Help me clean my progressive lenses

January 15, 2024 4:02 PM

How do I clean my progressive lens glasses without scratching them but also without having to buy a bunch of products that I don't have.

My glasses are getting smudged all day and it drives me nuts! I already used th cloth it came with and need to wash it before next use. Now I'm just wiping them on my shirt or whatever because it bugs me so much.

I've used water. I've used a vinegar water solution once which was probably a mistake idk. It takes forever to get them clean. I'm just rubbing the oils around.

Is there really nothing at home I can use or do I need to buy the spray they sell you at the glasses shop?

I also don't want to buy a bunch of disposable lens wipes If there's another solution that is less wasteful. What types of material is soft for cleaning? Cotton? I have old clothes that I could cut up to use as little cloths but I want to know if this is going to scratch the lens.

posted by mxjudyliza to Grab Bag (23 answers total)

I use the cleansing cloths for quite a while before washing them. If you use any sort of fabric softener on your clothes, don't use your shirt for wiping - that will be more likely to smudge them.

Personally, I wash mine with soap and water when I'm in the shower. Rub under the water with my fingers until they feel clean, then dry off with the glasses cloth when I get out.

When it's time to was the cleansing cloth, just wash it in your bathroom sink and let it air dry. No need to put in the machine.
posted by hydra77 at 4:08 PM on January 15 [3 favorites]

I use Dawn dish soap in warm to hot water. Honestly, I dry with whatever is handy and have yet to have a scratch. Progressives with some sort of anti glare coating. Prob best to use the glasses cloth if you want to be sure, though.
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 4:14 PM on January 15 [7 favorites]

If you bought your glasses from a reputable dealer, they should just give you a free bottle of the cleaning liquid any time you ask. Just walk in wearing the glasses you purchased there and tell them you ran out of solution. I don't think I've paid for it in 30 years. Sometimes I'll even remember to return the empty bottles, which they gladly take back and refill.

In addition, you can generally just ask them to clean your glasses and they'll do it on the spot for free.

Lastly, I don't think I've ever cleaned one of those cloths in my life. Do you work in a construction site or somethiing?
posted by dobbs at 4:25 PM on January 15 [3 favorites]

I know you said you didn't want to buy anything, but if you find you have to, these are handy. Not only can you clean your glasses with them, but they are pouches. You put your glasses in when not wearing them and then put the whole thing in your proper case. You'll always have a cloth handy and it gives them extra protection.

The problem with using old clothing or your shirt is that small pieces of grit can get trapped in there and then scratch your lenses. (You should also never wipe your lenses when they're dry.) This is why Microfiber cloths are great. Hard for grit to get trapped.

Lastly, best tip I ever got regarding cleaning glasses is that when you use the spray and cloth, also clean the rest of the glasses, arms and rims. Otherwise over years, oil from your hands will cause staining and buildup.
posted by dobbs at 4:41 PM on January 15

Best answer: I learned this a few years back (from the New York Times for some reason):
1. Rinse glasses in running to remove gritty stuff
2. Then clean them with my fingers and a squirt of hand soap
3. Rinse and then dry with the glasses cleaning cloth


This gets rid of the oils and makes my cleaning cloths stay clean for much longer. Win win!
posted by wyzewoman at 4:42 PM on January 15 [9 favorites]

I use my microfiber glasses cleaning cloths several times before washing them and I've never noticed it having an ill effect on my glasses. I doubt progressive lenses need to be treated much differently. Also I've never needed to buy cleaning cloths as I've just kept accumulating them as freebies from the places I've bought glasses from, so I have plenty of spares when one does need to be washed. But you can buy them, if you need to.

Usually I don't bother with the cleaning solution unless they're really oily or smudged, a quick huff to steam them up and wipedown with the cloth is generally sufficient. YMMV, of course.
posted by Aleyn at 4:42 PM on January 15

Response by poster: Would using Dr. Bronner's unscented work well? I don't have Dawn. Or Dove bar soap?

I think my lenses have the anti reflection that's why it looks dirty sooner. Or something or other I read online.

If you don't clean your cloths they just keep adding the stuff you wiped off back on them...
posted by mxjudyliza at 4:59 PM on January 15

I apply dish soap directly to my glasses, use my fingers to cover the lenses with soap, then warm water rinse. I use Dawn or Palmolive, but try what you have.

