Your glasses are prone to scratches with the ways you sometimes deal with them. Carelessly throwing them here and there to unconsciously leave them where they can fall or accumulate dust.
Cleaning Eyeglasses regularly is the best way to keep them looking great, and scratchless and prevent other eyewear damage.
Cleaning glasses have a right and plenty of wrong ways and this guide will provide you with all the right information.
Steps for cleaning your glasses
Follow these tips to avoid any damage, or scratch to your eyeglasses, sunglasses, safety glasses, or sports eyewear too.
Wash and dry your hands thoroughly.
Before you touch your glasses to clean them, make sure your hands are free from any type of dust, dirt or grime, or lotion that can be easily transferred to your lenses. Consider using a lotion-free soap, or dishwashing liquid and a clean, lint-free towel to clean your hands.
Rinse your glasses under a gentle stream of lukewarm tap water.
This will ensure that dust and other debris are removed which can help you avoid scratching your lenses when you are cleaning them. Avoid using hot water as it can cause damage to eyeglass lens coatings.
Apply a small drop of lotion-free dishwashing liquid to each lens.
Dishwashing liquids are very concentrated so use a small amount or just apply a drop or two to your fingertips instead. Use brands that do not have any hand moisturizing formula.
Delicately rub the lotion on each side of the lenses and all parts of the frame for a few seconds. Ensure that you clean every part, comprising the nose pads and the ends of the temples that rest behind your ears. And make sure to tidy up the area where the edge of the lenses joins the frame, where dust, debris, and skin oils can gather.
Wash out both sides of the lenses and the frame thoroughly. Erring to remove every speck of soap that will otherwise cause the lenses to be stained when you dry them.
Gently jerk the glasses to remove most of the water from the lenses. Examine the lenses carefully to make sure they are pristine.
Carefully dry the lenses and frame with a clean, lint-free towel. Use a dish towel that has not been laundered with a fabric softener or dryer sheet. A cotton towel that you use to clean fine glassware is a good choice. Make sure the towel is completely clean. Dirt or debris trapped in the fibers of a towel can scratch your lenses; and cooking oil, skin oil, or lotion in the towel will smear them.
Inspect the lenses again.
If you find any streaks or smudges on the glasses, wipe them with a clean microfiber cloth — these clothes are lint-free and are obtainable at most optical stores or photography shops.
For touch-up cleaning of your glasses when you don’t have the above supplies available, try individually packaged, pre-moistened disposable lens cleaning wipes. These are formulated specifically for use on eyeglass lenses. Don’t use any substitutes.
Eyeglass cleaners and cleaning cloths
Spray eyeglass cleaners can be found at any eye care professionals or at your local drug or discount store. These can be beneficial if you are traveling or don’t have dishwashing soap and clean tap water available.
What To Not Do While Cleaning Your Glasses
- Don’t use your handkerchief, shirttail or another clothing item to clean your glasses, especially when the lenses are dry. This can cause scratches to your lenses.
- Don’t use saliva to wet your lenses. That’s both unhygienic and disgusting.
- Avoid using household glass or surface cleaners to clean your glasses. These products have elements that can damage eyeglass lenses and coatings, such as anti-reflective coating.
- Skip on using paper towels, napkins, tissues, or toilet paper to tidy up your lenses. These can scratch or stain your lenses or leave them full of lint.
- Don’t try to “buff away” a scratch in your lenses. This only makes the situation worse.
If you can’t find tap water to rinse your lenses before cleaning them, utilize surplus amounts of the spray eyeglass cleaner to wash away dust and other debris before wiping the lenses dry.
If your lenses have anti-reflective (AR) coating, ensure that the eyeglass cleaner you choose is authorized for use on anti-reflective lenses.
When using separately packaged, pre-moistened disposable lens cleaning wipes, first look at the lenses for dust or debris. Blow any particles off before wiping the lenses, to evade scratching.
Microfiber cleaning cloths are a supreme choice for cleaning glasses. These cloths remove the moisture very effectively and trap oils to avoid smearing.
But because they trap debris so effectively, ensure that you clean the clothes frequently. Hand-wash the cloth using lotion-free dishwashing liquid and clean water; allow the cloth to air dry.
How to remove scratches from glasses
Unfortunately, once your glasses are scratched, you can’t reverse them. Some products can reduce the appearance of scratches but these products are essentially waxy substances that can be removed easily, and results are mixed, depending on the location and depth of the scratches. Also, these products often will smear lenses that have AR coating.
In addition to reflecting light and interfering with vision, scratches can affect the impact resistance of the lenses. For optimum vision and safety, the best thing to do if you notice significant scratches is to purchase new lenses.
When purchasing, choose lenses that have a durable scratch-resistant coating. And ask your optician if your purchase includes an anti-scratch warranty — especially if scratched lenses have been an issue in the past.
When to have your glasses cleaned professionally
If your lenses are in good shape but the nose pads or other components of the frame have become very difficult to keep clean, consider seeing your optician.
Sometimes eyeglasses can be cleaned more thoroughly with an ultrasonic cleaning device, and yellowing nose pads can be replaced with new ones. See your optician before attempting these fixes at home.
What To Do With Your Eyeglasses
Use a protective storage case
Eyeglass lenses can easily get scratched if you fail to store them somewhere safe. This includes when you take them off at bedtime.
Always store your glasses in a clean eyeglasses case, and NEVER place them on a table or counter with the lenses facing down.
If you don’t have a glasses case handy, place your glasses upside down with the temples open — somewhere safe, where they won’t get knocked off a table or countertop.
