Best Welding Safety Glasses and Goggles – Top 5 For 2022

I’m not one to wear welding goggles, but my son is insistent. He prefers them over helmets because they provide excellent protection for your eyes, are less cumbersome, and are cooler. So when it was time for me to shop around I wanted top-of-the-line safety goggles from a company that makes sure their products meet rigorous standards.

The best welding goggles are ANSI z37.1 certified, comfortable to wear, and have the proper shade for your welding application. Two excellent options that meet these criteria are the KwikSafety Welding Goggles Shade 5 and the LINCOLN ELECTRIC CO Brazing Goggles.

Welding is a productive way to fabricate and fix objects, but it’s dangerous. It produces extreme heat, sparks that fly, electrical hazards, and toxic fumes. To protect your eyes from these hazards, you need safety glasses and goggles designed to wear when welding.

There are several types of welding eye protection on the market, but not all will be right for you. You may find it difficult to choose which product is best suited to your needs and preferences. To help you pick the right ones, we reviewed many of these products and compiled a list of the five best welding safety glasses along with a buying guide.

Without further ado, let’s consider these five options.

Best Welding Safety Glasses

Welders need to safeguard their eyesight from the bright lights and sparks created when welding. Looking at a welding arc with the naked eye can cause severe vision problems and even blindness. To ensure the safety of your eyes, you need to wear proper eye protection.

1. Titus Cup Type C Frame Industrial Quality Welding Goggles – Top Pick

As you weld, you must remain safe. The Titus industrial welding goggles do just that by keeping your eyes safe from damage. The welding glasses come with different types of lenses and offer various levels of protection.

There are many reasons why the Titus Cup Type C goggles are so highly rated. First of all, we found the lenses on the Titus relatively easy to use and fix to the body of the goggles.

If you discover that the shade isn’t good enough for use, all you need to do is unscrew the ring where the lenses are placed, remove the lens you do not like, and replace it with the lens that offers better protection.

Aside from the ease of fixing the lenses, we also love these glasses because they feel very comfortable. The glasses come with a strap that you can adjust until its fits you right and feels comfortable.

From the ring to the bridge of the nose, almost all the parts of these goggles are customizable. Because of its adjustable design, you can comfortably wear them for long periods.

As these goggles are industrial grade, you can use them for a wide variety of applications. The lenses that are featured in these goggles are high 9, 11, and shade 14. Therefore, you can use these goggles for several things ranging from Carbon Arc welding to Plasma Arc welding. Click here to see the best price.

Features

• 4.8 ounces of weight
• Shade #9,#11,#14 welding goggles
• Glass material

2. Miller Electric Welding Goggles – Best Protection

The next product on our list are these highly recommended welding glasses from Miller Electric. If you are conversant with welding and welding glasses, the chances are pretty high that you have heard about this company.

Miller Electric is renowned for producing high-quality products, and its welding goggles are no exception.

If you do a lot of welding in confined spaces, then we believe that you will love this option. It is sometimes referred to as the Weld Mask, which refers to the design of the glasses.

It is built to cover the face completely. It even reminds us of a ski mask. Nevertheless, it feels super comfortable. Miller Electric added anti-fog technology, which ensures that the lens does not fog up as you work.

Additionally, since the design reaches even down to your face, it protects you from sparks from welding. It features several other functions that make it quite efficient. If you wear glasses as you weld, you might find it hard to weld in this.

Fortunately, the manufacturer has made it with a blank frame, which means you can fit it with recommended lenses. We love the ease of use we experienced while using these goggles. It comes with a control panel by the side, and we love the arrangement.

The buttons are evenly spaced and easy to press. You can adjust the shade using these controls. Additionally, these goggles serve to protect your cornea from the arc. We found them very versatile and highly recommend them. Click here to see the best price.

Features

• Adjustable shades
• ABS frame material
• Adjustable sensitivity
• Glass lens material
• 1.5 pounds of weight
• Anti-fog finish

3. LINCOLN ELECTRIC CO Brazing Goggles – Most Durable

Are you looking for an option to protect your eyes from bright light, sparks, and debris? Then these goggles from Lincoln Electric are just right for you.

Although Lincoln Electric isn’t as popular as other brands on the market, we expect that to change as the company has repeatedly churned out excellent products that do their jobs well and stand the test of time.

These goggles are some of the most lightweight options that we tested, which allows you to wear them for several hours without feeling uncomfortable.

One problem common to welding lenses is how the bridge of the nose tends to feel very uncomfortable. Thankfully, this option is built for comfort.

Aside from the comfort provided, another reason why these goggles are so highly rated is the protection offered. The goggles come with an IR5 lens, which we have tested and discovered to provide excellent protection.

It comes with an impressive ventilation system that ensures that the glasses do not fog regardless of the working environment. The frame is made from ABS plastic which we found to be durable and retains its form despite bumps and falls.

It comes with a scratch-resistant lens that ensures you get a clear view of whatever project you are handling. Click here to see the best price.

Features

• Black/Green color
• Adjustable strap
• 0.8 ounces of weight
• ANSI/ISEA compliant

4. YESWELDER True Color Auto Darkening Welding Goggles – Best Auto-Darkening

The YESWELDER is another excellent choice that I strongly believe every welder will love. As the name implies, these welding goggles come with an auto-darkening feature.

This feature is one of the main reasons why I love it. It ensures that you do not have to bother with fiddling with settings and making adjustments as you weld.

It saves you plenty of time and makes your work more enjoyable. Additionally, if you are tired of constantly inspecting the batteries of your goggles, you will also find this option to be great.

