this article, you will know how to clean your new dive mask. What are you waiting for? keep reading!

How to Prepare Your New Scuba Diving Mask

Although your new scuba diving mask looks fine when you put it on and get into the water, you need to not be in a rush to use it, it will need to be properly prepared first by thoroughly cleaning it.

During the process of mask manufacturing, you will find mold release agents anda thin film of silicon developing on the lens and the skirt of your new dive mask. 

This film will cause fogging that is resistant to your conventional anti-fog measures. It is crucial to remove this film from your lens before you delve in your first dive.

How to Clean Your New Dive Mask

• At first, you will need to scrub the lens and skirt of your mask inside and out with any type of powerful surfactant in order to remove that film from the manufacturing process.
  • Don’t use any type of toothpaste as they can be too abrasive and damage the lenses of the mask.
  • You can find many types of commercial mask cleaning products, for example McNett Sea Buff.
  • It’s fine to use dish washing liquid or hand soap, but ensure to not leave any residue, as it may get into your eyes.
  • A good baby shampoo will also be a good option to clean your new dive mask. The benefit of using it lies in the residue that is left won’t cause major problems with your eyes while scuba diving.
• Put the cleanser into the lens and skirt of your mask and rub it carefully several times with your fingers, as you are doing a deep tissue massage. After you clean it as much as possible, rinse the mask with warm, fresh water.
• In the Dive shop you will be told to do this cleaning three times. It’s fine to do it at least twice.
• You should clean the plastic storage box that you will keep your mask in. Ensure to remove the thin film on this box well, as if you don’t do that this film can migrate onto the mask and cause fogging.

Fogging is a normal thing to occur even after removing the film of silicon and release agents. You can easily prevent normal fogging by saliva, anti-fog agents and baby shampoos.

Some anti-fog agents in the market contain alcohol, formaldehyde or any type of substances that can damage the plastic materials in the mask. If you are unsure from the ingredients of the anti-fog agent avoid prolonged exposure of it with the plastic parts of the mask.

Warning: 

Some old school types suggest burning the residue off of the Mask inside its lenses using a cigarette lighter. We don’t know yet how to do this without causing any damage to the mask. Some mask manufacturers warn not to do that as this method can also cause damage to tenses or some types of lens coatings.

How to Clean Your New Dive Mask After Diving

• Store your dive mask in a dry Cool and protected place away from direct sunlight.
• Store your scuba diving mask in a separated place from other scuba diving equipment as the black pigmentation of other diving equipment may discolor the clear silicone skirt of the mask.