New eyeglasses len edges came in seemingly polished, can I fix?

August 17, 2022 2:06 PM

My new eyeglasses came in with the len edges polished, despite the technician at the local eyeglasses shop (MyEyeDr) saying it was unpolished. I had the lab specifically be instructed to have the edges unpolished, because I'm super sensitive to glare. The manager of the store even confirmed they were unpolished, and when I asked/showed the comparison between my current eyeglasses and the new ones, kind of stuttered "well, it's new".

However, they definitely have a polished look to it. Maybe not fully polished, but definitely polished enough that there's bad glare, especially in the corners, with light. It's pretty disruptive.

My current (2020) eyeglasses lens have edges that are more "frosted/matte", while the new lens don't. It could be the eyeglasses just being new, but the glare is definitely much worse than the 2020 eyeglasses, so I suspect it just wasn't unpolished/frosted properly.

This process has been frustrating—in addition to the polished/unpolished situation, the lens had to be remade multiple times because the lab kept making mistakes, and the staff initially suggested a frame that ended up not working for my prescription. I had my eye exam in June, and only got the eyeglasses yesterday, after the long process.

Is there a way I can manually unpolish/frost/matte (whatever the right term is) the edges of my new lens myself, with a tool of some kind, or bring it to another (hopefully better) MyEyeDr shop to have them unpolish the edges without having them have to reorder/remake the lens? That would add even more time and I've already waited long enough.

If you doubt MyEyeDr has the right tools to do it manually, would you be able to point me in the direction of where I can get them actually unpolished with the right tools? Lenscrafters? I'm in the DC area, if that helps. I really want to avoid having yet another remake being done, and don't really trust their lab right now.

Thanks!

posted by dubious_dude to Grab Bag (16 answers total)

I got new glasses a few years back. They were in a big box store that had just opened an optical department. They didn't work at all. I could see better holding them backwards. I complained.
"You have to understand that your optometrist's office is not the same as our store."
"So they'll never be good anywhere else?"
"There may be an adjustment period."
"I doubt that because there wasn't one when he tested my eyes."
"Well, our policy is not to make adjustments within two weeks."
"Mine isn't to walk around blind."
Eventually I agreed to try them for a week, which was stupid. When I took them to the optometrist he said he must have written the prescription down wrong, and he told them to replace them. There was no charge.
The clerk wanted me out of the office. I might be pissed and not come back, I might decide to just live with it, I might come back when she wasn't on duty. She very obviously not interested in the store's reputation or my sight. She had a line of glib responses that were obviously bullshit.
Just like the guy who made your glasses.
He screwed up. He hopes he can get away without fixing it. He has to give you what you paid for, and what he agreed to provide. Don't let him bullshit you, don't let him make it your problem.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 2:21 PM on August 17, 2022 [23 favorites]

An optician I used to go to in NYC offered a service where they hand painted the edge of the lenses with black paint. They said that it reduced glare and the coke bottle, multiple lens illusion that happens when you look at thick lenses at an angle. I never took advantage of it, so I can't say how it worked, but painting the edges may be an option.

Here is the office where they painted the lenses, and I think that it was Jim who told me about this service.
posted by defreckled at 2:37 PM on August 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

I get my glasses with the edges tinted to solve this. How DIY do you want to get? If your frames are dark enough that it won't look bizarre, you could just use a sharpie.
posted by fingersandtoes at 2:37 PM on August 17, 2022

Came here to say I had the exact same experience as AugustusCrunch and the clerk who wanted me out of the office. "Try them out for a week." Dude, I wasn't born last night, I know the difference between "needs a little time getting used to" and "you accidentally added a 1 to the prescription and now I can't see a damn thing out of the left eye." These places are later-stage capitalism and charge you an effing fortune and do not let them bully you one iota.
posted by Melismata at 2:43 PM on August 17, 2022 [6 favorites]

Is there a way I can manually unpolish/frost/matte (whatever the right term is) the edges of my new lens myself, with a tool of some kind...

Sure! Pop the lenses out, take some extremely fine grit sandpaper, and very gently scuff the edges just enough to de-polish them.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:40 PM on August 17, 2022 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: If your frames are dark enough that it won't look bizarre, you could just use a sharpie.

Would the Sharpie "stick" or wash off? And would the Sharpie definitely cover up the reflections/glare on the corner?

Sure! Pop the lenses out, take some extremely fine grit sandpaper, and very gently scuff the edges just enough to de-polish them.

Don't know how comfortable I would be doing that myself. Might I buy some from Home Depot (or wherever) and bring it to MyEyeDr (another location, preferably), and have them do it? OR, do they have the tools on hand? If not, does Lenscrafters, or Warby, or another optician?

Just like the guy who made your glasses.

I hope not. He was very nice, but he did seem a bit hesitant when I asked if the new ones were unpolished for sure; he said that they were new glasses, which gave me pause, and it didn't directly answer my question.

