A hot shower always feels comforting but it is often followed by a rush during the morning to prepare for the day. In this process, your bathroom mirrors get foggy and steamy, and that steamy shower fogs up the bathroom and makes it useless when you try to style your, shave, or apply makeup. In the process, you suddenly realize that for a few seconds before the blanket of steam staring back at you from the mirror.
The bathroom mirror is important for us every day, but it’s frustrating when it keeps fogging up, like when athletes sweat a lot. It makes it hard to shave, do hair, or use skincare. This is the most common problem people face in their bathrooms.
In this article, I will tell you how can you stop mirrors from fogging up in your bathroom. But before solving the problem of fogging we will need to understand the actual reason for fogging at the mirror.
Why does your bathroom mirror steam up?
Usually, when you take a hot shower, steam forms. This happens because the hot water evaporates and turns into tiny water droplets when it comes into contact with cooler surfaces, like your bathroom mirror.
As these droplets accumulate on the mirror, it becomes foggy and hard to see through. Even if you wipe it off, the fog keeps reappearing as long as the steam continues. It’s like a continuous cycle until the steam finally dissipates.
Mirrors fog up because they’re made of glass, which stays cool and attracts warm, moist air, causing condensation on its surface.
One solution involves using plastic mirrors to warm the glass and prevent condensation, but this option increases energy costs, making it less favorable for many.
Instead, I’ll introduce a more straightforward and preferred method to effectively tackle the issues of mirror fogging in the bathroom.
How can you stop mirrors from steaming up in bathroom?
Here are some methods I have mentioned through which you can prevent your bathroom mirror from fogging up.
1. Maintain proper ventilation
By maintaining proper ventilation you can make proper space and make it easy to escape the steam instead of stopping on the mirror and proper ventilation is key to prevent steam build up.
A. Install Exhaust Fans and Windows
Installing exhaust fans and windows makes it easy for steam to escape by pulling it out of the room and good airflow reduces the chances of condensation
Read more: What type of mirror is best for a living room?
B. Keep your Bathroom door open
Keep the bathroom door open while taking a hot shower if possible otherwise necessarily after taking a shower for at least 30-45 minutes to make sure the steam escaped easily.
C. Lukewarm showers
If possible, take lukewarm shower instead of hot shower, lukewarm shower reduces the amount of steam generated.
2. Use Anti-fog coating products
You can also use some chemical products to stop your bathroom mirror from fogging. Anti fog coatings can be applied by various ways and it stops the fog from taking over your mirror by these anti fog treatments.
i. Vinegar
Apply the solution of 2 tablespoons of vinegar with a quart of boiling water in a 1:1 ratio with a coffee filter and this anti-fog treatment will work for about one week.
ii. Shaving cream:
Spray a small amount of shaving cream onto your finger, wipe it onto the mirror surface, and use it carefully according to the size of the mirror. This treatment lasts for almost 2-3 weeks.
iii. Toothpaste
Take the toothpaste and apply it on the mirror with your fingers, buff the toothpaste with any cloth and wipe it by a lint-free cloth.
iv. Glycerine
Glycerine is used in the pharmacy industry for dry and itchy skin. Dilute glycerine with water use a cloth to apply it on the mirror, and wipe it with a lint-free cloth.
NOTE: Glycerine is fully safe and Non toxic so it is totally okay if it gets on your hand.
v. Car wax
Simply buff the wax on the mirror and wipe it just, same as the shaving cream and toothpaste.
vi. Body wash
Just rub any bar soap across the mirror, Don’t push too hard and wipe it with free cloth, and make sure to wipe visible soap from the mirror.
vii. Laundry detergent
If you don’t have any option for your anti-fog treatment as toothpaste, vinegar, and body wash running low then you can use detergent as your anti-fog treatment. Just buff a bit of laundry detergent into the mirror and wipe it cleanly.
viii. Special Defooging Products
you can use Special Defooging Products that are specially made to solve this fogging problem on mirrors. Deffoging mirror products cost around $5 – $10 for a bottle, Just spray it directly on the mirror and wipe it with a clean cloth.
3. Try to keep your bathroom mirror warmer
Mirrors fog up because they are much cooler than steam which pushes it to steam up on the mirror in the form of fog but a heated mirror prevents it by being warm or warmer than steam,
You can also use some heated element behind the mirror to keep the mirror surface temperature slightly above which makes sure that steam condensation is minimized.
Read more: Types of mirrors commonly used in bedrooms
4. Make sure that the mirror is not placed near any moisture source
Mirror placement is also playing an important role if we considering to save mirrors from fog.
You have to make sure that you are not placing your near the source of moisture just placing on the side above the shower, just opposite or in front of the shower, or just beneath the tap.
All these factors create high chances of fogging your mirror so make sure to avoid all these tasks to anti-fog your mirror
5. Regular maintenance
Keeping your fog system well maintained not only prolongs the life of the mirror but also makes your fog system proper which reduces the chances of fogging unnecessarily. Make sure to clean your mirror time to time with dry cleaner and wipe it with any clean and dry cotton cloth
Is there any way to permanently prevent the mirror from fogging?
Well, Preventing a bathroom mirror from fogging permanently is tough, but there are some ways to make it less likely to happen for a long time.
One way is to get a mirror with a built-in heater system. These mirrors stay warm, which stops fogging even when it’s steamy from a shower.
You can also use special coating products (as I mentioned above) on the mirror that stops fog from sticking. It makes the mirror surface dislike water, so fog doesn’t form as easily.
