IMPORTANT!!!! YOU MUST DO THIS BEFORE YOU USE YOUR SCUBA MASK FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!
Before you use your brand new scuba mask for the first time, you MUST remove the invisible oily residue or liquid silicone that may still be on your mask!! It may be left over from manufacture or may have been applied to protect your mask during shipping. If you don’t remove all of this, your mask is likely to fog up underwater and you will have extreme difficulty in clearing it. This is obviously something that you do not want and it will ruin your dive if you have to stop every 30 seconds to try to defog your mask. It may also stop your mask from adhering to your face properly and it may slip off..
There are a few different ways of cleaning your mask for the first time:
You can purchase a mask cleaning solution from a dive shop. Just make sure you read the instructions carefully as some of these can be harmful to plastics.
You can use toothpaste (not gel). Squeeze out about a 5 cent piece size amount of toothpaste onto the INSIDE of the dive mask. Rub it around with your finger in small circular motions. Make sure you go right into the edges. You will need to do this for about 15 minutes. Rinse out with fresh water VERY WELL to avoid toothpaste burning your eyes when you dive.
Some say you can use a non-abrasive dish-washing liquid but I’ve never found this effective as you have to use something slightly abrasive to remove the film.