16 Apr
Equipment, Eye Health

Choosing the Right Lenses and Keeping them Clean

Usually everyone focuses on their eyeglass frames. They want to pick the right color, shape, and thickness to compliment their face. They also want the style that is most comfortable. I know that when I was searching for my first pair of eyeglasses, I got sucked into looking at the hundreds of frames available in the store. But, one aspect of eyewear that is a bit under-appreciated is the lens.

The Common Mistake

While many people spend an hour or so picking out the right eyeglass frames, they fail to take the time to find the right lenses – this is a common mistake that you should avoid making. When you don’t consider the different features and benefits of different types of lenses, you miss out on important opportunities that you may regret later. Rather than having to switch lenses a month after getting your new eyeglasses, why not learn about which lens is right for you?

The Different Materials

When eyeglasses were first introduced, all lenses were made of glass. Glass lenses offer the optic quality that you want, but the downside is that they’re heavy and can break easily. Now, glass lenses aren’t widely used because if they break, they can actually harm your eye. However, as technology has advanced and we’ve made significant innovations in the optical industry, there are additional options for lens materials:

  • Plastic Lenses: These lenses are light weight, low cost, and excellent optical quality. Specifically, one of the major types of plastic used is a polymer called CR-39. This is a popular material for lenses today.
  • Polycarbonate Lenses: These lenses were introduced for safety glasses in the 1970s. Since then, they’ve become increasingly popular for children’s eyewear, safety glasses, and sports eyewear because polycarbonate is lighter and more resistant to impact than CR-39 plastic.
  • High-Index Plastic Lenses: These lenses were created to meet the growing demand for thinner, lighter eyeglasses. They’ve been produced over the past 20 years and they promise to be even thinner and lighter than CR-39 plastic lenses.

Important Treatments

After you select the right material for your lenses, you want to take time to decide if they should undergo extra treatments. For instance, you can opt for anti-scratching coating, anti-reflective coating, UV-blocking treatment, or Photochromic treatment. The different options offer unique benefits, such as protecting your eyes from harmful UV rays, and adjusting the darkness in the sun’s UV and high-energy visible (HEV) light rays. In addition, the photochromic treatment will turn to clear when indoors.

The Best Eyeglass Lens Cleaner

Now that you’ve carefully considered all your lens options (and hopefully made a decision), it’s time to select the right eyeglass cleaner to ensure that your lenses remain in good shape. This requires both finding the right lens cleaner and following the proper steps to clean your glasses. While there are a wide variety of lens cleaners and cloths available, if you’re looking for a step up from the traditional options, consider the new UltraVue Gel Lens Cleaner. This cleaner uses a unique patented formula that improves efficiency when cleaning your eyewear. The secret to its success is that the gel sticks to the lenses rather than sliding off like regular liquid cleaners. The UltraVue Gel Lens Cleaner promises to be a superior option and safe for use on all types of eyewear. The good new is, this unique patented formula is available at Eyeglass Supply Store. Shop around to find different sizes and colors – we even have complete kits which include the UltraVue Gel Lens Cleaner with a microfiber cleaning cloth. At Eyeglass Supply Store, we’re always exploring new products that can better satisfy our customers, so stick around for more innovations to come.

12 Feb
Eye Health

Eyeglass Cleaning 101

Eyeglass Cleaning 101

In today’s day and age, eyeglasses are mainstream. More and more people are turning to eyeglasses, both for function and fashion. Those who suffer from poor vision rely on glasses to get through the day and even the people who just wear glasses as an accessory value their eyewear. That means it’s more important than ever to care for your eyeglasses. In

this post, our experts at Eyeglass Supply Store offer some basic tips for maintaining your eyeglasses to keep them looking great and working as needed.

Let’s start with some Do’s and Don’ts…

DO: Clean your eyeglasses throughout the day. When your glasses are exposed to dust and other debris in the air, it’s important to take the time to stop and clean them. But you may ask, what is the proper way to clean your glasses? There are different opinions about this but there are definitely bad habits people get into that they should avoid if they want their glasses to last.

Which brings us to a DON’T: Don’t wipe your glasses on your shirt or other pieces of clothing.  It might seem like a quick fix for the problem, but, by rubbing your clothing on your lenses you can actually end up scratching them. This creates even more problems than the little smudges you originally experienced. Another bad habit we often see is cleaning your eyeglasses with everyday household cleaners, like Windex. That’s a major DON’T, because most household cleaners contain ammonia, which can tear off the coating on your lenses and damage your eyes.

Now that we’ve gone over a couple of things to avoid when cleaning your eyeglasses, we’re going to offer our advice.

Eyeglass Supply Store Recommendations

Ideally, you want to be prepared with the appropriate supplies for cleaning your glasses. Therefore, DO purchase a high-quality eyeglass cleaner and cloth. The cleaner should be 100% safe on all lenses, non-streak, and anti-static. The cloths should be microfiber cloths that are 100% safe on all lens types.

