6 Ways To Remove Scratches From Your Prescription Glass

April 30, 2024 • 4:00 PM

What’s the best part about wearing prescription glasses? If you answered, “Being able to see,” then you’re exactly right. The whole point of wearing specialized glasses lenses is seeing and enjoying the world around you.

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to end up with scratched lenses, which can ultimately cause blurriness in your field of vision. If you aren't careful, it can even cause headaches and eye strain.

If you have scratches on your lenses, chances are that you’re looking into home remedies to save you a trip to the optometrist. Read on for the most popular home remedies to remove scratches from glasses, as well as a list of reasons why it’s really best to leave things like that to the professionals.

What Causes Scratches on Glasses?

First, let’s take a look at what causes glasses to get scratched. After all, knowing your enemy is half the battle. By understanding where your scratch came from, you can hopefully keep it from happening again.

Lens Material

One of the first things to consider is your lens material. The most popular materials for lenses are glass and plastic.

Glass lenses are more traditional and ultimately much more scratch-resistant than plastic lenses. However, they’re also exceptionally prone to shattering. When your lens shatters, it’s a pretty big deal — you’ll have to pay for new lenses to be cut, and you won’t have anything to help you see in the meantime. In general, it’s best to avoid this situation if you can help it.

On the other hand, plastic lenses include lenses made from CR-39, polycarbonate, and trivex lenses. Unfortunately, these materials are more prone to scratches, but are also shatter-resistant.

If you're careful about maintaining the lenses to prevent scratches (more on that later), you can theoretically use the same lenses indefinitely (unless your prescription changes).

Poor Cleaning Materials

When you first received your glasses, they should have come with a microfiber cloth and some cleaning solution. Hopefully, you held onto this cloth, because it’s the best material for cleaning glasses.

Glasses are easy to gunk up, especially if you have long eyelashes that tend to leave an oily residue on your lenses. While materials like toilet paper, paper towels, and T-shirts might successfully remove the grime, they’re still not the best things to use.

While using the wrong cleaning materials might not scratch your lenses the first time you use them, it’s almost inevitable that they’ll cause a scratch at some point. Instead, it’s best to be in the habit of using the proper cleaning materials.

Harsh Cleaning Products

Let’s circle back to the cleaning solution you received when you first got your glasses. This solution is the best option for lens cleaning products because it’s specially designed to remove grime and dust without scratching your lenses. It’s also designed not to remove any of the protective coatings on your lenses.

If you run out of solution, you can usually purchase more from whichever retailer you bought your glasses from. You can also use lens wipes or other products made specifically to clean glasses.

Whatever you do, please don’t use vinegar or regular glass cleaners to clean your lenses. These products can actually strip your glasses of any coatings they may have, including anti-glare, anti-scratch, and blue light coatings. These coatings often cost more, so using the proper products is more like taking care of an investment.

Sand or Dust Particles

If you’re reading this and thinking, “I’m good because I haven’t been to the beach recently,” hear us out. Think about what sand is made of. When you break it down, sand is just tiny pieces of rock.

While you might be used to seeing sand at the beach, you can be exposed to tiny grains of rock wherever you go. If you like to spend time in nature, you’ll probably spend a lot of time around potential grains of sand. Unfortunately, sand can scratch lenses — including lenses with anti-scratch coatings on them.

Even normal debris, such as dust, can scratch lenses if it’s rubbed into them. When you think about how common dust is (it’s everywhere, after all), it makes sense how common lens scratches are.

Not Being Careful

Finally, not being careful is a common culprit when it comes to scratching up lenses. Most glasses are made with plastic lenses, which are unfortunately pretty prone to scratching. Combine the easy-to-scratch material with the bumps and tumbles of everyday life, and scratches are bound to occur.

Scratches can crop up if you drop your glasses, rub them, or even set them down on a hard surface. Basically, anytime your lenses are exposed to the outside world, there’s a potential for scratches to show up.

6 Home Remedies To Remove Scratches

We’re all about home remedies — there’s nothing better than a little chamomile tea for a sleepless night or a refreshing walk in the park to cure a general lack of motivation. However, home remedies aren’t cure-alls, and it’s always recommended to see a doctor before you try a home remedy to make sure you aren’t in danger of making the problem worse.

