Cleaning Glasses

January 9, 2004 2:34 PM

Anyone have a recommended way for cleaning glasses? (spectacles not receptacles)
posted by dodgygeezer to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (13 answers total)

I use a spray spectacle cleaner (this was the closest I could find online -scroll to halfway down the page. I buy mine from my optician) and then rub dry with a chamois -type cloth - again, available from your optician
posted by darsh at 2:43 PM on January 9, 2004

I use a little atomizer filled with plain, cheap isopropyl alcohol and a jersey cotton cloth (it's really an old t-shirt).
posted by Mayor Curley at 2:55 PM on January 9, 2004

3m makes a rewashable, non-scratching polyester-ish cloth that works great with cheap eyeglass spray from MalWart. I found the 3m cloth at MalWart too.
posted by mecran01 at 3:23 PM on January 9, 2004

cheap shampoo. running hot water. a little cheap shampoo on the fingers then rub the lenses. shake of water or find a clean corner of a towel. fancy shampoo with conditioners etc is no good.
posted by andrew cooke at 3:59 PM on January 9, 2004

Yeah, but what about the greenish corrosion from the nose piece? How do you stop that?
posted by piskycritter at 4:03 PM on January 9, 2004

You can't, but you can get the nosepieces replaced very cheaply at any eyeglass place.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 4:32 PM on January 9, 2004

I'll second the recommendation of the 3M Scotch-Brite polishing cloth. 3M sells the same stuff in larger sizes as a dusting cloth, so you might look for it with the household cleaning supplies. Do not bother with any knock-off cloth that looks like the 3M but isn't.
posted by jjg at 5:23 PM on January 9, 2004

Shaving cream then running water is a super cool secret way of doing it. (Don't believe me? Just try it.) Keeps 'em from fogging up too.
posted by jca at 8:06 PM on January 9, 2004

piskycritter: That's copper corroding out of your brass frames. Unless you stop sweating, there's no way to prevent it with your current frames. After years with the same problem, I've stopped it by switching to titanium frames. Expensive, but they last at least five times longer than the old brass ones.
posted by bonehead at 8:20 PM on January 9, 2004

"Yeah, but what about the greenish corrosion from the nose piece? How do you stop that? - posted by piskycritter"

Well you could chop your nose off but - short of that - the nose pads/pieces are usually attached to the eyeglass' frame by tiny screws. One each. Remove the screws and you can clean off the green goo with alcohol, soap - whatever - off the pads.
posted by troutfishing at 9:49 PM on January 9, 2004

I wash under tepid-cool running water with dish soap or whatever is handy. Then dry with clean soft cloth. (I.e. the bandana usually found in my pocket.) I've never had a problem with this technique, even with a low-glare coated lens.
posted by Dick Paris at 5:02 AM on January 10, 2004

I'm the same - washing up detergent rubbed on with running tepid water. I try to keep a very (very) old t-shirt handy to rub dry; the cloth is absorbent and non-scratchy. This is only since I got plastic lenses tho - glass lenses take much more abuse. (Will try the shaving foam, jca!).
posted by carter at 7:02 AM on January 10, 2004

I use my shirt. ;)

I've worn glasses since I was 7 years old and I have never bought any special stuff to clean my glasses. I usually use water and a soft cloth to keep them clean. If they're really grungy, I have an old toothbrush that I'll use on the edges of the lenses and around the nosepieces, which is where my glasses tend to get grungy.

And I never knew that was copper leaching out of the brass frames, though. Learn something new every day.
posted by eilatan at 2:50 PM on January 10, 2004