I’ve worn eyeglasses since I was 3 years old. A few years ago, I started getting annoyed with the dust and grease that keep building up on my glasses. Maybe it’s old-age grumpiness kicking in, or maybe it’s because I started to use LCD displays whose immaculate picture quality sensitized me to any blurriness between the LCD matrix and my retina.
Anyway, I started cleaning my glasses regularly. The problem was that I couldn’t figure out a good cleaning technique. First, I tried washing my glasses with running water and then drying them up with towels. That didn’t work so well for the grease and the towels (either cloth or paper) would leave tons of lint on my glasses. So I bought a professional microfiber cloth, the same kind that I use for cleaning photographic lenses, and some isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol), the stuff that they put in those overpriced “lens cleaning kits” you’ll find in the photography section of your electronics store. That was a lot better than my previous technique, but the alcohol would not clean off all the grease, which was impossible to remove completely with the cloth.
Well, I’ve finally figured it out. (Actually, I wish I had. I learned about this technique from my optician.) The answer is dishwashing liquid (AKA dish soap).
- Rinse your glasses under running water.
- Put a bit of dishwashing liquid on one of the lenses, then use your fingers to gently rub the liquid on both sides of both lenses.
- Rinse glasses again to remove the dish soap. The glasses should now be 100% grease-free.
- Use the microfiber cloth to clean off remaining water drops and other spots. The microfiber cloth leaves no fluff, so your glasses should be perfectly clean.
It’s really a perfect combination. The dish soap dissolves all the grease, so you don’t get any smudges when you use the microfiber cloth. The microfiber cloth removes the remaining water drops and (non-greasy) stains made by evaporating water, and leaves no lint. The result: pristine-looking glasses in one minute.
What’s more, this technique is fairly convenient to use. Many online how-tos recommend special eyeglass-cleaning sprays or vinegar, which may be expensive or unavailable. On the other hand, most people have dishwashing soap in their kitchen, so the only special accessory you need is a microfiber cloth, which costs $7 (for a top-quality one) and can be re-used for years.
4 responses so far ↓
Dan Vinh // August 31, 2009 at 9:48 pm |
I completely agree with your method of cleaning glasses using dishwasher liquid. I have been using it for the past 2 years. In the past, I used ordinary soap and ruined several pairs of glasses. I later discovered that ordinary soap (or many other kinds of soap) contains “emollients” to make your skin soft. The emollients destroy a fine stratum of chemicals that many modern glass manufacturers incorporate in the manufacturing process. The polarized glasses and night-driving glasses with anti-reverberating properties are particularly vulnerable.
More power to you!
Emmanuel Ocean // November 23, 2009 at 4:46 am |
Costco has a relatively cheap ($6) cleaning kit which comes with two microfiber cloths, 2.5 bottles* of cleaning fluid with unlimited refills, and a repair kit. That stuff works really well on the go, although I do use the dish soap method too!
*2 small bottles and one mini/travel bottle.
john // December 16, 2009 at 8:26 am |
I use this same method to clean CDS/DVDs. Run lukewarm water and use a few drops of dish soap and a clean finger tip to wash them under water flow. Shake dry…then dry completely with a microfiber cloth…paper towels scratch.
For eyeglasses…the microfiber cloths need to be regularly degreased…I just put them in a bowl and wash by hand…otherwise they pick up lint in a washer.
tory // March 9, 2010 at 4:19 pm |
Microfiber cloths are alittle more expensive than regular rags, but its amazing how soft they are and dont scratch my glasses. Thank you so much for the article.