I 3D-Printed a Custom Mask Clip to Keep My Glasses From Fogging Up

And you can, too

My 3D-printed custom nose bridge. Images courtesy of the author

I wear glasses (not pictured above for photo reasons), and for the last nine months they’ve fogged up every time I’ve gone outside. For some reason, I haven’t been able to find a mask that’s comfortable and keeps my breath from blowing up into my glasses.

Thanks to the magic of 3D printing, I’ve come up with a solution, and it works surprisingly well. And you can do it, too, if you have access to a 3D printer, some free software, and someone to help measure your face. (You can measure your face yourself, but that’s a little harder.)

Here’s the plan: We’re going to make a tool to measure the curvature of your nose, and then use that measurement to design a custom clip to keep fog off your glasses. You clip the bridge over a mask, and since it contours exactly to your face, it gives the custom snug fit of a mask with metal wire, but in a more rigid material that won’t deform or unbend.

This entire project is 3D printable, and should only take a few hours. The print time is about two hours for the tool, and then less than 30 minutes per iteration of nose bridge. The material we’re going to print with is called PETG, or polyethylene terephthalate glycol. We’ll just call it PETG. It’s widely available and easier to disinfect than…