How To Clean Your Glasses Without Scratching Them

Being a self-proclaimed four eyes isn't necessarily a bad thing — glasses can act as a sassy extra accessory to any ensemble, not to mention the crystal clear vision they give your peepers. But they can be annoying to deal with, especially when you're trying to clean your glasses without scratching them. Even if you feel like you spend half of your day polishing your specs, though, teeny scrapes are definitely avoidable.

Your go-to glasses cleaning method probably goes a little like this: Breathe onto your lenses to give 'em a good fog, then wipe them off with your shirt. No harm, no foul, right? Wrong. You're much more likely to scratch your lenses this way, optometrist Teri Geist told the Wall Street Journal.

"Everyone uses their shirt cloth—worst thing! Your shirttail almost certainly carries dust, and that has the potential of scratching your lens," she says.

Glasses are most certainly an investment, so treat them like one by cleaning them the American Optometric Association-approved way. First, run them with warm water, then lather them up with a bit of dish soap on your fingertips (don't forget the frames and earpieces, too.) After rinsing again, dry them with a soft, clean cotton cloth, reports WSJ.

Of course, if you're on the go, the dish soap and water method isn't always an option. But avoid reaching for a tissue or a paper towel — Dr. Geist says "the rough fibers that they're comprised of might leave debris behind." Instead, keep a microfiber cloth in your glasses case.

Here are the three cleaning tools you should use to keep your glasses in tip-top, scratch-free shape, at home or on-the-go Because nothing looks as good as clear vision feels, am I right?

Microfiber Cleaning Cloth

Personalized Microfiber Cleaning Cloth, $9.95, etsy.com

Why settle for a traditional (and kinda boring) gray or powder blue fabric when you can keep a cute, personalized one handy?

On-The-Go Wipes

Bausch & Lomb Sight Savers Pre-Moistened Lens Cleaning Tissues, $9.16, amazon.com

These won't replace a thorough soap and water cleaning, but they're handy to keep in your car or purse. Plus, they'll work on your phone screen — because they're disposable, you won't get any of that nasty screen gunk on your specs.

Good Ol' Dish Soap

Honeysuckle Dish Soap, $3.99, mrsmeyers.com

Ideally, you should be giving your classes a good cleaning sesh every day. (But we won't tell if you forget sometimes.)

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