How NOT to clean your glasses in 3 easy steps

1. Wet your glasses with household glass cleaner. Don’t have any on hand? Try using saliva!

Seriously? No. Household cleaners are renowned for damaging lenses and interfering with the anti-reflective coatings.  As far as saliva goes, do we really need to explain this one? Just eeew. As an alternative, using plenty of spray eyeglass cleaner or even dish soap with tap water, will flush away the dust and debris. Be sure that the cleaner you select won’t damage any coatings your lenses may have. You can also use pre-moistened, disposable lens cloths, or microfiber cleaning cloths for the job, without risking damage to your lenses.

2. Use any random cloth, even the bottom of your shirt, to remove annoying smudges. Toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and tissues are totally acceptable alternatives.

Yep, TOTALLY not the best idea. Cleaning cloths are the way to go.  They are made of specialized fabric that will not damage your lenses or cause trouble with any lens coatings you may have. Using your shirt or another type of fabric can cause scratching, especially if used on dry lenses. Other household paper products can do the same and often end up leaving your lenses full of lint.

3. It’s totally cool to buff out those pesky scratches!

Once your glasses are scratched, unfortunately they are scratched. There’s no magic remedy to reverse the damage, without purchasing new lenses. Attempts to buff out scratches will inevitably end up making your situation worse.  Some products can reduce the appearance of scratches, but results vary widely, relative to where on the lens the scratch is located. In addition, results are only temporary and can cause smudging to some lens coatings.

As you probably already know, these three steps are NOT how you want to clean your glasses. Do you have questions about the coating on your lenses or what cleaning products are best suited for your needs, give us a call! Phone: 585-232-2560  Or visit schedule an appointment online here.