It is solar-powered, which means that you can work for extended periods without replacing the batteries. It is one of the most versatile options, at least in terms of switching shades. We observed that it could change from #3 to #11, which allows you to use it for various applications.

It comes with a mask and I recommend you wear it when welding. My neighbor used these while MIG welding without the mask and his face was sunburnt pretty bad.

Another feature we love is the ‘True Color’ feature. Due to this feature, despite the tinted lenses, colors still appear as they are to the naked eye. Click here to see the best price.

Features

• 4.82 x 1.37” viewing size
• True Color view
• 7 ounces weight
• Black color
• CR2450 Battery

5. KwikSafety Welding Goggles Shade 5 – Most Versatile

Our final product on this list is one of the best-rated welding goggles on the market right now. It is great for DIYers and professionals alike since it is listed as a professional-grade option.

It proves true to this rating as it offers some of the best protection from UV rays. This particular model, as the name implies, has shade five lenses. It is a very versatile option that you can use for other things aside from welding.

Although it isn’t an auto-darkening welding goggle, it comes with a flip-up front panel that lets you change the lens from shaded to un-shaded in an instant. So, as you work, you don’t have to go through the stress of removing the glasses.

We found it super comfortable to wear and use. It comes with a band at the rear that you can adjust to a size that you feel comfortable with. Additionally, pressure equalizers and vents at the sides prevent fogging and make you feel even more comfortable wearing the goggles.

With its unique blend of comfort, safety, and flexibility, you will be hard-pressed to find other welding glasses that are as good as these. One of the problems we experienced while testing different welding glasses is that many come without side guards, not so with this model. The side guards ensure total protection and prevent UV rays from passing through. Click here to see the best price.

Features

• CE EN175 F Certified
• Pressure equalizers
• 4 ounces of weight
• 6.6 x 5.2 x 3.4” dimensions

Buying Guide

Using eye goggles as you work is very important. Your eyes are exceptionally delicate, and eye injuries often tend to be permanent. Therefore, it is crucial that while you have fun welding, you also take the necessary precautions to ensure your safety.

In selecting the best welding goggles, there are several factors that you have to consider strongly. This section will look at some of these features and essential information that you need to have before you make a buying choice.

What are welding goggles?

Welding goggles, as the name implies, are goggles that are worn during welding. It is a type of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) meant to protect the eyes from the UV or infrared light, heat, and debris that result from welding.

Why are welding goggles important?

Well, welding is a dangerous occupation. It produces visible light, which can cause blindness or other forms of eye damage when viewed with the naked eye. Aside from the visible light, welding also has invisible rays like UV and infrared rays that can damage the eyes.

As a matter of fact, these rays might not immediately cause damage, but you could feel the effects years later.

Two central problems occur if a welder fails to wear welding glasses. These are photokeratitis and cataracts.

Photokeratitis

Photokeratitis is a painful eye condition that is also known among welders as arc eye. Although this condition isn’t permanent and can be corrected, it can affect your work. To cure it, you might have to stop working for several days, which will affect your project. 

Cataracts

If you fail to wear welding glasses, you are susceptible to cataracts. It can be corrected by surgery, which is expensive and, frankly, very uncomfortable.

To avoid these and other problems, it is wise to wear welding glasses.

Factors to consider

Now that we have seen how important it is to wear welding goggles. Let’s now consider some of the vital factors that will affect your choice of glasses.

Style

Welding goggles come in a wide variety of styles. Take, for example, the products that we reviewed in this post. While they are all welding glasses, they come in different types. There are options, like the KwikSafety Welding Goggles Shade 5, that come with flip-up panels, while others come in a more traditional design.

Thus, you have to consider a style that you like and that feels comfortable. We observed that the flip-up models are some of the most convenient to use, especially if you are working on other projects aside from welding. They are very versatile and easy to use.

Shade Number

If you aren’t an experienced welder, you might not understand why this is an important feature. However, any welder worth their salt recognizes that this is one of the first things to look out for when choosing welding glasses.

Lens shade number ranges from 3 to 14. The higher the number, the darker the shade on display. Since your welding might involve different brightness ranges, you will need to choose glasses that suit the brightness produced.

If you are soldering, the brightness produced isn’t extreme, so you might be okay with a lens shade number of 3. However, if you are working on advanced welding processes with more visible light, you should look for a lens shade number in the 8-14 range.

Comfort

If you are not comfortable with what you are wearing, it will definitely affect the success of the project at hand. Remember as well that you might be wearing these glasses for extended periods.

So if you intend to weld for an extended period you want to wear eye protection that’s comfortable. One feature that we have found to increase comfort significantly is rubber-tipped nose bridges. Look for these and similar attributes when buying your next welding goggles.

Materials

The material of the lens and the frame will determine how long it will last. Hence, if you do not fancy buying a pair of glasses every month, you should look for goggles made from high-quality, durable materials. These materials should be resistant to scratching and impacts.

Furthermore, since welding produces quite a large amount of heat, you should ensure that the materials are resistant to heat as well.

Ventilation

Ventilation is closely associated with comfort. However, it goes beyond just feeling comfortable in the glasses. As earlier pointed out, welding produces a fair amount of heat which will likely cause you to sweat. Accumulation of sweat might make you feel uncomfortable and might cause fogging. By having a well-ventilated pair of welding goggles, you will not feel uncomfortable or have fogged lenses.  

Best Selling Welding Goggles

FAQs

Conclusion

It might be somewhat tedious to find the best welding safety glasses, but by reading this post, we believe you will be better equipped to make a wise buying decision.