The five steps
- Rinse first. Hold the sunglasses under lukewarm running water for a few seconds, lenses and frame. This floats off the dust and sand that would otherwise be dragged across the lens by the cloth. Lukewarm, not hot: heat is the enemy of every coating and of acetate frames.
- A drop of mild soap. Plain dish soap without lotion, scent or citrus. Put a small drop on each lens and work it over both sides with clean fingertips, including the edges where the lens meets the rim, then over the nose pads and the hinges where skin oil collects.
- Rinse again. Running water until the soap is gone. Soap left on the lens dries to a film that looks like a smear.
- Shake and blot. Shake off the water, then blot, do not rub, with a clean lint-free cloth. A cotton tea towel that has never seen fabric softener works; a paper towel does not, because paper is wood fibre and wood fibre is abrasive.
- Finish with microfiber. A clean microfiber cloth takes off the last water marks with a few light passes. The microfiber cloth for glasses guide covers how to choose one and, just as important, how to wash it, because a dirty microfiber cloth is a sheet of grit.
The whole thing takes a minute and is the same routine the how to clean eyeglasses guide gives for clear lenses. The difference with sunglasses is only in what you must not do.
What never to use
- Clothing, tissues, paper towels, napkins. All abrasive, all carrying grit. The cloth you clean with has to be clean itself and made for lenses.
- Household glass cleaner, window spray, anything with ammonia, bleach or alcohol. These strip coatings. A polarizing film or a mirror coat is not glass and does not survive a glass cleaner.
- Hot water, the dashboard, the hair dryer. Heat makes coatings craze (fine cracks that look like a haze) and warps acetate frames out of shape.
- Saliva. It is not a cleaner, it dries to a film, and it carries whatever you ate.
- Your breath and a dry cloth. The oldest habit and still a bad one: the dry cloth drags dust across the lens. Rinse first, always.
- Dish soap with lotion or citrus oil. Leaves a film that will not rinse.
- Toothpaste or baking soda as a scratch remover. Both are abrasives. They take off the coating around the scratch and leave a bigger mark. The scratched glasses guide explains what can and cannot be done about a scratch, and the honest answer is usually a new lens.
Polarized lenses
A polarized lens has a film laminated inside or applied to the lens that cuts reflected glare; the polarized versus non polarized guide explains how it works. For cleaning, the rule is the same five steps, with two cautions. Never use a solvent, because the film is a plastic layer and solvents cloud it. And never leave polarized sunglasses in a hot car, because heat is what delaminates a film: the edges go milky first and the lens is finished. If a polarized lens shows a rainbow sheen after cleaning, it is usually soap residue, so rinse again; if the sheen is at the edge and does not rinse away, the film has started to lift.
Mirrored, gradient and photochromic lenses
A mirror coat sits on the outside of the lens, which makes it the most exposed coating of all. Rinse first every time, because a dry wipe on a mirror shows every scratch, and store the pair lens-up in its case, never lens-down on a table. The mirrored sunglasses guide covers the lens itself.
A gradient lens is tinted darker at the top and lighter at the bottom, with the tint inside the lens or on its back, so it cleans like any tinted lens. The one thing to watch is the light lower half, which shows smears more than a dark lens does; finish with the microfiber on the lower half last. The gradient sunglasses guide has the rest.
A photochromic lens, which darkens in sunlight, has its light-reacting layer within the lens and needs nothing special beyond the five steps and the heat rule; the photochromic lenses guide explains how it works and why heat shortens its life.
Cleaning the frame
The lenses get the attention, but the frame carries the dirt: skin oil at the nose pads and temple tips, sweat at the hinges, sunscreen everywhere in summer. Sunscreen is the one to take seriously, because some formulas mark acetate and dull metal finishes if left on. Rinse the frame with the lenses, work the soap into the nose pads and the hinges with a fingertip, rinse and dry. Silicone nose pads that have gone grey can be lifted with a soft toothbrush and soap; if they stay grey, an optician can replace them in minutes. Metal frames with a matte or laser finish want a soft cloth only, never a polish. Acetate frames want no heat and no alcohol, which dries the material and dulls the shine; a dulled acetate frame can be brought back by an optician with a polish, but not at home.
