Why are my goggles leaking – they used to be perfect!
Goggles are a consumable item (albeit they can last for months of use with care). However, overtime the clarity degrades with exposure to the world, they start to fog, and seals start to alter…but follow the tips below for a longer goggle life.
First things first, make sure your goggles fit your face when you buy them. Not every style will fit every face – we are all individuals and that’s why there is a great range of offer. So, when purchasing a style, put the goggles onto your eye socket – if they hold comfortably (without the straps) and they feel OK, then that is a good place to start. Ill fitting goggles will leak. It’s not a warranty issue, its just a mis match between your bone/face structure and this particular style – try and another style and size)
My goggles have started leaking…why? They have been great for a while….
Goggles start leaking overtime for a few reasons:
Exposure to the elements:
Chlorine is a harsh environment and will start to impact – as will the salt and sand of the sea…at least the goggles protect your eyes from these elements.
Never touch the inside of the lens – as soon as you touch the inside of the lens with your fingers, towel or even dipping you goggles in the chlorinated water while training, these will all degrade the anti-fog. Touching the inside of the lens with anything like spit, or baby shampoo, will start to degrade the antifog (so don’t lick them)
- After swimming, rinse them in fresh water and store in a breathable goggle case. (Helps prevent stray scratches too). Many swimmers will have one pair of goggles for the pool and another set for open water swimming (often with different colour lenses to suit the conditions)
- Keep them in a temperature-controlled area. Leave them with your swim gear in the car or locker, while at work or school and they will get super-hot! They cook! The intense heat (think about what it is like in your car with the windows up on a hot sunny day?) The soft material will then be more malleable and change shape. Check out this example, it’s a more extreme example but even a little change can affect you goggle seal,
Build-up of natural grime:
Similar to the black line of grease that you can sometimes see of the outside of the waterline of the swimming pool. Over a period of months there is often a build-up of body grease and oils on the inside of the lens. Yes, you do sweat in the pool and the skin around your eye balls is not excluded.
- Generally, a good clean/ wipe around the gasket will fix this. We recommend foggle, it’s a soft antifog towelette that adds a layer of anti-fog to the goggles. Used regularly, this towelette will remove the grime and grease around the eye gasket, giving them a longer life and clarity.
- Additionally, keeping them clean and dry (rather than storing a in a damp humid swim bag for example) will prevent the onset of mould, which can also get in and around the seals.
So, keep them clean and dry, out of the heat and they will last longer with less chance of leaking. When they eventually do wear out…the blueseventy range has a plethora of options to choose from.