Maintenance of Glasses

Ask the Optician
How do I take care of my glasses?
Your optical questions answered by
Joel C. Wolf, Licensed Optician and Owner of Village Opticians

This is a very important question because patient's want their glasses to last as long as possible. Good care is very important to increase longevity. Here are a few things you can do to make sure your glass last longer.

One thing you can do is to make sure that your glasses are in your hard case when you are not wearing them. This will ensure that your glasses don't get damaged in the case that they get stepped on or sat on because the hard case will protect them. Also when you make sure to put them in a case, you are less likely to loose them since you are more likely to remember where you put a case or it becomes more visible to you than a pair of glasses lying around. In addition to protecting the frames, you are also protecting the lenses from scratches or cracks by keeping them in your case.

Another action you can take to ensure the longevity of your frames is to take them off with two hands. When frames are taken off your head with one hand, this can make them crooked on your face and weaken one side of the frame. When that happens, the next step is usually to come in for an adjustment to straighten the frames again. This requires more bending of the frame and more fatigue to the frame. When you take them off with two hands, all of this can be avoided.

A third thing you can do to keep your frames and lenses in tact is to clean the lenses with appropriate materials. When lenses are cleaned with chemicals such as Windex or hard materials like paper towels or hand towels, this can damage the surfaces of a lens and frame. Therefore, we encourage you to listen to the methods of your local optician when cleaning the lenses. This is because sometimes lenses are cleaned differently depending on if they have certain coatings or not.

One last thing you can do is get regular adjustments on your frames. This will ensure that your glasses last longer and stay cleaner. It is less pressure on your frames to get frequent minor adjustments than to get a major adjustment that can fatigue a frame due to lack of maintenance. Therefore we encourage eyeglass wearers to get regular adjustments, clean their lenses gently, take their frames off with two hands and to keep them in a case when they are not being worn.

I hope I've provided you with some new knowledge to help you maintain your current pair of glasses! Feel free to stop by to discuss any questions about your vision or eyeglasses you might have.