How do I disinfect my glasses and how do I stop the lenses fogging up when wearing a face mask?

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the whole world aware of the importance of washing hands. But it’s not the only reason to maintain good hygiene. To prevent the spread of any harmful germs, you need to maintain a general hygiene routine. BETTER VISION explains why and how you should disinfect eyeglasses, smart devices and other high touch items, and gives tips on how to avoid foggy glasses with a mask.

Germs can be found anywhere, including on various surfaces in our homes and on items we use on a daily basis. But there’s no reason to be fearful, as it is possible to get rid of most of it with a few simple hygiene practices.

Washing your hands is a proven practice to ensure cleanliness, but it is not the only sensible protective measure against the spread of harmful germs. In your household, surfaces such as door handles, light switches, taps and counters should be cleaned thoroughly to minimise the spread of germs.

Other items that are sometimes neglected from regular cleaning are personal items that we constantly use and touch. These items are referred to as high touch items, and include:

• Smart devices (mobile phones, tablets and smart watches) and computers (laptops, monitors and keyboards)
• Eye glasses
• Bank cards
• Car keys, wallets and handbags

High touch items can become contaminated by germs through direct contact with improperly washed hands. Even if you wash your hands or use sanitizer after visiting public areas such as shops, or after using public transport, you still have to disinfect your personal high touch items as you may have touched and contaminated these objects before having properly cleaned your hands.

According to fightbac.org, high touch surfaces have been shown to play a role in the transmission of pathogens, both directly by surface-to-mouth contact and indirectly by contamination of hands and subsequent hand-to-mouth contact. Pathogens are bacteria, viruses or microorganisms that can cause disease, and these can stay on surfaces if they are not properly disinfected. The website mentions that viruses such as hepatitis A and rotavirus can survive up to one month on hard, non-porous surfaces, while noroviruses can survive up to 42 days on the same types of surfaces. The virus that causes COVID-19 can also survive on surfaces. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that recent studies suggest the virus can survive for up to 72 hours on plastic and stainless steel, less than 4 hours on copper, and less than 24 hours on cardboard. This depends on conditions (such as the type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment).

Various research projects have been conducted on the bacterial content of some frequently touched items, and these can give us a good idea of just how dirty these objects can get:

The good news is that soap, alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and most regular household cleaning products can generally be used quite effectively to clean your hands and home.

Routine cleaning is the best way to minimise the spread of germs. Clean all high touch surfaces and items daily, and if it becomes visibly dirty, clean it straightaway.

Institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control recommend wearing face masks in public spaces to slow the spread of germs and diseases. But if you wear a face mask with glasses, this can be quite uncomfortable, and even stressful. When you breathe or speak, warm air escapes through the mask opening at the top, and your glasses fog up. If you don’t know how to avoid foggy glasses with a mask, you have to unnecessarily touch and handle your glasses, and you may end up contaminating them. Luckily there is a solution to the problem, and you can prevent foggy glasses when wearing a face mask.