Keeping Your Glasses From Fogging Up While Wearing A Face Mask

CHICAGO (CBS) -- If your eyeglasses are fogging up while you're wearing your mask, you're not alone.

Optometrists say it is a common complaint right now, but there are some things you can do to limit the fog.

CBS 2's Tim McNicholas tracked down the dos and don'ts.

Dr. Joanna Slusky has seen and treated her share of eye problems.

"They're frustrated," she said. "They don't know what to do."

But lately, patients at her Halsted Eye Boutique, 2852 N. Halsted St., aren't just calling about their prescriptions.

"They don't know how to address it. They don't know whether they should wear the masks," Slusky said. "If you're like me for example, your lenses might start fogging up within seconds of putting on the mask."

But there are ways to get relief.

"There are different ways to manage the fog by adjusting the mask or even treating the lenses or cleaning the lenses," Slusky said.

If your mask is snug around your nose and cheeks, it might help your breath from escaping upwards.

A viewer from Woodridge wrote us saying a piece of tissue at the top of the mask might get the job done. It certainly helped when we tried it, but some fog still popped up.

"Don't be afraid to try different things, see which one works best for you," Slusky said.

Dr. Slusky said fog also tends to stick to dirtier lenses, so cleaning your lenses with either dish soap or lens spray and even a microfiber cloth could help. She said some online have suggested baby shampoo, bar soap, or even toothpaste – but she does not recommend any of those.

"You might not only irritate your eyes, but you might actually damage the lens quality, the anti-glare treatment on your glasses, might be damaged thereafter," Slusky said.

McNicholas gave the dish soap and also the lens spray a shot, but some fog kept coming, so she switched to a surgical mask with a wire that wraps and bends with his nose and cheeks. At last, the fog was lifted.

Slusky said you might also put a twist tie in your mask, or even tape the top to block the air.

"For example, if you have different glasses, different masks, see which one works best as a combination of factors," Slusky said.

Dr. Slusky said if you have any questions or concerns about the fog or how to clean your lenses, you should call an eye doctor.

And if you are a first responder or a medical worker, the Halsted Eye Boutique is offering free lens spray and cloths.

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Dr. Slusky had some additional tips, including more for creating a tight seal. In addition to the Kleenex idea, she suggested folding the top quarter inch of the mask over to help reduce the seal.

For a do-it-yourself cloth masks, she suggested inserting something moldable resembling a wire into the upper edge of the masks, such as paper clip, a pipe cleaner, a twist-tie, folded-over aluminum foil. Double-sided tape on the upper aspect of the mask, or surgical tape – or even Band-Aids – on the outside aspect of the mask, are also among her ideas.

Dr. Slusky also advised wearing glasses that have nose pads, which provide additional space between your face and the frame. You can also create DIY nose pads by unfolding a paper clip in half, evening out the sides, using a rubber band to secure the fold to the nose bridge of the glasses, and coerign the paper clip arms with the sticky end of a Band-Aid.

Finally, Dr. Slusky said you should breathe downward – holding your upper lip over your lower lip and blowing air down as if playing a flute.