How to rejuvenate worn shades?

January 3, 2009 10:21 AM

6 month old metal framed sunglasses fall from my face when I bend downwards - what's a good way to restore their stay-on-your-head ability? Bonus points: the frames in question (aviators) are titanium.
posted by forallmankind to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

Go to any optometrist and ask them to adjust them for you. They'll bend the back of the arms inward so they grip your head a bit better. This is often a free service, but there might be small fee if you're not a regular customer.
posted by PercussivePaul at 10:44 AM on January 3, 2009 [1 favorite]

They used to (maybe still?) do the same thing at Sunglass Hut for free: they have a little heater that heats up the arms and they bend them in for a tighter fit. Just make sure not to try the same thing with the bridge because it can mess up the way you see out of them if the lenses are pointing away from each other a little bit.
posted by fantastico at 10:53 AM on January 3, 2009

I think you have the same sunglasses as me. Are they from Target? I found this exact same thing happening to my pair last summer. My DIY solution is to bend the stems back inward, carefully but firmly. Don't get too aggressive about it, just push them slightly. It may help aleviate the problem.
posted by fantine at 2:49 PM on January 3, 2009

Croakies!
posted by yclipse at 4:42 PM on January 3, 2009

Nthing going to an optical shop or the store you bought them and asking someone to adjust them. However, what you may need them to do is not bend the earpieces in more, but push the front part of the temples in so they hug your face a little more.

Any place will do this for you for free. However, if they are expensive you might want to go to the place you bought them because other places will not guarantee they won't break them.
posted by radioamy at 5:48 PM on January 3, 2009

A quick fix solution until you get to the optical shop is to take out the screws that hold on the earpiece and dab a bit of clear nail polish on it when re-inserting the screw. This will tighten up the earpieces so they don't spread out so far on their own. I did this to mine and still haven't gotten around to the optical store since it worked well for me.
posted by mightshould at 5:42 AM on January 5, 2009