How to Clean Glasses: A Care Guide That Helps Avoid Scratches

The short answer to how you clean glasses: rinse them with lukewarm water, wash them with a drop of neutral detergent and dry them with a clean microfibre cloth. What scratches a lens is usually not dirt but the habit of wiping a dry lens with a T-shirt or a tissue. The method below applies to prescription glasses and sunglasses alike.

How do you clean glasses? The right method, step by step

Glasses are cleaned by washing them with lukewarm water and a drop of neutral washing-up liquid without added lotion, then drying them with a clean microfibre cloth. The order matters: the water carries the dust off the lens, and the cloth only touches the lens once the dust has gone.

1. Wash your hands. So that the grease, cream and dust on your fingers do not end up on the lens.
2. Rinse the glasses under lukewarm water. Running water takes the dust and grains of sand off the lenses and frame. Do not use very hot water.
3. Take a drop of neutral washing-up liquid without added lotion. Spread it gently with your fingertips over both sides of the lenses, the nose pads and the temples. Detergents with moisturisers leave a greasy film on the lens.
4. Rinse with plenty of water. Detergent left on the lens leaves marks when it dries.
5. Shake off the water. Gently shake the glasses to get rid of most of the drops, so the cloth has less to do.
6. Dry with a clean microfibre cloth. Wipe without pressing, holding the glasses by the frame. Do not use the cloth if it is dirty or has fallen on the floor.

Washing glasses you wear every day in this way every day is a good habit. Sweat, skin oil and make-up build up around the nose pads and along the edges where the lens sits in the frame; touching these areas with a fingertip while washing is enough.

Why do spectacle lenses get scratched?

Spectacle lenses mostly get scratched because they are wiped dry. A lens carries grains of dust and sand that are hard to see; a dry cloth drags these grains across the surface and leaves fine scratches with every wipe. That is why a dry lens is not wiped but wetted first.

Other common causes of scratches are habits of carrying and putting down glasses: dropping them into a pocket or bag without a case, carrying them in the same compartment as keys and putting them on a table with the lenses facing down.

A hard coating increases a lens's resistance to scratches, but no lens is scratch-proof. The lens material makes a difference too: mineral glass is the most scratch-resistant material but it is heavy and can break, while organic and polycarbonate lenses are lighter and their surfaces scratch more easily. You can find out what hard, anti-reflective and water-repellent coatings do in our article on lens coatings.

What should you avoid when cleaning glasses?

When cleaning glasses, avoid wiping them dry, rough fabric, strong chemicals and high temperatures. The table below shows common mistakes, why they cause damage and what to do instead.

How do you use a microfibre cloth and glasses spray?

A microfibre cloth is used to dry a lens that has been wetted or washed, and glasses spray is used to wet and clean the lens when there is no water to hand. Microfibre is a fabric woven from very fine fibres; it holds grease and moisture between its fibres instead of spreading them over the surface. The same property means the cloth builds up grease and dust over time: a dirty cloth does not clean the lens, it spreads the smudge and can scratch the lens.

• Wash the cloth regularly and do not use fabric softener. Softener leaves residue in the fibres, and that residue transfers to the lens as marks.
• Keep the cloth inside the case; a cloth lying loose in a pocket or bag collects dust.
• Do not use a cloth that has fallen on the floor or got sand on it before washing it.
• Keeping one cloth at home and one in the case means you always have a clean cloth to hand.

Glasses spray is a cleaner that stands in for washing when you cannot get to water. Choose a spray made for optical lenses and labelled as suitable for coated lenses. Spray it on both sides of the lens so that the dust gets wet, then wipe the lens with a clean microfibre cloth. If there is heavy dirt, salt or sand, spray is not enough; wash the glasses under running water.

How should glasses be stored and carried?

When you are not wearing your glasses, keep them in their hard case and carry them in it. A large share of scratches and bent frames happen not while cleaning but when glasses are left unprotected in a pocket, a bag or on a table.

• Use a hard case. A soft pouch protects the lens from scratches but not from being crushed at the bottom of a bag.
• Put your glasses on and take them off with both hands. Pulling them off with one hand strains one temple and its hinge, and the frame bends over time.
• Do not push them up onto your head. The temples spread, the glasses loosen and start slipping down your face.
• Do not put them down with the lenses facing down. When putting them on a table, fold the temples and make sure the lenses do not touch the surface.
• Keep them away from high temperatures. The high temperatures that build up inside a car in summer, in saunas and in hammams can damage the coating and the frame.
• Use hairspray and perfume before putting your glasses on. These products can leave a sticky film on the lenses and frame.

How do you care for glasses on the beach in an Antalya summer?

On the beach and by the pool, glasses are rinsed with fresh water before being wiped. On the Antalya coast in summer, what gets onto glasses most is sea salt, sand and sunscreen. Salt leaves a hard layer on the lens when it dries, grains of sand scratch the lens when wiped, and sunscreen forms a greasy film on the lens and nose pads.

1. When you come out of the sea or the pool, rinse your glasses under the beach shower or with a bottle of drinking water.
2. Do not wipe your glasses with a beach towel; towels carry sand.
3. After applying sunscreen, wipe your hands and hold your glasses by the frame, not by the lens.
4. Do not put your glasses down on the sand, a towel or a sun lounger; put them in their case.
5. At the end of the day, give them a full wash with lukewarm water and a drop of neutral detergent, and rinse the salt out of the hinges too.

Mirrored and polarised sun lenses are cleaned in the same way; what mirror coatings and lens colours do is explained in our article on sunglass lens colours. If you drive to the beach, do not leave your glasses under the windscreen or on the dashboard: the inside of a car parked in the sun gets very hot, and high temperatures can damage the coating and the frame. For situations such as glasses breaking or getting lost while on holiday in Belek and Kadriye, see our visitor's guide for Belek and Kadriye.

Can a scratched lens be repaired?

A scratched spectacle lens cannot be restored at home. Methods such as toothpaste, baking soda or car polish do not fill a scratch; they wear away the surface and can damage the lens coating. Fine scratches are often noticeable only when the lens is held up to the light. Deep scratches, or scratches in the middle of your field of view, can scatter light and cause glare and an area that looks blurred. If a scratch bothers your vision, show the glasses to your optician.

Which care jobs should be left to an optician?

Looking after nose pads and screws and adjusting the frame are jobs for an optician. Tightening a loose screw with the wrong screwdriver or trying to straighten a bent temple by hand can damage the screw thread or break the frame. Have the fit of your glasses checked in these cases:

• The glasses slip down your nose, or one side sits higher than the other
• The temples have loosened and open and close by themselves
• The nose pads have yellowed, hardened or move out of place
• A screw has fallen out or a lens moves in its rim

Glasses that sit properly slip less, need adjusting by hand less often and get fewer fingerprints on the lenses. That is why cleaning and adjustment go hand in hand.