Reviewed by : Dr. Matthew Miller, OD on 24 Jun, 2022

Making your own homemade eyeglass cleaner is a great idea for many reasons. While you can buy cleaning solution on a visit to your optometrist, it may be easier to make it yourself. In fact, you’ve probably got all the ingredients for a DIY lens cleaner in your kitchen.

DIY Eyeglass Cleaner for Plastic Lenses

When it comes to making your very own DIY eyeglass cleaner, there’s a variety of tricks out there. Some of the eyeglass cleaner recipes below will offer a quick and easy way to give your glasses a thorough rinse. Others will help you make your very own on-the-go lens cleaning solution.

Before you give the recipes a read, here are a few household items you’ll need to create and use a homemade cleaner: Warm water Dish soap Rubbing alcohol (optional) Spray bottle (optional) Spoon or mixing utensil

You’ll also need a clean microfiber cloth to dry your glasses after you clean them.

How to Make Eyeglass Cleaner with Soap

Follow these steps to successfully wash your glasses using an alcohol-free eyeglasses cleaner: 1. Prepare a medium-sized bowl of warm tap water. You can also use distilled water if you prefer it. 2. Add in a couple drops of lotion-free dish soap. 3. Mix the soapy water gently with a spoon. 4. Using both hands, hold your eyeglass frames by the arms and — if you’re only wanting to clean the glasses lenses — dip the lenses into the soapy water. If you also want to clean your glasses frames, submerge them fully into the homemade eyeglass cleaner.

TIP: Be sure to use warm water, NOT hot. Hot water can damage the protective coating on coated lenses.

After the lenses have been submerged into and removed from the cleaning solution, gently and thoroughly dry them with a microfiber cleaning cloth.

This method gently and effectively rinses and washes your glasses. If you don’t have any glasses cleaner, it’s OK to use just a microfiber cloth for cleaning and removing smudges from your lenses. But the cloth ultimately pushes dirt and debris to the sides of your lenses rather than removing them.

How to Make Eyeglass Cleaner with Alcohol

  1. Fill a spray bottle (any size will work) ¾ of the way with rubbing alcohol.
  2. Add two drops of liquid dish soap to the rubbing alcohol.
  3. Fill the rest of the spray bottle with water and shake it gently.
  4. Do a test spray of the cleaning solution to make sure there are no bubbles in the liquid once it’s sprayed.
  5. Spray each side of your glasses lenses with the lens cleaner, then gently dry them using a clean microfiber cloth.

And there you have it: Your very own eyeglass cleaning solution! This simple recipe gives your old store-bought bottle a much-needed refill at a fraction of the cost.

Other Ways to Care for Your Glasses

Having clean eyeglasses isn’t the only thing that can keep them looking like new. Here are some other care tips to help prolong the life of your specs: * Keep your glasses in a case when you’re not wearing them. * Avoid wearing your glasses when doing an activity that may damage them, like playing sports or working outside. Instead, correct and protect your vision with a pair of specialty sports glasses or safety glasses during those activities. * Be gentle when handling your glasses — don’t bend or stretch them unnecessarily.

Don’t continue wearing frames or lenses that are worn out or broken. You may have become attached to your tried and true pair, but ill-fitting and broken glasses can put strain on your eyes.

When the day comes that your current glasses are too worn out to use, replace them with a new pair from Eyebuydirect. We have a wide variety of frame and lens options to fit every preference.