How many times should you rinse your expensive designer sunglasses when doing a regular cleaning? Based on the many different blog posts covering the topic, there seems to be no general consensus. How strange. It seems that something as simple as cleaning sunglasses would not engender so much disagreement. It is what it is.
The good news is that you no longer have to wonder. Instead, Salt Lake City’s Olympic Eyewear provides the answer. Olympic Eyewear is a designer and distributor of dozens of different brands of sunglasses. Their target audience consists of those consumers who want the quality and style of a respected fashion brand at a lower price point.
Why You Rinse Sunglasses
Figuring out how many times to rinse starts with understanding why you do it. The reason is pretty simple. As advanced as modern lens design is, very few lenses are 100% impervious to scratches. Even scratch resistant lenses can be damaged by larger particles. The whole point of rinsing is to dislodge and remove those particles before making contact with the lenses.
To a lesser degree, you also want to rinse to prevent larger particles from making their way into the hinges. The downside to this is that cheaper hinges could potentially rust if they have not been properly treated by the manufacturer. But that is a different discussion for a different post. Let us move on to answering the question this post asks.
Rinse At Least Twice
Olympic Eyewear says that it is best to rinse your sunglasses at least twice during a normal cleaning. The first rinse occurs as the very first step. Rinse your sunglasses under running water, then shake off the excess water before you clean.
Next, apply a cleaning solution and wipe with a microfiber towel or a clean, cotton cloth. Use a circular motion around the lenses rather than going horizontally or vertically. Whatever you do, avoid using paper products to clean your sunglasses. This includes tissues and paper towels.
Paper products are wood products. As such, it is always possible that a small particle of wood that would otherwise go unnoticed will end up scratching your lenses. The worst offender in this regard is the paper napkin. Do not let one anywhere near your shades.
The second rinse occurs after you have applied and wiped off the cleaning solution. You are rinsing a second time to wash away any remaining debris and cleaner. And of course, it’s possible that your microfiber or cotton cloth wasn’t entirely clean. It could have deposited some debris on the lenses.
Normal Cleaning Frequency
One last thing to discuss is how often you should clean your designer sunglasses. There is no black-and-white schedule. Just clean them as often as necessary to keep them in tip-top shape. Whenever there is visible debris on the lenses, at least rinse them off. Debris always presents a risk of scratching, so you want to avoid it as much as possible.
You will need to go above and beyond rinsing whenever you find dirt, grease, and other substances stuck to the lenses. This is stuff you cannot get off by rinsing. Don’t let it linger too long or you could have problems getting it off later. This is especially true for things like adhesives and solvents. The sooner you can clean your glasses, the better.
Now you know how many times you should rinse your glasses during normal cleaning. Rinse at least twice. Apply the first rinse to start the cleaning process and the second rinse to finish things off. Your sunglasses will love you for it.