How often have you watched someone pull off their eyeglasses and buff them with a shirt tail? I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen it, and every time I do, it makes me cringe. Shirts, paper towels and tissues aren’t meant for cleaning eyewear. While the fabric may feel smooth as silk to you, it can be as abrasive as sandpaper to the glass in your spectacles. Eyeglasses are an investment, not only in terms of cash but in your vision. Caring for your eyeglasses properly will save you money, of course, since you won’t have to replace them as often, but it can also help preserve your vision, prevent eyestrain and do away with headaches from squinting through smudged or scratched lenses. Here are some tips for taking care of your eyeglasses and your eyes.

1. Use the right cloth.
Shirts, even soft t-shirts, can scratch the glass of your lenses. If they’ve got a protective finish like a photo-gray tint, it’s even more likely to scratch. The scratches may be invisible to your eyes, but they do affect the crystal clarity that your eyeglass lenses should have. Instead of paper towels, toilet tissue or your shirt tail, use a quality cloth made just for cleaning eyeglasses (Lens Cleaner Cloth). That way you’ll avoid microscopic scratches that can blur your glasses and your vision.
2. Use a cleaner that’s meant for eyeglasses.
Plain water won’t do the job because it doesn’t dissolve and clean away skin oil or fingerprint smudges. A cleaner that’s made for glass could contain chemicals that may damage tinted or coated lenses, or be damaging to your eyes. A good coated lens cleaner or eyeglass lens cleaner (Spray and Sparkle Lens Cleaner) is hypoallergenic, and made to be kind to optical lens coatings.
3. Clean your glasses frequently to prevent eyestrain.
You should clean your glasses several times a day to prevent smearing and smudging. Tuck a portable eyeglass cloth and cleaner kit into your purse, or keep a small spray can of eyeglass cleaning solution in your desk at work. Your eyes will thank you.
4. Keep your glasses clean.
What do you do with your glasses when they’re not on your nose? Pushing them up to rest on your head may be easy, but it’s not a good idea. The lenses will pick up dust and oil from your hair – especially if you use mousse, gel or hair spray. Invest a few dollars in an eyeglass chain so that you can wear them safely around your neck where they won’t pick up all that extra skin oil.
5. Do your glasses fog up when you’re cooking or exercising? One great way to avoid that is to use an anti-fog cloth (Anti-Fog Cloth) on the lenses. The cloth leaves an invisible coating on the lenses that prevent water from condensing and fogging up your eyesight.