We recommend our Purity Lens Cleaner and Purity cloths. The Purity Lens Cleaner is available on eyeglasssupplystore.com in all different sizes, ranging from 1 oz. containers to 1-gallon refill bottles. Our Purity Cloths are available in a variety of colors, both in bulk packaging or individual pouches for added convenience.

Once you have the right products, it’s time to go through the proper steps for cleaning your glasses.

Your Eyeglass Cleaning Regimen

  1. Wash and dry your hands to ensure that there’s no dirt or grime that could be transferred to your lenses.
  2. Rinse your lenses under warm water to remove any debris.
  3. Spray a small, but adequate amount of your cleaner on the lenses.
  4. Use your microfiber cloth to wipe off the excess cleaner without scratching the lenses.

 

As stated earlier, it’s important that you clean your glasses regularly. So, come up with a routine that you follow each morning and at certain points throughout the day as needed. Stick to your schedule and when in doubt, an extra cleaning can only help!

Why Eyeglass Supply Store?

At Eyeglass Supply Store, we’ve worked for over 20 years to become one of the most trusted provider of high-quality optical accessories and supplies. Our loyal customers can expect only the best quality lens processing supplies available, directly from the manufacturer. Explore our selection of cleaners and cloths to stock up on the supplies you need to keep your eyeglasses clean.

15 Jul
Eye Health

How Do You Keep Your Eyes Healthy?

Eye health can be neglected by many people in lieu of skincare and oral care, among others. But as we age, our eyes require more care and we need to become more vigilant about ensuring that we protect our vision. Whether you wear corrective lenses, or you have 20/10 eyesight, you need to continue to care for your eyes.

Eyecare For All Ages

Children, adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults, all need to focus on keeping their eyes healthy and while eyecare differs by age, there are some common themes. Below we outline some of the basic tips for caring for your eyes:

  • Schedule Regular Eye Exams – It is recommended to go for an eye exam at least once a year. If you really want to keep your eyes healthy, it’s even better to go every six months. For the children, this can help them succeed in school because most of the work they need to complete requires good vision. In addition, myopia (nearsightedness) is becoming a growing concern for children because as they age, they develop worsening conditions if left untreated. Getting regular eye exams also ensures that you are checked for Glaucoma. If you develop Glaucoma and leave it untreated, it can result in permanent vision loss. Finally, getting your regular eye exam protects more than your eyes – it can also diagnose other physical ailments that may have developed, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.
  • Exercise – As we said above, eye health is tied to other physical conditions. Therefore, by engaging in moderate exercise, you can reduce your risk of developing serious illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and more, which in turn affect your eyes. In addition, studies have found evidence that engaging in exercise can reduce the risk of eye diseases such as cataracts and glaucoma. While scheduling the eye exam is a great first step, it falls on you to take care of yourself and listen to what your optometrist recommends.
  • Don’t Smoke – Most people are aware that smoking can cause serious illnesses such as heart disease and lung cancer, but one area that has been understudied is its effect on eyesight. Smoking can cause vision loss or blindness. Smoking increases the risk of developing a variety of eye diseases such as:
    • Age-related macular degeneration
    • Cataracts
    • Glaucoma
    • Diabetic retinopathy
    • Uveitis
    • Infant eye disease
  • Protect Your Eyes from The Sun – Sunglasses aren’t just stylish accessories. They serve an important role in protecting your eyes against harmful UV rays. According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), some of the negative effects of direct exposure to UV rays are cataracts, macular degeneration, and pterygium, which can cause astigmatism. It seems like buying yourself a pair of quality sunglasses is a much better alternative to developing these serious conditions. When you’re looking for the right sunglasses for you, identify the pairs that block out 99-100% of both UVA and UVB radiation.
  • Wear Your Eyeglasses – Last, but certainly not least, if you need glasses or contact lenses, make sure that you’re wearing them as often as you need them to see. If you need them to see at all times, then you should be wearing them all the time. When you don’t wear your eyeglasses, it won’t necessarily make your vision worse, but you’ll be putting your eyes under a lot of extra strain. This results in headaches and fatigue. It’s also important to note that if you wear corrective lenses that are too strong for near vision tasks, you can cause the same problems as when you do not wear your glasses at a time when you do need them. Therefore, you want to always check in with yourself to determine when you should wear your glasses and remain aware of any pains that could be related to not wearing the correct glasses.

Maintaining Your Eyewear

At Eyeglass Supply Store, we know that getting glasses or contact lenses is just an initial step in caring for your eyes. In order to keep your corrective lenses working properly, you need to maintain them. That involves cleaning your lenses with a high-quality cleaner and microfiber cloth. If you have contacts, you want to make sure you have the right contact lens case to store them when you’re not using them. All of these supplies, and more, can be found on our website.

Learn More About Eyeglass Supply Store’s Products