The same concept applies to eyeglasses. There are some commonly touted home remedies to help reset a pair of scratched-up lenses, but it’s important to take everything you see with a grain of salt.

We’ll discuss our personal recommendations for scratched lenses in a minute. But first, let’s go over some of the more common home remedies we’ve seen recommended online.

Toothpaste

The idea here is that toothpaste is mildly abrasive and works like sandpaper to smooth out your glasses. However, the danger with using something abrasive on your glasses is that it’s likely to cause deeper scratches. Also, toothpaste abrasiveness varies on the formula, so it’s hard to know the final effect.

Glass Etching Solution

Supposedly, leaving this solution on your glasses and wiping it off will ll remove scratches. This might theoretically work, but it’s also very likely to remove any coating on your lenses at the same time. Plus, leaving the solution on for too long can even damage the lens itself.

Sunscreen

This hack is supposed to work by filling in scratches. However, sunscreen can also remove the mirrored coating on your lenses. This isn’t just an aesthetic problem — it can also expose your eyes to more UV light and even change the carefully balanced prescription of your lens.

Baking Soda

This hack is supposed to work a lot like the toothpaste hack, and the issues with it are pretty much the same. It might remove small scratches, but it can also take your lens coatings with it.

Polishing Products

Metal polishing products can be highly abrasive. After all, metal is much more durable than plastic — it only makes sense that it would scratch up your lenses. It’s a good idea to stay far away from these.

Car Wax

This one is interesting. Supposedly, car wax will fill in tiny scratches and provide an even surface on your lenses. Unfortunately, this is another hack that’s too good to be true. Car wax will likely gunk up your lenses, making them greasy and hard to see through.

What’s the Best Way To Remove Scratches From Your Glasses?

So, if none of those home remedies will work, what is the best way to remove scratches from your glasses? Ultimately, we recommend always leaving it to a professional.

No matter how shallow the scratch is, it’s way too easy to accidentally cause a deeper scratch if you aren’t extremely careful and use the proper methods. You can either take your glasses to your optometrist or the retailer you bought your glasses from.

Depending on the severity of your scratches, the professional might choose to replace your lens entirely. This might come with extra fees or costs, depending on your insurance. Whatever the cost, keeping your glasses in the best shape possible is worth it.

How Can You Prevent Your Glasses From Getting Scratched?

As with almost anything else, the best way to fix scratches in your glasses is to prevent them. Here are a few tips to take care of your glasses and keep them scratch-free for years to come.

Clean Them Regularly

Since scratches can be caused by a buildup of dirt, sand, and dust, one easy way to keep scratches from forming is by keeping your glasses clean. Clean them regularly to keep the lenses clear of debris.

Remember to use the proper lens cleaning supplies. Find the microfiber cloth that came with your frames or buy a new one, and use either lens wipes or lens cleaning solution to gently wipe away debris.

Keep Them Safe

When you’re not wearing your glasses, one of the most important things you can do to protect them is to keep them in a safe place where they’re less likely to be scratched. One way to do this is by keeping them in a hard (not soft) case.

You can also lay them on a hard surface where they’re not likely to get knocked off. Remember to treat them gently and avoid tossing or throwing them.

Get a Scratch-Resistant Coating

Lastly, most optometrists or retailers provide an option for scratch-resistant coatings when you buy new lenses. The cost can vary based on your location, insurance, and provider, but it’s almost always worth it if you’re using plastic lenses.

At Pair Eyewear, all of our eyeglass lenses are treated with anti-scratch coating to make sure that your visual field remains crystal clear in the long run. Whichever frames you choose, you can rest assured that maintaining your Pair will be easy and convenient.

The Bottom Line

Scratches are a part of life — no matter what you do, they’re bound to pop up at some point. You might see some home remedies that promise to remove scratches, but it’s generally best to leave scratch removal to a qualified professional.

You can also prevent scratches from showing up in the first place by keeping your lenses clean, treating your glasses gently, and opting for scratch-resistant coating. At Pair Eyewear, our glasses are designed to help you see clearly for years to come — plus, our bright styles and fun top frames can help you express yourself better than ever. To find your Pair, browse our selection today.