Knowing how to properly clean the lens on your paintball mask is one of the most important skills you can have as a beginner player.
By having a clean lens you’ll be able to see clearly on the paintball field. However, if your lens is all scratched up or blurry, then you’re not going to be able to see as good as you need to. And in a game where you need to be able to see a barrel poking out of a bush at 30 yards, you need to have perfect vision at all times. Otherwise, you’re simply giving your opponent the advantage.
Continue reading to make sure that doesn’t happen.
How to Clean a Paintball Lens
Cleaning a paintball lens the correct way involves using polycarbonate spray and a microfiber lens cloth. While you can probably guess what to do from here, here’s a detailed explanation below.
Or you can simply watch my video on how to clean a paintball lens.
Use Polycarbonate Spray
Polycarbonate spray is the secret to always having a crystal clear vision on the paintball field.
Why polycarbonate spray?
Paintball lenses are made from a form of plastic known as polycarbonate, which is why glass cleaner is ineffective when used as a cleaner. Polycarbonate spray is also extremely inexpensive.
I use this polycarbonate spray to clean my paintball lenses.
Wipe With a Microfiber Lens Cloth
After you’re done spraying your lens with some polycarbonate spray, you’ll then need to wipe off the spray or leftover residue with a microfiber lens cloth. A regular microfiber will still work, but personally, I’ve found microfiber lens clothes to work better.
Just make sure to never place your microfiber clothes into the dryer. Doing so will burn the tiny microfibers and result in the thousands of tiny strands becoming hard and abrasive. Kind of like hard plastic.
How NOT to Clean a Paintball Lens
One of the most common mistakes beginner paintball players make is cleaning the lens on their paintball mask the wrong way. This includes everything from using glass cleaner and paper towels to washing dual-pane lenses under running water. ]
Let me explain why these common cleaning mistakes are bad for your paintball lens.
Do Not Use Glass Cleaner
The problem with using a chemical-based glass cleaner to clean a paintball lens is paintball lenses aren’t made from glass. The lens on a paintball mask is made from a polycarbonate material that will quickly deteriorate if cleaned by a glass cleaner. Any added coating (anti-scratch or anti-fog) will also be stripped away if contacted by a glass cleaner.
If you’ve ever seen a paintball mask with a splotchy lens then you’ve seen the damage of glass cleaner first-hand.
Do Not Wipe Lens With Paper Towel, Toilet Paper, Etc.
If you were to look at the surface of a paper towel or toilet paper with a microscope, you would quickly discover that the surface is extremely rough and abrasive. This is not good for cleaning lenses.
When you clean a paintball lens with rough material such as a paper towel, you’re going to leave behind lots of tiny scratches after you’ve finished cleaning the lens. Over time this will greatly impair your vision and eventually, you’ll be forced to replace your lens or risk playing with impaired vision.
Do Not Soak Dual-Pane Lens With Water
You can clean a paintball lens with a slightly damp microfiber cloth, but you should never soak any dual-pane paintball lens underwater.
Why not?
Any time a dual-pane lens is soaked underwater the water will quickly seep in between the two lenses and effectively ruin the lens.
Since a dual-pane lens is nothing more than two lenses with a small layer of air or nitrogen between them, once the water gets in between those two lenses it will never fully come out.
Condensation will quickly form between those two lenses and your crystal clear view will be no more. Say hello to condensation.