Daily, weekly, travelling
Daily. Rinse and microfiber when you take them off, if they have been on a beach, in the car or out in the city. Thirty seconds.
Weekly. The full five steps, frame included, and wash the microfiber cloth. Check the hinges for grit and the nose pads for oil.
Travelling. The case is the cleaning routine. A pair loose in a bag collects grit from everything else in the bag, and grit is what scratches. A hard case, lenses up, every time; a foldable frame that packs flat into a small case is the answer for a pocket, and the foldable sunglasses guide covers the range. Pack a spare microfiber cloth in the case, and clean the pair before it goes in, not after it comes out, so the grit does not travel with it.
Storing sunglasses
Lenses up, in the case, out of the sun. A car dashboard is the single worst place for sunglasses: heat for the coatings and the acetate, sun for the tint, and a windscreen that focuses both. A glovebox is better and a bag in the footwell better still. At home, a case or a stand that holds the pair by the temples keeps the lenses off every surface; a pair left lens-down on a desk collects a scratch a week.
MUJOSH pairs and their care
Every pair in the sunglasses collection takes the same five steps. These five show the cases above.
- Panini R11, $135: a narrow rectangle in polished acetate with polarized lenses, two colourways. Its page carries the care line in three parts: a soft cloth for the lenses, no high heat, a protective case when not in use. That is this whole guide in one sentence.
- Numer, $109: a narrow rectangle in polished acetate with polarized lenses, three colourways. Polarized care: no solvents, no hot car, rinse before every wipe. The polarized sunglasses collection lists the rest.
- LYF Cat Eye, $99: a soft cat eye in polished acetate, with one colourway in clear beige with brown gradient lenses. The gradient case: finish on the light lower half, and keep sunscreen off the pale acetate.
- Heavenly, $165: a resort-style square in laser-matte metal. The metal finish case: soft cloth only, no polish, and rinse sunscreen off the frame the same day.
- Oatt Fold, $149: a foldable round-square in lightweight TR90 that packs flat, three colourways. The travel case: clean, fold, case, pocket, in that order.
The bottom line
How to clean sunglasses: rinse under lukewarm water, a drop of mild soap worked over both sides and the frame, rinse, blot with a lint-free cloth, finish with clean microfiber. Never clothing, tissues, paper, glass cleaner, alcohol, heat, saliva or a dry wipe, and never an abrasive on a scratch. Polarized lenses add two rules, no solvents and no hot car; mirrored lenses want a rinse before every wipe and a lens-up rest; gradient lenses want the light half finished last. Clean the frame as carefully as the lenses, especially after sunscreen. Store lenses up in a case, away from the dashboard. In the MUJOSH range, Panini R11's page says it in a line, and Numer, LYF Cat Eye, Heavenly and Oatt Fold show the polarized, gradient, metal and travel cases.
Frequently asked questions
How do I clean sunglasses without scratching them?
Rinse under lukewarm water first to float off grit, use a drop of mild soap with clean fingertips, rinse again, blot with a lint-free cloth and finish with a clean microfiber cloth. Scratches come from dry wiping and from clothing, tissues and paper.
Can I use glass cleaner or alcohol on sunglasses?
No. Both strip coatings, and sunglass lenses are mostly coatings: tint, polarizing film, mirror, anti-reflective layer. Mild soap and water is the only cleaner they need.
How do you clean polarized sunglasses?
The same five steps, with two extra rules: no solvents of any kind, because the polarizing film is a plastic layer, and no hot car, because heat lifts the film from the edges. A sheen after cleaning is usually soap residue; rinse again.
What is the best cloth for cleaning sunglasses?
A clean microfiber cloth made for lenses, washed regularly without fabric softener. A dirty microfiber cloth scratches as surely as a shirt hem.
