Personally I've had okay luck with the pre moistened lens wipes. You can clean your glasses then proceed to clean whatever screens in your car, phone, laptop, or other surfaces are close by. There's always something dirty within arms reach. No need to worry about destroying the coating.
How I clean my glasses
31–40 of 335 posts
Re: How I clean my glasses
#32Be careful with using ultrasonic cleaners or using otherwise strong solutions because of the risk of taking off polarized/anti-glare lens coating, if you happened to have gotten it (you probably should have :)). Working in a lab that had ultrasonic cleaners, I used to do this and it happened with me after a few washes.
It is indeed a bit of a pain to clean it (I'm lazy and just don't... unless it gets really, really bad). This is why I'm strongly considering LASIK, don't have to pay for glasses for years ahead, don't have to deal with inconvenience of having it all the time (and especially when traveling and when doing physical exercise), don't have to deal with glare at night-time driving. I'm nearsighted and have astigmatism so I have to think carefully about this. Happy to hear if folks have their experiences to share on getting LASIK!
Re: How I clean my glasses
#33Any reason you can’t use pure methanol to clean glasses? I don’t wear glasses so I don’t know the specifics, but that’s what we use to clean industrial laser lenses and any tiny speck or smudge or oil would immediately burn the protective coating. We also don’t touch the lens tissue when we clean it, rather we put methanol on the lens tissue and slide it across. Curved lenses are a bit more interesting but same metho…
Methanol works fine, it's great for removing the various things that soap and water won't remove (grease/oil). And yes, ideally wipe once in a single direction. Glasses are just another form of optics.
Re: How I clean my glasses
#34This article describes way too much OCD and wasted time. Here's my solution: * Buy 4x pairs cheapish glasses from Zenni. * Beat the crap out of them. * Replace as needed.
A good chunk of people require glasses that need to be custom-made.
Once you also add amenities like photochromic lenses, it quickly adds up.
Re: How I clean my glasses
#35Note that I've seen ultrasonic cleaners damage the coatings on glasses (especially if you have Transitions Lenses). At the edges of the lenses I've seen the coatings come off after several rounds through the cleaner. I've seen this with two different models of cleaner but I'm not sure if it happens with all of them.
Re: How I clean my glasses
#36The best method I’ve found so far: 1. Get your glasses wet with warm water. 2. Apply dish soap to both lenses. 3. Gently rub the soapy water over the lenses. For some stubborn things (like sunscreen) in the edges I sometimes gently use a Q-tip. 4. Rinse under warm water. Gently rub with your fingers to agitate the soapy water and help rinse it off. 5. (This is the important step) Adjust the faucet’s flow to a low lam…
I do almost the same and I completely agree. For step 6 an unused paper towel is what works best for me.
I am guessing this may damage the glasses with the dust but it is fast and effective.
Re: How I clean my glasses
#37Any reason you can’t use pure methanol to clean glasses? I don’t wear glasses so I don’t know the specifics, but that’s what we use to clean industrial laser lenses and any tiny speck or smudge or oil would immediately burn the protective coating. We also don’t touch the lens tissue when we clean it, rather we put methanol on the lens tissue and slide it across. Curved lenses are a bit more interesting but same metho…
Pure methanol is a little annoying to source. It seems like you can only buy it from lab supply shops -- not impossible to get but not exactly at the local Walgreens.
All of this feels a little overkill for eyeglasses. Dish soap works very well (it's concentrated so don't use too much or you'll be rinsing a while) and most people have it in their kitchen. I personally mostly use hand soap in the bathroom -- works less well if it's a soap with lotion but most places don't have that. The added benefit is that you can do it almost any time or place without thinking too hard.
Re: How I clean my glasses
#38The best method I’ve found so far: 1. Get your glasses wet with warm water. 2. Apply dish soap to both lenses. 3. Gently rub the soapy water over the lenses. For some stubborn things (like sunscreen) in the edges I sometimes gently use a Q-tip. 4. Rinse under warm water. Gently rub with your fingers to agitate the soapy water and help rinse it off. 5. (This is the important step) Adjust the faucet’s flow to a low lam…
Haha laminar flow. So I'm not the only one. I always wondered.
Re: How I clean my glasses
#39The best method I’ve found so far: 1. Get your glasses wet with warm water. 2. Apply dish soap to both lenses. 3. Gently rub the soapy water over the lenses. For some stubborn things (like sunscreen) in the edges I sometimes gently use a Q-tip. 4. Rinse under warm water. Gently rub with your fingers to agitate the soapy water and help rinse it off. 5. (This is the important step) Adjust the faucet’s flow to a low lam…
Exactly what I do!
Re: How I clean my glasses
#40What I found is sufficient to get my glasses spotless is: dip in hot water, dry with paper towel, dip in hot water, dry with paper towel, rinse in cold water, dry with paper towel, rinse in cold water, dry with paper towel. Anything less than that I would find my glasses were not really clean.
won't the paper towel cause micro-scratches?
It probably does but it gets the glasses clean. Many things I've tried (including those microfiber clothes) just smear contamination around making the glasses at least as dirty if not dirtier than when I started.