You’ve probably seen it before: you’ve just come inside to warm up from a cold day when suddenly your glasses completely fog up and block your sight. While this isn’t a huge deal—your lenses will clear up in a few moments anyway—it can be pretty annoying, especially if you have to go in and outside continuously. But if you work a job that requires clear vision, foggy lenses can potentially be dangerous.
But there is an answer to this issue, and it’s something widely available whether you wear prescription lenses or not: anti-fog lens coatings. Anti-fog lens coatings are specifically designed to keep your lenses clear when you’re coming in from the cold or playing sports in a cold environment. Our team can easily apply this coating to your favourite prescription lenses!
Today, we’ll look at how anti-fog lens coatings work, why they’re necessary, and what other coatings you might want to consider when picking up a new pair of glasses.
Our team can even recommend other coatings based on your eye care needs and lifestyle. Visit us today to learn more about our lens selection, or request an appointment and let our opticians help you find what you’re looking for.
Why Do Glasses Fog Up?
So why do our lenses fog up in the first place?
It all has to do with condensation, also known as the process of water vapour turning into a liquid. For as long as you’re outside or while the lenses remain cold, water vapour remains in a gaseous state and doesn’t affect your lens clarity.
However, as soon as you move into a warmer environment, the warm water vapour loses energy and changes into a liquid, fogging up your lenses.
Condensation doesn’t only happen when your environment changes, either. If your body produces enough heat, you can cause your lenses to fog up, even if you’ve been outside the whole time. This is especially true for people participating in winter sports like hockey, snowboarding, or skiing. Lens fog can also affect the safety of those who need their vision to work, like drivers, construction workers, and emergency responders.
How Anti-Fog Lenses Work
Anti-fog coatings work by creating a barrier between water and your lenses, preventing large water droplets from forming.
Anti-fog coatings can be applied to your lenses when you get a new pair of glasses, generally at an additional cost. We can easily apply this coating to all types of lenses, including plastic, polycarbonate, high-index, and Transitions lenses.
In some cases, you could use anti-fog wipes and sprays to help keep water droplets from collecting on your lenses. These products typically only work for a short period, though, and will need to be reapplied.
Other Types of Lens Coatings
Foggy lenses aren’t the only thing you’ll need to manage with a new pair of glasses. We offer several other coatings to help keep your vision clear and comfortable while reducing wear and tear on your lenses:
Anti-Reflective Coatings
Anti-reflective (AR) coatings help eliminate glare and reflections by reducing the amount of light that bounces off the lens. They often look great in photos and can help you see better while driving at night or looking at a digital screen.
While any lens can be improved with an anti-reflective coating, this coating can be especially useful for polycarbonate and high-index lenses, which reflect more light than others.
Anti-reflective coatings are also usually applied to the inside of the lens. This helps reduce how much light bounces back into your eyes when facing away from the sun or other bright light source.
Scratch-Resistant Coatings
Every time you drop your glasses, your heart probably skips a beat or 3. Most eyeglasses can survive minor falls, but these little accidents can cause scratches that disrupt your vision.
Scratch-resistant coatings add an extra layer of protection by slightly hardening the surface of your lens. These coatings are especially useful for children’s lenses because they enhance the lenses’ durability and extend their lifespan.
UV Protection
Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light can significantly affect your vision and eye health. Research suggests that too much exposure can increase the risk of several eye diseases and conditions, like cataracts and macular degeneration, so it’s important to manage how much UV light you’re exposed to.
Sunglasses are a fantastic accessory for protecting your eyes from UV light. We can also apply UV-protective coatings to your regular glasses to block the sun’s radiation and protect your eyes without you needing to switch eyewear.
Get More from Your Eyeglasses
There are so many ways our team can help enhance your lenses and provide you with the clear, comfortable vision you deserve. Even if you’re happy with your current pair of frames, we can offer new lenses that better fit your needs without having to change the look you already know and love.
Start today by requesting an appointment with Urban Optique, or stop by to check out our incredible selection of designer frames and unique lens options.
