Everything’'s so foggy

August 17, 2005 6:57 AM

I've recently joined the ranks of the spectacle wearers but unfortunately, I've always been a member of the oily t-zone club. I find myself having to clean my glasses quite often and I can never seem to get them completely clean and streak/smear free. Any tips from the MeFites?

I've been in touch with my optician and was given lense cleaning solution and one of those microfibre cloths but it just never seems to work to my satisfaction so any homespun remedies would be much appreciated.

posted by jackiemcghee to clothing, beauty, & fashion (27 comments total)

Someone asked a similar question just a few days ago - maybe some of those suggestions will help you. Me, I just use a touch of dishwashing liquid and some water, then dry with a linen cloth.
posted by iconomy at 7:02 AM on August 17, 2005

Hot, steamy breath and a clean t-shirt always worked for me. Low tech but easy.
posted by kdern at 7:12 AM on August 17, 2005

Windex and a paper towel work for me. I would never do the same to a camera lens but it hasn't seemed to affect my glasses adversely.
posted by Carbolic at 7:30 AM on August 17, 2005

Those cloths you get at the opticians are terrific. Stock up.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:31 AM on August 17, 2005

Crud, didn't see the more inside. Just use the cloth without the solution.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:32 AM on August 17, 2005

My glasses get smudgy a lot, so I picked up some Bausch & Lomb eye glass cleaning wipes at my local grocery store, and they work great, and since they're wipes, they're easy to carry around with you.
posted by geeky at 7:37 AM on August 17, 2005

I'd also make sure you're wearing your glasses correctly. A lot of people start out wearing them too close or too far away from their faces. If you're leaving a big old eyebrow grease spot across the top, maybe you need to scoot them forward a little. Different styles of glasses sit differently on the nose.
posted by mikeh at 7:38 AM on August 17, 2005

heh, what a terrible run on sentence i just wrote! *note to self: use the preview button*
posted by geeky at 7:38 AM on August 17, 2005

Yes, use the microfiber cloth without solution. A hot breath on the lens will give plenty of moisture if you need it.

Also, if you have glare-free lenses, don't clean with paper towels or napkins: the wood pulp in the paper products can scratch the glare coating.
posted by werty at 7:49 AM on August 17, 2005

I have glare coating on plastic lenses. I wash in dish liquid with hot water, and wipe with a paper towel. The paper towel is folded twice, as I've found oil from my fingers can penetrate through a single layer. I haven't harmed my glasses in this way.
posted by Goofyy at 7:54 AM on August 17, 2005

If your lenses have any optical coatings, you should've received a small, polyester cloth to clean them with. Those cloths are meant for dry cleaning, though, so don't use any fluids with them.

An occasional cleaning with a drop or two of Dawn dishwashing liquid works wonders.

Never use anything like Windex on anything other than plain glass lenses.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:07 AM on August 17, 2005

I'd also reccomend not to get that glare coating (although if you already have it, it's a bit too late) -- I was dating this girl who did have that on her glasses, and if I so much as looked at her glasses funny, they instantly got all foggy, and had to be cleaned with dish soap. Wiping it on a shirt (which you can do with normal glasses) just made things worse.
posted by vernondalhart at 8:26 AM on August 17, 2005

I've used rubbing alcohol to clean my glasses for 6 years now. Get an atomizer/spray bottle to put the alochol in. It works like a charm. My glasses get cleaner than using soap and water [no streaks or residue].
posted by sciurus at 8:43 AM on August 17, 2005

Really cheap hand soap works well, (less foamy than diswashing liquids,) but the way to dry your glasses is equally important - don't wipe, dab the moisture off.
posted by of strange foe at 8:46 AM on August 17, 2005

I just carry a microfibre cloth made for cleaning optical elements -- you can find them at camera stores, most notably. You don't need a solution, and you can clean them whenever you notice they're dirty.
posted by SpecialK at 8:50 AM on August 17, 2005

The fabric cleaners work very well as long as there's no bodily fluids on your glasses. Dirtier lenses need washing---I find cloths leave my lenses streaky.

