How To: Sunglasses Care
If you read our guide on choosing the best fishing sunglasses, you know that having high-quality sunglasses can make or break your next fishing trip. Whether out on the water, or simply spending some time in the sun, proper care and maintenance of your sunglasses is key to lasting performance.
All of our glasses feature polycarbonate lenses and polyamide (bio-based) frames. Keep reading for an easy-to-follow guide on how to clean sunglass lenses so you know they’ll stay in great shape!
Things to Avoid When Cleaning Your Sunglasses
Before we dive into the steps, here are some general “don'ts” to keep in mind!
Don’t use your shirt or a rough cloth to clean your glasses, especially when the lenses are dry. Even though it might be convenient, your shirt does not make for the best sunglasses cleaner as it can scratch your lenses. Unless you own one of our shirts with a sunglasses cleaner in the hem.
Don’t use household glass or surface cleaners to clean your sunglasses. These products have ingredients that can damage lens coatings.
Don’t use paper towels, napkins, tissues, or toilet paper to clean your lenses. These can scratch or smear your lenses or leave them full of lint.
Don’t try to “buff away” a scratch in your lenses. This only makes the situation worse.
We can give you tons of tips on how to take care of your sunglasses, but if you’ve already damaged them with improper cleaning there’s not much you can do. Read the cleaning steps below so you always get it right!
How to Clean Sunglass Lenses
- Wash & Dry Your Hands Completely. This definitely isn’t an obvious step, but it’s important to make sure your hands are free from dirt, grime, lotion, and/or anything else that could harm your lenses.
- Rinse Gently with Lukewarm Tap Water. Wondering what to clean sunglasses with? Start with warm water! You need to rinse away dust and debris before you begin cleaning, but avoid hot water, which can potentially damage some lens coatings.
- Use Mild Detergent to Clean Your Lenses. You’ll be happy to find out that buying a special sunglasses cleaner isn’t really necessary. Highly fragranced soaps, soaps with lotions, or antibacterial soaps could do some damage to lenses, so mild detergent really is the best option. Today’s detergents are highly concentrated, so you’ll only need a small drop on each lens!
- Gently Shake Your Glasses to Eliminate Excess Water. This is also a good step to make sure your glasses are truly clean. If you need to repeat some of the previous steps though, have at it!
- Carefully Dry Your Glasses with a Soft Towel or Microfiber Cloth. Make sure you use one that hasn’t been laundered with a fabric softener or dryer sheet as these substances can smear the lenses. Your cloth also needs to be perfectly clean; any dirt or debris trapped in the fibers of a towel can scratch your lenses.
Refer back to these steps as often as you need for routine care that will preserve the performance of your sunglasses!