How do you keep your glasses clean?

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**htj**

...if you wear glasses.

I've always known I was going to end up needing glasses, my whole family have all needed glasses of some sort by their twenties (some kind of genetically rubbish eyes, I suppose) so I wore glasses with no lenses in for a few years to get used to the feel of it. One day, a customer in the shop where I work asked me 'How do you keep your lenses so clean?' to which I replied 'I leave them at home.' Much fun was had by all, but now the prophecy has been fulfilled, and I am a bespectacled man. Now I feel that customers pain. How do you keep the bloody lenses clean!?

Can any veteran four-eyed Dakkanauts offer me some tips on spectacle clarity?

**Swordwind**

Wipe 'em with my shirt.

My optometrist hates it, but it does well in a pinch.

**Chowderhead**

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Microfiber-Cleaning-Cloth-Color/dp/B00009PSZ2

Microfiber. It'll knock your socks off.

**AvatarForm**

Don't touch the lenses.

**Grabzak Dirtyfighter**

AvatarForm wrote:Don't touch the lenses.

Easier said than done.

Odds are all your going to have available most of the time is your shirt. If they are a bit greasy and smear when you wipe then just fog them up with your breath then rewipe.

Also, unless your totally broke it is worth a few extra bucks to get the scratch resistant lenses.

Or, you could just get contacts

**Toastedandy**

I leave them to get dirty for awhile (Doesnt take very long in work) Then when I clean them, its like I get a brand new set of eyes. Its one of those little things that makes life great.

**htj**

It's not so much finger marks and stuff that's the issue, I keep well clear of the lenses. It's more bits of random stuff that seems to be physically attracted to my glasses.

Might give that microfiber stuff a go, Chowderhead, looks good.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Could never go for contacts. Just can't get on board with voluntarily poking myself in the eyes every morning.

**Grabzak Dirtyfighter**

contacts are hard to put in at first, but it becomes second nature after a few days. My eyes are naturally very dry which makes them uncomfortable or else I would prefer them.

**AvatarForm**

htj wrote:It's not so much finger marks and stuff that's the issue, I keep well clear of the lenses. It's more bits of random stuff that seems to be physically attracted to my glasses.

Might give that microfiber stuff a go, Chowderhead, looks good.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Could never go for contacts. Just can't get on board with voluntarily poking myself in the eyes every morning.

You could simply pay for the better lenses that have an anti-static layer...

Scratch resistant is almost obligatory these days... if you dont have it, you must be paying less than $20 for your lenses.

**htj**

I do have scratch resistant lenses, yeah. No mention was made of an anti-static layer though, so maybe that's a problem. Anti-glare, anti-scratch, yes. How do anti-static layers work? I'm not going to go out and buy some new lenses though, as they were considerably more than $20.

**micahaphone**

I put a drop of rubbing alcohol (diluted) onto each lens, then rub them around with a fine cotton cloth (like a good hankerchef). When cleaning, be sure to hold onto the lens that you are cleaning with one hand and rub with the other. Never hold onto one lens and clean the other, as it puts stress onto the bridge (the part that joins the lenses together and goes over your nose). My brother did this, and he snapped his glasses in half.

Also, every time I get new lenses, my optometrist gives me one of those microfiber cloths. Most lens manufacturers make these little pocket sized ones as free giveaways, and they have their company's name on them. I keep one in my wallet for cleaning my glasses on the go.

**remilia_scarlet**

When I wear my glasses(and this is rarely) I use alcohol pad, then wipe with glasses cloth.

**BearersOfSalvation**

Get laser eye surgery, ditch the glasses, problem solved!

Well, it's worked for me so far...

**Mr. Burning**

Microfibre cloth or the one that comes in my glasses case.

**Phototoxin**

70% Ethanol...

**micahaphone**

Never buy the stuff that they sell in bottles for cleaning glasses. It is just diluted rubbing alcohol.

**FITZZ**

I've only just started wearing cheap throw away glasses for painting fine detail or reading small print, so when the get smudged I just wipe them with a tissue.

**The Dreadnote**

I wipe them with my shirt. Or the microfibre I got with my sunglasses if it's nearby and I think "damn, these are really dirty."

**Monster Rain**

Yeah, my shirt most often.

Occasionally I'll use a paper towel.

**chromedog**

Been a 4-eyed nerd for the last 36 years (I'm 42).

Microfibre cloth.
Antistatic spray (also acts as a fog-proofing) so they don't get covered in dust or all steamed up either.

Haven't used my shirt for them in years (although my shirts ARE microfibre).

**Swordbreaker**

I carry a handkerchief, cloth, or microfiber cloth with my that I use just for cleaning my glasses.

I also keep and re-use the small spray bottle of eye-glass cleaner you get from the optometrist and fill it with my own mix of water & rubbing alcohol. I often end up using this as an immediate disinfectant on small cuts and scrapes as well.

**malfred**

Whatever dirty laundry is lying on the floor.

What? You know you do it, too!

**Orlanth**

Drop of washing up liquid, smear on both sides with my thumb, rince under a hot tap.
Works every time.

**Zyllos**

Swordwind wrote:Wipe 'em with my shirt.

My optometrist hates it, but it does well in a pinch.

I so walked into this thread saying...

"Well, I hate to tell you guys but I just wash them in the dishwasher and they come out fine" but then I noticed he mentioned optometrist and I was thinking, "Why would the optometrist care...oh wait!"

Carry on!

**bigfood**

Not at all! I´m happily seeing everything through a white mist.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Actually,
I´m just using hot water, soap and a towel/handkerchief/whatever. If this isn´t sufficiant, alcohol.