Fog-free goggles – the holy grail?
One of the most important parts of swimming outside in a race is swimming straight. Sighting is critical to this; seeing where you are going helps too! Foggy goggles are a persistent problem; Coach Denise looks at how to keep your goggles fog-free.
Swimming – the first leg of any triathlon, the one where technique is so important and the one you’ve probably spent months working on, looking for improvements through small changes to your stroke. All of this can come to nothing if, through poor sighting, you swim off line, heading off in the wrong direction only to adjust, meaning the total swim distance increases. (See this article for more information on your first Open water race, and how to sight). Sighting is, therefore, absolutely critical to a great swim leg time, and this can only be really effective if you can see where you are going. Goggles misting over is such a common problem and can be irritatingly persistent, yet can also be remedied with a bit of time.
Firstly – why do goggles mist up? The reason is that when the ambient air, or water, temperature is lower than the surface temperature of the inside of the goggles, then any moisture inside the goggle area will condense on the inside surface of the goggles. While some bodies of water are warm enough to prevent this from happening, there are not many of them. Higher humidity will increase the amount of moisture inside the goggles, as will swimming hard.
Stopping this misting up requires disrupting the condensation forming on this surface.
Manufacturers of goggles are well aware of the problem and, for some time, have put an anti-fog layer on the inside surface. This can work really well for a while, but over time grease, dirt and wear can reduce the effectiveness of the coating. If it is still functioning, follow the first rule of any maintenance – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Leave it alone to continue to do its job.
If you find that your goggles are misting up, there is a great way to keep them fog-free. It takes a couple of minutes to apply but is worth it.
Firstly, thoroughly clean your goggles (more about kit cleaning in this article). Use hand soap rather than washing up liquid – it is more gentle. Some washing-up liquids have abrasive agents to aid in cleaning dishes which you certainly don’t want on your goggles. Especially make sure that there is no grit or sand on the goggles or on the edge close to the face seal. Then carefully dry the whole of the inside surface, picking up any moisture trapped in the corners with the tissue.
Now, using baby shampoo (scent-free, so kind to your eyes), get a very small amount on your fingertip; just sufficient to see it is enough. Rub this all over the inside surface of the goggles. It will initially feel sticky, then smooth, and then start to feel sticky again. At this point, stop and repeat for the other eyepiece. Now, breath out onto the inside of each eyepiece – like a ‘huh’ or sigh onto each side. This will smooth out the soap layer and create a fog-free surface. This will typically last for 3 or 4 swims. It helps to avoid touching the inside surface and storing your goggles carefully, preferably in their box, between swims.
Welcome to the world of fog-free goggles and more effective swim legs.
#fogfreegoggles
Denise has been coaching triathletes since 2019 as a coach at her local triathlon club in West Lothian. Between 2019 and 2022, Denise was the Head coach in the club, working with a team of coaches to support and develop triathletes with a wide range of capabilities, completing her BTF Triathlon Level 2 coaching qualification in 2021.
Denise joined Tri Training Harder as a coach in 2021, building on the qualifications through the experience and knowledge passed on by the coaching team.
In 2019 Denise set up and continues to run her own Jog Scotland running group, a mixed ability group of runners who meet weekly. This delivers on her passion for helping people to do much more than they think they can.
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