Most commercial formulations of lens cleaners aren't much more sophisticated than the answers already given. Rubbing alcohol with a drop of soap* (Dawn is an excellent choice, Triton X is even better) is very close to what most "anti-fog lens cleaners" are. A small plastic pump bottle and a pack of tissues and you're set.

I'd avoid all of the commercial house-cleaning products: Windex (ammonium salts) can fog some of the coatings used on lenses, Fantastic (lye-based cleaners) will eat glass. Besides, they're overkill. Do you really want fumes that close to your eyeballs?

And yeah, tissues can scratch lenses, but I get at least five years out of my glasses, cleaning every morning, so your mileage may vary.

*geeky detail: non-ionic "soaps", technically detergents, seem to be the best choices for additives.
posted by bonehead at 8:55 AM on August 17, 2005

For the "T-zone" itself, try the tea tree oil face wash and moistureizer.

I know moisturizing oily skin is counter intutitve but the stuff is made to do the job and it works well.
posted by BeerGrin at 9:22 AM on August 17, 2005

At work I use a spray lens cleaner and microfiber cleaning cloth. At home I use tom's of maine "natural" soap on my glasses, which is pretty mild. The natural (Ecover brand) dish liquid would probably be similar.

Check out the Sephora matte blotting film for keeping your face non-oily as the day progresses.

Here's an AskMe thread I posted a while back about oily skin care, that mentions the Kiehl's blue moisurizer, which is pretty cool.
posted by matildaben at 9:46 AM on August 17, 2005

I've just got some glasses with anti-glare coating, having previously worn plain plastic lenses, and they do smear very badly. I find using breath and the cloth supplied with them works well, but I don't like having to do it so often. I like the way they look when they are clean, having said all that.
posted by altolinguistic at 9:49 AM on August 17, 2005

I had problems with this for ages. I eventually found an easy solution.

I use a t-shirt. That's it. No breath, no liquid, just a t-shirt. It's important to have your fingers behind at least two layers of fabric, however, as your skin's oil will easily go stright through one layer.
posted by wackybrit at 10:15 AM on August 17, 2005

These Flents wipes are great, and I think this is a decent price.
posted by SashaPT at 10:31 AM on August 17, 2005

I've had this problem for ages. I used to end up taking my glasses into the bathroom and washing them with soap and hot water. Now I use disposable alcohol wipes in individual packets - I keep a couple everywhere I might need them.
posted by crabintheocean at 11:29 AM on August 17, 2005

Are you sure it's oil from your face that's smudging the glasses? In my experience (been wearing glasses constantly while awake for the past 13 years) the smudges come from your fingers, not your face. You go to rub your eye or scratch an itch on your nose, and a digit touches the lens. There's no real solution. Glasses get dirty. All you can do is try to only touch the frames when cleaning or repositioning, and keep a cloth handy.

A slightly more rugged version of a lens cleaning cloth can be purchased from a company called Radtech. They sell 'em to protect laptop keyboards, but the material, Optex, was designed to clean glasses.
posted by jbrjake at 11:54 AM on August 17, 2005

I absolutely swear by my 3M Lens Cleaning Cloth. It's reusable, lasts for years, takes off all kinds of dirt and grease, won't scratch lenses (or at least hasn't scratched mine) and you can just throw it in the laundry to clean it.
posted by jjg at 3:00 PM on August 17, 2005

Simple Green. Water rinse. Blot dry with paper towel. No streaks, no greasy buildup. Has worked well for me for years, but test it on a corner of your lens before going for broke: Simple Green is strong stuff.
posted by bricoleur at 5:10 PM on August 17, 2005

I do exactly what sciurus said. I have a small 2oz. bottle that I keep refilled with 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol. It's cheap, effective, and has no wear & tear effect on my glasses.
posted by invisible ink at 5:47 PM on August 17, 2005

Lots to play with here so thanks to everyone. Apologies for not getting the eariler thread.
I pwomise I searched.
posted by jackiemcghee at 5:16 AM on August 18, 2005