FogTech - Industrial Uses

Today a significant issue that gets in the way of wearing protective eyewear on the job is fogging lenses. Certain jobs and/or climates cause fogging of protective eyewear because the eyewear is usually cooler than the humid environment. This causes moisture from the breath, body or the air to condense into microscopic rounded droplets that stick on the cool lenses. These tiny droplets act like miniature lenses themselves thus sending light everywhere and causing the dreaded white out.

That fogging employee is forced to choose between working blind or exposing themselves to an eye injury. Many take off their eye protection just to wipe off the moisture hoping to get in a few minutes of work before the fog returns. Others just take off their eyewear until the job is done.

Solutions

There are two major approaches to solving problems with fogging eyewear.

Anti-Fog Lenses

These lenses have a layer applied on the inside by the manufacturer that absorbs water preventing those droplets from forming. Some of these coatings are quite good, but to date, they all have a limited life. That is because the coating eventually flakes off due to physical stresses. These stresses are caused by the swelling and contracting of the coating as it absorbs and releases moisture. Washing or dunking in water increases this flaking effect. Also these coatings are soft and any hard rubbing, such as during cleaning, dramatically decreases the life of the anti-fog effect. And some common cleaning chemicals can immediately end the life of those lenses. Depending on cost, the constant replacing of these lenses may be prohibitive. Another problem is that fogging can occur on the outside of your employee's lenses. This may happen when they work in chillers or freezers and go to a warmer environment. The anti-fog layer applied on the inside of the lenses does nothing for that employee. Also, prescription glasses or prescription safety eyewear are rarely available with an anti-fog layer. So the employee who wears glasses under their anti-fog goggles, for example, will still have fogging problems.

Topical Anti-Fogs

There is no shortage of topical anti-fogs available on the market. We estimate that there are something like 120 or more products available with more coming and going all the time. Our product, FogTech® Advanced Anti-Fog, is a topical anti-fog..

Topical anti-fogs are applied by the employee. They work by absorbing the moisture that condenses on the cooler lenses. They then lower the surface tension of that water. This means those micro droplets can't bead up because they have little or no surface tension holding them into a bubble shape. So now you don't have millions of little light scattering lenses. You just have a very thin flat coating of water which, if smooth, is transparent. As you may have discovered, some of these topical anti-fogs seem to work well only on glass, but not on our plastic safety lenses. Some are good at cleaning but don't seem to do much to prevent fogging. Some appear to work very well at first. But then the anti-fog effect quits after a few minutes leaving the worker unprotected until the end of a shift.

Why Choose FogTech® Advanced Anti-Fog?

We and our customers believe that FogTech® is the best topical anti-fog available. But you probably have a couple of questions about that statement. First, what makes it different from all the rest? Second, will it solve every fogging problem?

What is different about FogTech®?

• FogTech® is a single step anti-fog. You don't have to spray it on, wait for it to dry and then rub the haze off until it comes clear.
• FogTech® is easier on your eye protection. Because you just quickly wipe it on, you won't scratch or wear away your lenses.
• FogTech® is fast. Typically you can protect your lenses in under 20 seconds. Some other products require minutes to apply. .
• FogTech® is able to 'wet' plastic so you get a smooth coating. This is due to its very unique (and expensive) carrier. And our proprietary surfactant is self spreading which extends the performance. Other anti-fogs require lots of rubbing to spread them over your lenses.
• FogTech® is precise. The single step application guarantees an even coating. The other products that require buffing leave a coating that is often too thin or patchy. And that leads to uneven performance.

Will FogTech® solve every fogging problem?

FogTech® is probably the best anti-fog available. But the truth is, there are some conditions that are so extreme that even FogTech® may not offer the kind of protection you need.

Examples could be:

• Employees working in sub-freezing temperatures for extended periods can cause the water absorbed by FogTech® to ice up and obscure vision.
• If your workers are using steam cleaning equipment or working in extremely humid conditions, then the anti-fog effect will be shortened. That is because the coating works hard to absorb and spread this moisture. But eventually it can be washed off or the water accumulated on the lenses is so thick that it causes a rippled surface.
• Extremely wet conditions, like cold rain or water splashing, will wash off the coating if water gets on the FogTech® layer.
• Hydrophobic lenses or those that are meant to resist dirt or fingerprints often result in less performance. These lenses reject nearly everything and therefore reject the even application of our surfactants.

How can I tell if FogTech® will work for our employees? How about Free Samples?

We believe that the best way to determine if our product will solve your fogging problems is for you to try it--free! After all, your eye protection is different, your working conditions vary, the weather is different at your factory, and your employees change by the day. We can't test every possible combination of those factors. That is why we offer sample quantities of FogTech® at no charge. We don't need unhappy customers so we offer you the ability to try before you buy. (Please note: This offer is only available to our commercial/industrial customers. We offer a money back guarantee if you purchase FogTech® for fogging on sports related eyewear.)

How to get free samples.

Mail us ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) tell us about your application, include your address and phone number. Or call us with that information. We will send you 5 packets of FogTech® Advanced Anti-Fog at no charge. Hand them to a variety of employees with fogging problems. In a few weeks, we will call you and see how it worked. If it performs to your satisfaction, you can call us to purchase or ask your current safety distributor to carry our product by calling us.

Successfully used in industrial applications including:

• Welding (Helmets and Under-Helmet Eye Protection)
• Freezers/Coolers/Chillers (Down to approximately minus 20 F. We suggest close fitting unvented safety goggles.)
• Woodworking Eye Protection
• Oil Industry/Exploration/Processing/Pipeline Repair and Security
• Paper Processing/Paper Mills
• Steam Cleaning (Suggest using unvented safety goggles to maximize product life.

Medical and Laboratory Applications:

• Dental/Medical Worker Splash Protection
• Laser Protection Eyewear
• Endoscopic Instruments (Caution: FogTech® is not sterile.)

Other Applications:

• Large Faceshields
• Parking Meters (Prevents Condensation up to 4 months.)
• Small Exhibits where humidity causes fogging or misting
• Small Sports Camera Lenses