If you do this before bed, the glasses can air dry. I definitely find fewer smudges on the days after I fully wash my glasses. Cuts down on the number of microfibre cloths to wash.
posted by shock muppet at 5:01 PM on January 15 [3 favorites]

Dr. Bronners should work well!
posted by redfoxtail at 5:26 PM on January 15 [2 favorites]

Don’t use Dove or anything with moisturizers. It will just be more smeary and smudgy than ever. Castile soap should be fine, though.
posted by Kriesa at 5:29 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

I also use water and soap (just liquid hand soap usually, I'd be pretty sparing with Dr. Bronner's myself but don't know if that's warranted). If I don't have a special cleaning cloth I sometimes take a paper towel or tissue and just dab it, not wipe it, to absorb the water, and then if possible let air dry.

However, in the past few years, after doing this most of my life, I've started having an issue with some metal frames where I guess water gets into the area that holds the nose pads and green slimy stuff starts to develop in there. It's not great! I use minimal water and dry the frames immediately after and this has still been happening. So a caveat if you use metal frames with replaceable nosepads.
posted by trig at 5:32 PM on January 15

I rinse my microfibers all the time. Just put a dot of dish soap and scrunch it up to get suds, then rinse it out and flop it over the back of one of the dining chairs or hanging over the edge of the counter. They dry pretty fast. For spray I use the same stuff I use on my car windows to refill.

One thing I've learned the hard way is DON'T use the foil-wrapped wipes. They're made of paper and are hard on the lenses.
posted by rhizome at 5:43 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

I've only ever used dish detergent or cheap hand soap (nothing with moisturizers) and hot water then dried the remaining drops with tissues. Like wyzewoman rinse first to clear off the scratchy particles, then soap to clear the oils. My partner swears by the special lint free tissues, but I never have problems tissues leaving behind lint.
Note: My glasses place has never charged me for replacing the nose pieces when they get gross.
posted by platypus of the universe at 5:50 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

Would using Dr. Bronner's unscented work well? I don't have Dawn. Or Dove bar soap?

Dawn is usually recommended because of its grease/oil-cutting ability. It’s really good on smeary glasses. I use it when my lenses get too smeary for the usual spray. It’s also fairly gentle on the sort of anti-scratch/glare/uv coatings you probably have on the lenses. I have no idea what’s in Dr. Bronner’s, so can’t speak to whether or not it would be gentle on those coatings.

I second Dobbs on getting a bottle of spray from the eyeglass shop. For that matter, a large bottle of spray for coated lenses is dirt cheap, and available almost anywhere. For everyday cleaning, I use the spray and wipe-off with a soft all-cotton cloth (like an old t-shirt.)
posted by Thorzdad at 6:15 PM on January 15 [4 favorites]

Much of the time I just use microfiber cloths (dry) on my progressives. But eventually they'll start to get smudgy soon after, and again, and again. When I whined about it at the place I bought them, they suggested occasionally washing them with a liquid soap & water, but making sure to also soap the frames around the glass and any eye pads as well. They said oils can build up on the frames from your fingers/hands just putting on/taking off/adjusting, even if you're careful not to touch the lenses, and eventually the oils can work onto the lenses themselves, recontaminating them quickly after a cloth cleaning. Doing that has made a decent difference for me.
posted by ClingClang at 6:42 PM on January 15

I'd be surprised if it needs Dawn specifically; any dish soap should work, including whatever the dollar store has to hand.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 6:46 PM on January 15 [2 favorites]

One thing I've learned the hard way is DON'T use the foil-wrapped wipes. They're made of paper and are hard on the lenses.

Not all foil wrapped cleaners are the same. My progressive + antiglare + antifog + super high index + soft like butter lens cleaning is basically giving a quick once over with Zeiss Lens Wipes to get the oil and dirt off of them before polishing them with the microfiber lens wipe the optometrist's office sent home with the glasses. No scratches on several glasses over a few years. That said, I tend to replace my lenses every year or so because my VSP is pretty solid, so it might eventually lead to damage in the 3rd year for all I know.

