Keeping the glasses clean

Sukanya posted on the facebook group about the difficulties in keeping her son’s glasses clean. It made me laugh, only because we’ve had the exact same frustrations throughout the 2 1/2 years that Zoe’s worn her glasses. I feel like every time I’ve looked at her glasses, they’ve been cloudy or dirty or covered in yogurt.

shortly after this picture was taken, the glasses were completely covered in yogurt. I was laughing too hard to get the picture

Sometimes I feel like they get dirty sitting on her bedside table at night.

Zoe definitely likes “cleaning” her glasses, and is almost getting good at it, though they still aren’t clean after she goes after them with her cleaning cloth. She’s good at handing them to us and asking us to clean them, and we send a cleaning cloth to daycare, too. Any other ideas of ways to keep the glasses clean? Do you find yourself cleaning your child’s glasses all the time? Have you taught them to clean their own glasses?

4 responses to “Keeping the glasses clean”

Hi Ann,
I can definitely relate to this!! Although I do find that as Paris is getting older they are staying cleaner longer! However, I do wonder how on earth she sees through them sometimes and she doesn’t complain! They could be completely covered in dirt and fingerprints and she toddles on like they are fine! She does hand them to me from time to time and asks me to clean them and also likes to clean them herself (not very well at this stage!). I also send a little bottle of cleaner and a cloth to daycare and remind the carers to keep an eye on them and make sure they are clean. I can only imagine it will get easier and easier as times goes on!

LikeLike

All glasses, even non-Rx sunglasses, get dirty and should ideally be cleaned on a daily basis. (Do you really want smudges in your line of vision?) Costco sells a nice kit of 2 bottles of cleaner (free refills for life) + 2 cloths for roughly $5. That’s what I use for everybody’s glasses, including my daughter’s – hers have to be cleaned at least a couple of times a day. The key, especially with kids’ glasses, which have all kinds of grime on them, is to PRE-RINSE them with cold water, both sides, prior to cleaning. If you don’t, you risk scratching the lenses with whatever small particles might be left on them. Then spray, wipe and go! Anyway, the whole process takes second, and that’s the easiest part of having a child in glasses.

P.S. I machine wash the cloths regularly, on a rotating basis, at least once a week.

LikeLike

I have noticed that my new glasses get a lot dirtier – they’re plastic frames that sit closer to my eyes, so if they get bumped at all, I get eyelid prints on the inner lenses. I’m pretty sure that this happens with Zoe, too, and is part of what’s leading to all the cloudy lenses.

I remember when I first got glasses at age 10, my mom explained that what ended up on my lenses was the same dirt that ended on my face, and that’s why we had to wash our face every day. I still think about that.

LikeLike