After Your Purchase
A new pair of eyeglasses worn every day should serve you 2-3 years or more. We’ve gathered information and resources so you can best care for your frame and lenses in the upcoming years.
Daily Care of Eyeglasses
Hinges are the most frequently broken part of a frame; taking your glasses on and off with two hands will help your glasses keep their proper alignment. Keep your frame out of the sun/heat in the car to maintain proper shape. Replace nose pads when they change color. Keep lenses away from aerosols like hairspray, and avoid heat (bonfire, wood stove, even the burst from a hot oven).
Heat can crack (or “craze”) the surface of your lenses if you have an anti-reflective treatment. We use high heat to apply these coatings, so it only makes sense heat would reverse the process. In the right light crazing looks like stress lines and typically happens to the whole lens.
Why Are My Lenses Scratched?
Common culprits are storing your glasses outside of a case (loose in a purse or pocket); falling to the floor off the nightstand or out of the bed; storing them on an eyeglass retainer that has beads or other hard parts (and rubbing them against the lens); storing in a thin, soft case in a purse or other tight space; or putting them down on a table lens-first. The most common, though, is months upon months of cleaning your lenses dry with a dirty microfiber cloth / paper towel / Kleenex / clothing!
How Should I Clean My Lenses?
There are two good ways to clean your lenses. (1) Warm water and a drop of Dawn detergent in the sink is great for a ‘deep clean’ periodically; dry with a microfiber cloth. (2) Lens cleaner (confirm with your optician if you need to be using alcohol-free spray or if a normal spray is acceptable, some frames don’t like alcohol) sprayed on both sides and then wiped away with a clean microfiber cloth. If you have a lot of dust, dirt or particles on your lens, consider doing a quick rinse under a faucet first.
Dry-wiping grinds in particles and over time that can cloud your lens. Wiping with a dirty microfiber cloth can also cause microscratches. A few times here and there are fine, but again you are cleaning these perhaps 500-1,000 times and the accumulation of microscratches will make lenses look cloudy.
How to Extend the Life of my Frame?
Remove your glasses with two hands so as not to put extra pressure on hinges. Don’t store your glasses on top of your head, as this stretches out your adjustment. As much as possible, resist the urge to move and adjust your nosepads yourself and ask an optician to help instead. Keep your glasses in a case when they aren’t on your face, or use a product like a Sacco pouch (for sale at Artisan Eyewear). Never leave your eyewear in a hot car. Those who wear their glasses consistently all day have less wear and tear than folks who take their eyewear off frequently!
What To Do When Your Glasses Break
When we receive a call asking if broken glasses can be repaired, everyone is given the same response: until we can hold your glasses in our hands, we just can’t say for sure.
Most glasses have universal components: standard nosepad shapes, standard screw sizes and lengths, and so forth. But certain frames and even whole brands can make glasses with unique or proprietary components; for example, Maui Jim has several nose pads that must be ordered from their company, so only an optical with a Maui Jim account can help you.
The good news is most issues can be resolved, the bad news is you may need to wait 1-3 weeks for different eye wear repairs to be completed. If nothing else, this is an excellent reason to always have a back up pair of eye wear!
Repair and Modification Options
Plastic Frame Restoration
Acetate can turn chalky, crack, and lose luster. We can hand work your frame into a matte, satin or high luster polished finish
Metal Repair
Micro welding is available on metal frames including titanium, great for restoring a nosepad arm, hinge or other damage
Hinge Repair
Rivet, heat sunk, welded, even spring hinge — with enough pressure, any hinge can be broken, so we offer repairs with a 2-3 week turnaround time
Painting Metal Frames
Whether a new frame or an old favorite, consider powder coating your frame in the exact Pantone color of your dreams! The rainbow is your limit
Plastic Repair
This is a very common type of break; we recommend using a tape to temporarily repair at home, NOT superglue as it makes future repairs very difficult
Nosepad Adaption
Your plastic glasses may need a larger acetate bump, or you may want to add regular nose pads to a frame that doesn’t have any
Can You Polish Scratches Out of My Lenses?
Unless your lenses are made of actual glass (and they probably aren’t), no (and sorry, using toothpaste is a myth)
Why Does it Look Like My Lenses Are Peeling?
Your lens coatings can peel after being exposed to aerosols, solvents or heat. If you work around these things, skip A/R
Products to Protect
In addition to your eyeglasses case, consider purchasing a Sacco pouch or OYOBox, both available from Artisan Eyewear