(Also my spouse would say my glasses are _always_ dirty, but honestly it's only like every 3rd day or so that it builds up enough to get in the way of how well I can see out of them. So I'm not cleaning them multiple times a day, so maybe that matters, too?)
posted by Kyol at 7:27 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

I was told to use Ivory liquid soap, and was told Dawn would mess with the coatings I have on the lenses; that was not from an optometrist though so I would check with one to be sure. I put a little drop of ivory on each lens, use my finger to clean the lenses edge-to-edge front and back, then rinse with water and dry with a clean lint-free cloth such as a handkerchief
posted by TimHare at 9:21 PM on January 15

If you're willing to make one up-front purchase, an ultrasonic cleaner is the way to go. My progressive-lens glasses are sparkly clean every morning now, and a small bottle of the detergent stuff lasts about a year since I just put a few drops in at a time.
posted by picopebbles at 5:53 AM on January 16 [2 favorites]

I use shampoo. It's designed to remove the grease produced by human heads, and that is presumably where any grease on your lenses is going to have come from.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:08 AM on January 16

I wash my glasses in hot water, with a small dab of dish soap on each lens and a bit on my fingers. I use my thumb and index finger to gently wash both sides of each lens, give it a good rinse in hot water, and set them aside to air-dry. We have good water, so they dry spot-free, though YMMV. For touch-up, I use a microfiber lens cloth. About once a week or so, I gather up all the lens cloths I have scattered around the house, fill the sink with some hot water and dish soap, and give them a good wash and rinse, and then hang to air-dry.

Echoing the tip about not using your clothing to wipe your lenses. Even if you don't use fabric softener, just the detergent itself can leave enough of a residue in the fabric to smear your lenses.

Just as a data point, the previous pair of glasses I had, I opted for all the coatings. Anti-Reflective, Anti-Glare, whatever options they had, I took. Those lenses always seemed dirty or smudgy to me, and they developed scratches (probably in the coatings, not necessarily the lens material) almost immediately. This latest pair, I got no coatings at all, and while occasionally I have to tilt my head a bit to dodge a bit of glare, overall these glasses do not have the "always dirty/smudgy" problem, and after more than a year, still have no scratches on the lenses, despite frequent cleanings.
posted by xedrik at 7:16 AM on January 16 [2 favorites]

PLEASE don't use random soap, or extra-random soap, on any glasses with coatings. Buy one bottle of Dawn (classic Dawn, not Platinum or Powerclean or Superhero or whatever crap they're pushing now). It just has soap, no moisturizers, and a small bottle bought on sale will last a very long time.

I usually wash my glasses at night so that I can grab a clean pair in the morning.

1: Tepid water to rinse off debris.
2: A couple of drops of plain Dawn in my palm, with a little water to thin it, massage to mix, then apply all over the glasses.
3: Rinse thoroughly again with tepid water.
4: Wipe dry with a CLEAN and any *fluffy* microfiber cloth, not the tiny, silky microfiber cloth that came with your glasses. Use this fluffy cloth only for your glasses, and hand wash it with a mild soap and warm water on a regular basis. It will air dry quickly. Don't put it in the laundry if you use detergents with additive and/or any kind of fabric softener.

If my glasses need a quick clean during the day, I generously spray the safe-for-coatings glasses cleaner on it, then wipe with the tiny, silky microfiber cloth. Hand wash these cloths on a regular basis.
posted by maudlin at 9:26 AM on January 16 [1 favorite]

Nthing dish soap. In our household's daily routine, I wash up the cooking stuff and load the dishwasher every night, and every time (OK, maybe every other time) I finish up with a cleaning of my glasses. By then my hands are extremely clean and rid of skin oils.

- rinse in warm water
- using a single drop of dish soap like Dawn, clean lenses with your fingers
- rinse in warm water
- knock water off on towel rack or leg :)

I honestly never do the drying step that everyone else here is doing. I just tap the bulk of the water onto a nearby towel or my leg (only the frame touches the fabric), put the glasses down while I go wash my face too, towel off, and by the time I pick up the glasses they are mostly dry (and completely dry within another minute). My concern with the extra drying step is that it may smudge them again, because I'm not great with keeping glasses clothes handy and clean.

I have progressive lenses and have the coatings. Has worked for years.
posted by intermod at 3:41 PM on January 16 [1 favorite]