How to Clean and Store Your Glasses Without Scratching Them

Most scratched lenses are not damaged by accidents. They are worn down slowly, by the shirt hem used for a quick wipe, by the bathroom bench they were left on face down, by the paper towel grabbed in a hurry at the office. None of it feels like damage at the time. Six months later the glare from oncoming headlights has a halo around it and the lenses never quite look clean.

Good habits cost nothing and add years to a pair of glasses. Here is how our optometrists and dispensers recommend you look after yours.

Why the way you clean matters

Modern prescription lenses are rarely just plastic. They carry coatings that are measured in nanometres, applied in layers, and bonded to the lens surface. An anti-glare coating cuts reflections so people can see your eyes and so you see less halo at night. A hard coat resists scratching. A hydrophobic layer helps water and oil slide off rather than smear.

These layers are tough, but they are thin. Dry wiping drags dust across them like sandpaper. Household cleaners strip them chemically. Once a coating is damaged it cannot be repaired or polished out, and the lens itself has to be replaced. Cleaning properly is not fussiness. It is the difference between lenses that last the life of your prescription and lenses that need replacing early.

How to clean your glasses, step by step

1. Rinse before you touch them

Hold your glasses under lukewarm running water for a few seconds. This is the step almost everyone skips and it is the one that protects your lenses most. Rinsing lifts away grit and dust so that nothing abrasive is left sitting on the surface when you start to wipe. Keep the water cool or lukewarm. Hot water can soften and lift lens coatings over time.

2. Use a small amount of dish soap

Put one drop of plain washing up liquid on each lens and work it gently over both sides with your fingertips. Do not use anything that lists moisturiser, bleach, ammonia, vinegar or alcohol among its ingredients. Lotion-based soaps leave a film that is harder to remove than the smudge you started with.

Do not forget the parts that are not the lenses. The nose pads and the section of the arms that sits behind your ears collect skin oil and makeup, and that build-up is what causes glasses to slide down your nose during the day.

3. Rinse again and shake off the water

Rinse all the soap away, then give the frame a gentle shake to remove most of the water. Fewer droplets left on the lens means less wiping, and less wiping means less wear.

4. Dry with a clean microfibre cloth

Use the microfibre cloth that came with your glasses, or a clean one kept for that purpose. Work from the centre of the lens outwards in a light circular motion. There is no need to press.

Microfibre works by trapping oil and dust in the weave, which means a cloth that has been in the bottom of a bag for a month is carrying that grit back onto your lenses. Wash yours regularly in warm water with a little soap, then air dry it. Avoid fabric softener, which coats the fibres and stops them gripping.

5. Store them properly, every time

Fold your glasses and put them in their case. If a case is not to hand, set them down with the lenses facing up, never face down on the surface.

Pick your glasses up with both hands, one on each arm. Removing them one-handed twists the frame a little each time, and over months that is what loosens hinges and pulls the fit out of alignment.

What to avoid

• Your shirt, tie or sleeve. Clothing fibres are coarser than they feel and they carry the dust of the day. This is the most common cause of fine scratching.
• Paper towel, tissues and napkins. Paper is wood pulp. It is abrasive against a lens coating.
• Glass cleaner and household sprays. Ammonia and similar solvents break down anti-glare and hydrophobic layers.
• Saliva. It contains enzymes and bacteria, and it dries to a film rather than cleaning anything.
• Heat. The dashboard of a car in an Australian summer will reach temperatures that warp frames and lift coatings. Take your glasses with you.
• The top of your head. It stretches the arms outward and it is the fastest way to a frame that no longer sits straight.

Cleaning your glasses on the go

Running water is not always available. Keep a few individually wrapped lens wipes in your bag or your car for those moments, and check that they are labelled as safe for coated lenses. Pre-moistened lens sprays used with a microfibre cloth work well too. What matters is that the lens is wet before anything touches it.

Puffing breath onto a lens and wiping is the habit worth breaking. There is not enough moisture in it to lift the grit, so the cloth simply drags whatever is there across the surface.

When good care is not enough

Lenses have a working life. Even a well cared for pair will eventually show wear, and prescriptions change. If you notice glare that was not there before, a haze that does not clean off, or scratching in your line of sight, book an eye test and have the lenses assessed. Vision that has slowly degraded is easy to adapt to without noticing, particularly for night driving.

Every pair we send out is checked by a qualified Australian optometrist or optical dispenser before it is dispatched, and every pair comes with a one year warranty and a thirty day satisfaction guarantee. Look after them well and they will see out the prescription.