Lens manufacturers say that anything other than a microfiber cloth will damage the coatings on a lens. But microfiber cloths eventually pick up crap and they look like they’re a pain to wash.
How do you keep your lenses clean? Are you using cloth/kleenex or microfiber cloths? If you use microfiber cloths, how do you clean those?
Optometrist here; rinse with cold or ambient temperature tap water (don’t use hot water!), use dishwashing soap without citric acid if the glasses are really dirty, dry with a clean cotton cloth.
I generally use a similar method to this to deep clean my glasses, but I often don’t want to do that deep of a clean all the time since my glasses get dirty fast. I find the Zeiss glasses wipes work well for me, but there is a lot of waste involved. Oddly enough, their cleaning spray works terribly for me, and it seems to just spread grease around the lenses…
I was looking at the ingredients for each, and it seems that Zeiss used different ingredients for the two products. The wipes contain water, isopropyl alcohol, and “proprietary detergents and preservatives”. The cleaning spray contains water, butyl diglycol, and two other ingredients that to my knowledge are just preservatives. I think that in theory I could make a better cleaning spray by getting the right concentration of isopropyl alcohol and distilled water, mimicking the concentration in the wipes. What do you think is the highest percentage of isopropyl alcohol that I could safely use on glasses without damaging coatings?
Unfortunately I cannot answer that question. Opticians don’t use alcohol to clean glasses, they often use white spirit to clean lenses. Alcohol can potentially damage your frame (if it’s a ‘plastic’ one).
Thanks! That looks pretty easy, and it seems to work for a few other posters.
User name checks out.
That’s the way I’ve been taught by the guy who makes my eyeglasses too! I remember being slightly incredulous but took his word for it.
I only touch the lenses while soaping it, making sure that (liquid dish) soap is evenly distributed across the lenses. Then, I rinse them thoroughly in a stream of running water until I can no longer see water spots on their surfaces. I give the eyeglasses a slight tap to dislodge any excess water before wiping it with a dry clean cotton cloth I reserve for that purpose.
Hand soap works fine as well.
Not if it’s moisturizing soap. The moisturizers are designed to remain after rinsing, which will leave an oily film on your glasses. Dish soap is designed to rinse clean, so you should use that instead.
Thanks for the tip. Just to be clear… are these instructions for cleaning the glasses, or the microfibre cloth?
Glasses
I tend to wear cotton t shirts so I tend to just grab a corner of that to clean em.
Been doing this for 20 yrs and never had to replace a set before my eyes said otherwise.
Frames on the other hand…
A little moisture never hurts, though. That’s why I do the ol’ huff-n-buff.
I have been using tap water and dish soap for years to clean my glasses. Everything else leaves streaks.
It’s what professional window washers use. Just some Dawn dish soap and tap water. Because the dish soap will cut any kind of skin oils that may be present on the lens, the same way it cuts food grease.
I clean them with the hem of my shirt, always assumed this is what everyone does.
It is
Don’t let Big Microfibre tell you otherwise
That’s what I do, but it works better if I use glass cleaner.
I rub them with my shirt whenever the smudges are making my view too blurry.
💯
The actual way is to use dish soap under running warm water (not hot apparently, it can damage some coatings I’ve learned in this thread). First rinse the lenses under a stream without touching them, to wash away any loose debris (which is the reason why you should never use any sort of cloth to wipe them, they just move the debris around which causes scratches). Then use a bit of dish soap on your (clean) fingers to gently rub each lens, which will get rid of any grease or other smears. Then a final rinse – for this one it’s best if you use a very slow and even stream as it gives you the fewest water spots, but as long as you don’t have super hard water it’ll be moot in a few minutes.
This is the way, but you’re right about hot water. I did damage a pair by accidentally using water that was too hot.
This method minimizes scratching and it does a great job of removing grease (I sweat a lot) that a microfiber cloth would just spread around.
Yep, and just give them a quick flick at the end to shake off any remaining droplets. Then they’ll dry quickly.
I use microfiber cloths, dawn dish soap, and water for a deep clean every once in a while. The microfiber cloth kinda gets cleaned in the process. I then use a second dry microfiber cloth to dry it off and prevent water spots on the lenses. Unfortunately I have to shake out my glasses before drying since water gets stuck in between my frames and my lenses.
For quicker cleaning, I use those Zeiss glasses wipes, though not entirely sure if getting brand name is important or not.
I feel like I’m cleaning my glasses every couple of days, I think I’d go through a lot of those disposable wipes.
Yeah it’s pretty wasteful. I’ve tried the Zeiss spray+microfiber cloth, but I haven’t had the greatest luck with it. I tried to use it just now to remind myself what it’s like, and I find that it spreads a thin greasy residue on my lenses.
Cleaning with dish soap is only a bit more effort and is much more effective in my experience (my glasses feel brand new afterwards). The Zeiss wipes get most of the way there usually, but I sometimes need two instead of one.
Water and hand soap, unless they really need to be cleaned right now. I used to use a microfiber cloth, but I ran into the same problems as you. Soap and water will allow you to get oil from your hands and face off, as well as water spots and whatever else might be on there, and it’s gentle enough that it doesn’t hurt or scratch the lenses. When I put my glasses back on after cleaning them like this, It’s a Whole New World starts playing in my head.
Do you just wipe with your fingers? And how do you dry them
Daily wash with water and foaming hand soap. Foaming soap on lenses, rub with fingers, rinse. Dry with cotton hankerchief. I usually keep my glasses 2 years before replacing and haven’t had any issues with the anti-reflective coating washing this way.
I use a microfibre cloth my optometrist gave me along with the glasses. When it gets dirty I run it through the wash with my clothes. I have an anti-glare coating on my lenses, so I don’t use any chemicals, even just dish soap.
Microfiber cloth. They are easy to wash, just don’t add fabric softener or chlorine and don’t put them in the dryer.
I’ve been using Windex and Bounty. 😬 Probably not the best options, but they seem to get the job done for me.
I mention Bounty because regular paper towels are crap for that sort of thing.
Microfiber. Throw it in the wash. Air dry (although I’ve never had an issue with them going through wash) I use the viscous cleanser and really don’t wash very often at all.
If this helps you, I’ve washed microfiber cloths in the washing machine before and it never went wrong. I just toss them in with regular clothes. I usually wash cold, but I don’t think it makes a difference
That’s good to know. My microfiber cloths aren’t hemmed, so I’m convinced they’ll fall to bits. I haven’t tried though, so I’m probably wrong.
Mine aren’t hemmed either just pinked (have a zig zag cut on the edges). If you can spare one you have just toss it in the wash and see what happens.
I have a small machine that creates super sonic sound (Sonic Soak), submerge that with the glasses in a bottle with soapy water. Turn on and wait around 3 minutes. You can see stream of dirt particles coming out of small crevices, I don’t think I can reach those with any wipe or cloth. The glasses is super clean after the process. But if I don’t have time and not home I use microfiber cloth
I use the edge of my shirt, or whatever I happen to be wearing. I never use any sort of soap or cleaning solution. Works fine. My specs last longer than it takes until I need to get a new prescription anyway.
