Glasses are a wonderful invention. You put them on and the world becomes clear and focuses into sharp definition. The downside comes when you drop or scuff them and your glasses get scratched. What is the best course of action if this happens? This guide is here to help.
First Step
Most eyeglasses aren’t actually glass and are made from a kind of composite plastic that looks and feels similar to glass. There are important reasons for this. One is that this increases safety in the event that they break but also means they scratch somewhat easily. If you clean your glasses with a shirt or when they’re dirty it can easily scratch them, so avoid doing this and clean often.
But, assuming they’re already scratched if you’re reading this, the first thing to do if your glasses have a scratch is use cleaning spray the special microfiber cleaning cloth to wipe them off gently and fully. This will give you a good look at how much damage you’re dealing with. Is it a tiny scratch or a deep gash?¹
Now Try This …
Don’t listen to rumors about spreading toothpaste on your scratched glasses to clean them. Many ingredients in different kinds of toothpaste can actually damage your lenses even further, especially whitening toothpastes and some others.
The same goes for using anti-glare glass etching solutions: it can work if you time it perfectly and pick the right product, but if you do it wrong or put on too much your lenses will become a disaster and even if it works any features contained in the glass coating will be gone.
Instead, try a simple trick of using baking soda.
What you do is mix one or two teaspoons of baking soda with water, stir it into a paste and then get ready to apply it to your glasses. Carefully use the microfiber cloth to spread the baking soda solution over your scratched lenses. Rub it over the lenses with the cloth using gentle circular motions. After several minutes of this rinse off your glasses and let them dry. The result is that minor scratches should be somewhat diminished or even gone.²
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Make sure when rubbing the baking soda solution that you don’t do it extremely hard or vigorously. This can make it less effective and damage the lenses. Instead do it softly and gently in circular motions.
In addition, there are some products such as wax-based scratch filler that can be rubbed into larger scratches in your glasses that aren’t helped by the baking soda technique.
Make sure when purchasing glasses that you ask about how scratch-resistant they are and inquire about any warranty on that as well since it can come in very handy. At the end of the day one of the most important things in caring for your glasses is putting them carefully in their cases when you aren’t wearing them and frequently cleaning them with cleaning spray. When glasses get small dirt particles on them then it can damage and scratch them in numerous ways that – especially over the long-term – will completely decimate your lenses.³
Worst-Case Scenario
In the worst-case scenario that your glasses are too scratched to see anymore or fix then your best option is to go to an optometrist and have new lenses put into your frames. Most optometrists cannot fix large scratches and in the end you will save yourself a lot of hassle by just having new lenses put in if the current scratches on your glasses are too bad to fix or live with.¹
[1] https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-remove-scratches-from-glasses
[2] https://www.themanual.com/fashion/how-to-remove-scratches-from-glasses/
[3] https://www.lensdirect.com/blog/glasses/how-to-find-scratched-glasses-at-home/