Shaped hydrogel articles such as soft contact lenses are prepared by the steps of:(1) molding or casting a polymerization mixture comprising:(a) a monomer mixture comprising a major proportion of one or more hydrophilic monomers such as 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and one or more cross-linking monomers; and(b) an inert, displaceable diluent selected from the group consisting of:(i) ethoxylated alkyl glucoside;(ii) ethoxylated bisphenol A;(iii) polyethylene glycol;(iv) mixture of propoxylated and ethoxylated alkyl glucoside;(v) single phase mixture of ethoxylated or propoxylated alkyl glucoside and C.sub.2-12 dihydric alcohol;(vi) adduct of .epsilon.-caprolactone and C.sub.2-6 alkanediols and triols;(vii) ethoxylated C.sub.3-6 alkanetriol; and(viii) mixtures of one or more of (i) through (vii), under conditions to polymerize said monomer mixture to produce a shaped gel of a copolymer of said monomers and said diluent; and(2) thereafter replacing said diluent with water.