Glasses causing irritation

July 8, 2010 7:19 AM

I purchased a few pairs of glasses online about 6 months ago. Also, I sweat a lot. And the sweat seems to be corroding the arms of the glasses and causing some irritation where the arms contact my face. Is there something I can coat glasses with to prevent this?
posted by Proginoskes to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

I've coated glasses arms with "liquid electrical tape" to keep strangely-cut earpieces from grabbing my hair. It's basically a rubbery plastic that you can dip into or paint on; we got it at an auto parts store, IIRC. It's been a year and a half since I did that and the stuff is still in great condition, no chipping or peeling or skin irritation.

It's not pretty though. Chunky and visible.
posted by galadriel at 7:27 AM on July 8, 2010

Best answer: Would clear nail polish do the trick, perhaps?
posted by Solomon at 7:30 AM on July 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yup, I popped in to say nail polish. Bonus, you can use the "stop chewing your nails" stuff, because it's extra extra hard and will keep you from mouthing your glasses. (I know I'm not the only one who chews on my glasses. I hope.)
posted by TomMelee at 7:56 AM on July 8, 2010

The other half has this problem, he's uses clear heat shrink tubing on the arms of his glasses.
posted by squeak at 7:57 AM on July 8, 2010

I used clear nail polish on a pair of glasses that did the same thing to me. I seemed to have to re-apply it every few months as it would wear down. This was on an expensive 'retail' pair of glasses I had purchased before I discovered the wonders of online specs - so I don't think the corrosion limited to 'cheap' online eyewear...
posted by csmason at 8:23 AM on July 8, 2010

This happened to me when I wore glasses. It turned out I was actually quite sensitive to nickel, so I got a plastic pair and the problem stopped.

The key factor was that the metal bits turned green where they were in contact with my skin, and my skin got really irritated.
posted by charmcityblues at 9:33 AM on July 8, 2010

You may be doing this already, but it helps to wash the arms every morning before you put your glasses back on. I suppose washing them when you take them off might be slightly more effective, but I can't be bothered to change such an ingrained habit.
posted by advicepig at 10:04 AM on July 8, 2010

Clear nail polish stopped my metallic frames from leaving green streaks 'bleeding' into my hairline (which looked like I smeared my makeup badly and didn't wipe it all off).
posted by malibustacey9999 at 3:41 PM on July 8, 2010

Response by poster: I ended up trying nail polish and it worked perfectly! Thanks for all the suggestions.
posted by Proginoskes at 1:52 PM on August 7, 2010