You want to keep safety first, but when safety equipment isn’t comfortable, malfunctions frequently, or frustrates you, there’s no way you’re going to use it.
If you start off wearing safety glasses during a project, you’ll soon slip them off if they begin to fog. Enter anti-fog safety glasses and anti-fog wipes. Two different products are designed to keep you safe while you work and ensure you don’t have to take a break to wipe condensation from your lenses.
Wondering which works better? We’ll give you a breakdown of why you need anti-fog technology in the first place and compare the two products so you can make the best decision.
Why Do You Need Anti-Fog Products?
Anytime you’ll be working with chemicals (or even cleaning products), undertaking projects that could create debris, or otherwise working with something that could create a danger to your eyes, you need to wear safety glasses.
The problem is, most of us simply don’t wear them. In fact, eye injuries account for more than 2,000 work-related injuries per day, according to the CDC. If we need protective eyewear, why aren’t we wearing it? There are several reasons:
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Discomfort. Many types of safety glasses can be seriously uncomfortable. Whether they don’t provide enough cushion on the bridge of the nose or rub against the sides of your temples, uncomfortable safety glasses aren’t staying on your face.
Many safety glasses fit too firmly around the sides of your head, which can even create a tension headache.
- Bad fit. When your safety glasses are ill-fitting, they’ll require constant adjustment, which could put your eyes at risk. If you are continually using your hands to swipe at your glasses, you could transfer material to your eye area and create a risk for injury.
- Fogging. One of the biggest reasons why people won’t wear safety glasses is because the lenses fog. Fogged lenses take time away from your work because they need to be carefully removed and cleaned (so they can quickly fog up again).
If you’re going to invest in safety glasses, you’ll need to make sure you have proper anti-fogging products so you can use your glasses under any conditions. Not convinced you’ll actually need anti-fogging products? You might be surprised.
Situations That Can Cause Foggy Conditions
Here are some common situations that would require safety glasses with anti-fogging technology.
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Heat. Working outdoors in hot, humid climates can create condensation on your glasses. Even if your glasses eventually adjust to the outdoor temperature, you risk fogging your glasses with your own sweat while you work.
If you work indoors near steam, boiling water, or other hot materials, there’s an opportunity for your glasses to fog as well.
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Wearing a mask. Wearing a mask is another layer of personal protective equipment that can keep you safe from airborne illness, debris, or fumes. If your task requires a mask, you need anti-fogging technology.
Even face masks that are custom-fitted to your face still allow some of your breath to escape from the top of the mask and fog your glasses.
- When you need to ensure compliance. If you’re the boss, you know how important it is to ensure your team is safe. Workers aren’t safety-compliant when their glasses begin to fog. Even removing protective glasses for a few seconds to clean them can lead to an accident.
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When you need to focus. We all know how frustrating it is when we need to finish a project but have to deal with continual interruptions. Fogged glasses can be distracting and take you off-task numerous times.
When you’re off task, you also increase the risk of injury by diverting your attention away from your project.
Trust us; you need anti-fog products to keep your vision clear and ensure your safety while you work. So which works better-wipes or glasses? Let’s compare them both.
Anti-Fog Wipes
If you already own a good pair of safety glasses that just tend to fog up, you’re more likely to try using anti-fog wipes before buying a new pair of glasses. Anti-fog wipes are disposable wipes (similar to baby wipes) that contain an anti-fogging agent.
An anti-fogging agent is a chemical that changes the surface tension of your lenses, which causes water vapor to spread out more evenly on the surface of your lens instead of forming water droplets that you know as condensation.
Anti-fog wipes are convenient, inexpensive, and normally safe for all types of lenses. Unfortunately, they don’t have a great track record. Practically every review you can with a quick online search says they work in a pinch but allow glasses to fog within 30 minutes of application.
The verdict: Anti-fog wipes are good in a pinch if you aren’t wearing anti-fog lenses and need a few minutes of non-foggy lens time. If you need a solution that lasts longer and doesn’t require continual wiping, these aren’t it.
Anti-Fog Safety Glasses
Anti-fog safety glasses work similarly to wipes in that they also use an anti-fogging chemical to minimize surface tension and change the way water vapor clings to your specks. However, anti-fog safety glasses have been treated with a permanent solution that allows them to resist fogging permanently.
The benefits of owning anti-fog safety glasses are pretty obvious.
- You’ll have a permanent anti-fog solution. With anti-fog safety glasses, you won’t need to continually treat your lenses with a wipe (or a spray or gel). Your glasses are always ready to be used without fogging.
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No mid-task wiping or swiping. We said before that most anti-fog wipes provide about half an hour of fog protection. At the end of the half-hour, you’ll need to wipe your glasses again.
Anti-fog safety glasses keep you on task with zero mid-project interruptions.
- They’re more cost-effective. Sure, the average cost of a package of anti-fog wipes is about $1.50, but the average cost of a great pair of anti-fog glasses is under $40.00. The minimal upfront investment of anti-fog lenses will save you money long term.
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Your fog-free safety glasses are always available. If you run out of anti-fog wipes, you may have to suspend your work until you get more, and honestly, how many more times do you want to make a trip to the hardware store during this project?
When you own anti-fog glasses, your protective, fog-free eyewear is ready to tackle any task whenever you are.
- They simply work better. Anti-fog safety glasses outperform lenses treated with anti-fog wipes. They’re designed to stay fog-free for hours at a time in any condition.
Anti-fog safety glasses are worth the purchase. Even if you think you may not need them, it’s worth it to have them on hand.
OptiMISTic: Ditch the Fog
Anti-fog wipes are a quick fix solution for eyewear that doesn’t have anti-fog lenses. If you’re serious about not dealing with foggy lenses, anti-fog safety glasses are the clear choice.
Stoggles offers anti-fog safety glasses that wear like glasses, protect like goggles, and look like your favorite specs. Our stylish safety glasses protect your eyes without fogging or making you look like an awkward teenager in chemistry class.
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