How To Keep Glasses Clean

Glasses are more than just a solution for poor vision; they’re also an important method for eye protection and a stylish accessory. But despite their elegance, it’s often quite challenging to clean and take care of glasses. Whether you’re sporting sunglasses, safety glasses, or classic lenses, proper care is essential. So how do you keep glasses clean?

You can keep your glasses clean by washing them regularly, refraining from touching them too much, and protecting them from inclement weather conditions. Be sure to remove your glasses while cooking or sleeping, clean them with a microfiber cloth, and store them in a case to prolong their lifespan.

Let’s take a closer look at the best ways to keep your glasses clean, how they tend to get dirty, and some tips on how to store glasses properly.

Why Do Glasses Get So Dirty?

There are various reasons why glasses get dirty. For starters, lens type, environment, and skin type may contribute to the cleanliness of your classes.

Here’s a quick overview of other factors:

• Your skin: If you have dry, flaky, or oily skin, your glasses will get dirty more often than those with ‘normal’ skin. This occurs when the glasses often come into contact with your skin and pick up smears and smudges.

• Dust and debris: This largely depends on your environment. Your glasses often accumulate particles from the environment around you.

• Constant touching with hands: Your hands are oily and dusty, and if you keep touching the lenses, they will become dirty.

• Natural long eyelashes: Those with very long eyelashes may notice that the lashes can make their glasses dirty. This happens when the lashes keep brushing on the lens, depositing dust and oil on them.

• An old lens: Over time, glasses age, making it harder to clean the lens.

How to Clean Glasses

Here’s what most people don’t realize: There is a right way to clean your glasses. So, if you’re unsure how to keep your glasses clean, here are some simple steps that will keep them looking great:

1. Before handling your glasses, wash your hands with dishwashing liquid or a lotion-free soap.
   
2. Use gently running water to rinse your glasses. This helps with dust and debris removal.
   
3. Apply a small drop of dishwashing liquid or lotion-free soap to each lens and rub gently on each side and the frame.
   
4. Rinse them gently and ensure every soap smear has been removed.
   
5. Gently shake your glasses to remove excess water. Inspect them to make sure they’re clean. If not, repeat the third, fourth, and fifth steps.
   
6. Re-inspect the glasses accordingly.
   

How to Keep Your Glasses Clean

Glasses are prone to dirt accumulation, especially if you’re in a very dusty environment. Nevertheless, you can still keep them clean with a combination of measures and tips such as:

1. Protect glasses from inclement weather: Your glasses will get speckled whenever it’s rainy, dusty, snowy, or windy. And even if it’s raining and the water evaporates, there will still be a smear left on the lens. It’s, therefore, crucial to protect your glasses from such weather conditions by either removing your glasses or taking shelter.
   
2. Avoid touching your glasses with bare hands: If you have to, wash your hands thoroughly. And whether you’ve connected greasy objects or not, avoid handling the lens because even your fingers have natural oils.
   
3. When adjusting your glasses, don’t touch the lens: If you need to, grip the frames and adjust accordingly.
   
4. When cooking oily foods or sautéing, remove your glasses: This is because the oils will splatter and smudge the glasses. If you notice any smudges, remove the glasses and clean them immediately.
   
5. Keep hair away from glasses: Your skin and hair are common sources of dirt to your glasses, and to prevent this, you can clip your hair to prevent it from touching your glasses.
   
6. Wash your face: Keeping your face clean will help reduce the build-up of oils that can smudge your glasses if you push them closer to your face.
   
7. Take your glasses off when sleeping or resting: This helps prevent smudging oils from your pillow and face.

How to Properly Store Glasses

Apart from cleaning glasses regularly, proper storage is also essential.

When you’re not wearing your glasses, you should always store them in a safe place. Keep in mind that glasses are most vulnerable when they’re left out on the counter or hanging from the neck of a shirt. So, ensure you store your glasses where they won’t be knocked off a table or crushed under papers or books.

You also want to make sure that you use the proper storage devices for your glasses. Your eyeglasses probably came with a case and some cloth. These accessories have been specially designed to protect your glasses.

If you have difficulty remembering to use a case, purchase some extra glasses cases (on Amazon) and store them inconvenient places. This could be on top of the bathroom sink, where you probably remove your glasses for washing, or next to the bed so that it is easy to remove the lenses during sleep.

Tips and Tricks

In addition to the above tips for cleaning and storing glasses, here are a few more things to keep in mind as you develop a good care routine for your glasses:

1. Never use acetone on your lenses as it destroys them, especially if it sits for too long.
   
2. Be extra careful about the fabric you use to clean your glasses. It has to be something that won’t scratch them, such as a microfiber cloth (on Amazon). Don’t use a tissue or dishcloth because if you get liquid in your lenses, they’ll get cloudy. You should also avoid using paper towels because the fibers can leave scratches on your lenses.  
   
3. Don’t use saliva to clean your lenses. It only encourages bacterial multiplication and may also make the smudge look worse.