The findings
The most important product for swimmers is their goggles. The product that irritates them the most when swimming is... their goggles.
In swimming, goggles are a safety measure. What do swimmers expect? Good stability, no water ingress, good field of vision and no fogging.
How do your goggles fog up? Your body temperature is around 37° while the water in the pool is usually 27°. The space between the lenses of your goggles and your eyes is hermetically sealed. The air inside this space quickly becomes humid until it is saturated. The small water droplets that attach themselves to the cold surface of your lenses will impair your vision. This is called fogging.
Today, fighting fogging in goggles is fairly limited technologically speaking.
What exactly is anti-fogging? It's a coating that harbours hydrophilic (water-loving) molecules. Each water droplet is captured and spread out, joining the other water droplets to create a microscopic film of water, allowing you to see clearly. Anti-fogging doesn't remove the fog, it turns it into a film of water.
What's the problem with that? Anti-fog products become obsolete after 15 hours of use and their effectiveness diminishes. But there is another problem: swimming goggles are often used incorrectly! They get rubbed with fingers, soap or saliva to try to remove the fog. Big mistake! These micro-abrasions help to weaken the anti-fog coating by gradually removing the hydrophilic coating until it disappears. And no more coating means no more anti-fog, so no more clear vision.