To be fair, the last time I was there in late July (to get the lens/frame redone and replaced due to the mistaken recommendation), he admitted that his manager told him this would be the last remake they'd do (even though everything that happened up to then was their fault). He also admitted the manager was a bit rude.

I also have a standing case with MyEyeDr's corporate customer care who helped coordinate this, because the local store was not being responsive, so already reached out to get help with my case. That's why I feel a bit hesitant in having them remake the lens.

I'm not sure how to tell for sure if they did make the edges polished or unpolished 100% for sure — here's the older 2020 with frosted/unpolished edges (photo) and the new ones (photo). Does the 2022 new ones look unpolished or polished? It's a bit ambiguous, but all I know for sure is that the glare/reflections are really bad, especially on the corners.
posted by dubious_dude at 7:13 PM on August 17, 2022

Does the 2022 new ones look unpolished or polished?

The first thing I thought when I looked at the new ones (even before I saw the old ones) is "that's polished."
posted by hgws at 8:13 PM on August 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

In my long experience, no 'corporate' optometrist can be trusted - they give not one shit about you or your eyes and just want to take your money, then have you fuck off.

I appreciate it may not be within your means, but I highly recommend finding a small local optometrist who will work with you and your eyes to get the best result. At the least, they'll be able to advise you on how to resolve your current issue. It is a little more expensive, but the service is worlds apart from the big corporate chains. Vision is too important to be trusted to them.
posted by dg at 8:14 PM on August 17, 2022 [5 favorites]

Can you share a pic? I used to work in an optical lab and would be able to tell you if the edges are or are not polished. It's a lot of extra work to polish!

Is your prescription kinda high? Like plus or minus 4 or more? If so it may be that they have given you a higher index lens (a different material, still plastic) and these lenses can be well known for being "glarier" around the edges.

I could also tell that if you can do a new v old pic.

But yes, agree with previous poster that if issue is polish that you can pop the lenses out (use a tiny screwdriver for metal frames to unscrew them, or for plastic ones, heat briefly with a hairdryer and push them out frontwards - getting them in again from the front is hard but again heat briefly with hairdryer), use a v fine grit sandpaper.
posted by london explorer girl at 3:42 AM on August 18, 2022

In case you will end up sanding lenses yourself: you can get "nail files" made for manicure.
These "nail files" are ready made flat sticks with sandpaper glued on, they are just the right tools for sanding plastic by hand.
You want to practice on something else before doing work on your actual glasses please.
But I still like much better to make eyeglass people to do their work for you, as well as fix any mistakes that they made.
posted by Sky12 at 4:49 AM on August 18, 2022

Caution on the nail files: if you're not a person who do manicures regularly you might not realise there's a rougher grit to one side of the files if you get the ones on the spongy core.

Extra fine sandpaper: you can get them at any hardware store - you want grades over 1800 for best result. It should feel like 'normal' paper because the grit is so fine.

Based on the old photos, you can also try a mattifying acrylic finish but you'll need to tape the sides carefully or else the mixture gets on the part of your lens you actually need to see through. If you're not confident with your application skills pick the sandpaper option, if there's no better local optometrist option.
posted by cendawanita at 5:45 AM on August 18, 2022

Another service option for you btw is a local jeweller. They have buffing and sanding cloths that would suit your needs and should have something in their service catalogue that's applicable to you (including replating/refinishing the top of the lens). I'm thinking of them because if you were to do it yourself, and you pop yours out of the frames, you need to know when to stop before it becomes too loose for the frame fitting.
posted by cendawanita at 5:48 AM on August 18, 2022

If you want to matte-ify the edges yourself without wrangling physical changes to the lenses like sanding, might I suggest a nail polish matte topcoat?
posted by mismatched at 2:29 PM on August 18, 2022

I appreciate it may not be within your means, but I highly recommend finding a small local optometrist who will work with you and your eyes to get the best result.

Anecdotally, the degree to which such independent practices have joined the various large chains in the last 5–10 years is astonishing.
posted by musicinmybrain at 8:41 AM on August 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Quick update:

I went to another MyEyeDr and talked with a manager there. She confirmed that they couldn't have polished the edges, because that's normally a service that costs extra, so the lab wouldn't do it without the service order. However, she is reaching out to a lab tech to look into it. I suspect that the lab didn't polish the edges, BUT they also didn't add a matte/frost "coating" to it; as in, they just left it as is, and as the lens are brand new, they look more polished. We're going to wait and see what the lab tech says and go from there.

That's my theory, anyway. Thanks for all the help.
posted by dubious_dude at 7:23 AM on August 24, 2022

Response by poster: Another update: A few weeks ago, I took my eyeglasses to the same location, where they had an edger machine. A lab technician who was there for the day, was able to "matte" the edges. Problem solved.
posted by dubious_dude at 2:32 PM on September 22, 2022 [2 favorites]