Mine have built a decent number of very small scratches and they’re getting annoying so I’d like to get rid if at all possible.

I’ve seen various things suggested including:

  • lens scratch repair kit (reviews don’t look great on amazon)
  • baking soda paste
  • non-abrasive toothpaste
  • furniture polish (temporarily fills in the scratch from what I can tell)

I’m reluctant to try any of them without some first hand accounts. No lens coating on these so no worries there.

Thank you in advance!

edit: I just want to say thanks very much to everyone. I ended up getting my prescription emailed to me and buying a new pair for €17 (about $19 USD) delivered on a site that one helpful poster linked. Looks like they will take about 3 weeks to get here so I’ll put up with the scratchy ones until they get here.

When they do arrive I will take some pictures and test the various methods I found online then post up what works and what wrecks the lenses.

  • sir_pronoun@lemmy.worldEnglish
    271·
    2 months ago

    Afaik you would destroy the coating on modern lenses, making it worse. That’s why I am intensely careful with mine, I only carefully wash them under warm water (not hot) with dish soap without additives, and then use a microfibre cloth to dry. Water and dish soap first to remove anything that could scratch, even microscopic stuff.

    After around 4 years of this, mine are almost as good as new still.

    • khannie@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      6·
      2 months ago

      Ah unfortunately they’ve taken a bit of abuse over the years. Nothing major so the scratches are really tiny but enough of them have built up from rough and tumble with the kids etc. that they’re a constant annoyance now. :(

      I do actually do the dishsoap / warm water thing myself and find it great.

      These were my backup pair on a 2 for 1 offer so I didn’t get any lens coating / thinner lens thing on them.

  • over_clox@lemmy.world
    11·
    2 months ago

    I’ve done it before, using a Dremel tool with a polishing wheel and wax polishing compound, then toothpaste on a rag.

    It took me two days, per lens to get anything close to usably clear. So I hate to say it, but you’re probably better off getting new lenses.

    TL;DR the next part, shit used to be made to last…

    Or, if you hit a dumb stroke of luck like I recently did, get some vintage glasses made in the 1980s. It’s very rare that I stumble into prescription glasses that match my prescription, but I accidentally came across a perfect matching pair that was manufactured around 1988, and they just refuse to scratch!

    Yes, that’s almost impossible to stumble across, but you never know what you might find in a thrift store or flea market.

    • khannie@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      10·
      2 months ago

      You know, this is so blindingly obvious I never thought of it. Haha! Great idea.

      edit: I actually can’t believe I didn’t think of this. Chuckling away to myself here.

      edit 2: I looked up the opticians I bought from and they have a page about scratches that says they can’t unfortunately. :( It recommends new lenses. Not sure if that’s profit motive or not though.

      • qprimed@lemmy.mlEnglish
        6·
        2 months ago

        my undaeratanding is that lens material is so optically tuned for weight that removal of any amount of material makes a difference to the focusing - not to mention the possible coatings on the lens. this is what I have been told, I have no other evidence.

      • MrQuallzin@lemmy.world
        2·
        2 months ago

        Costco’s optometrist said they couldn’t buff out the scratches on mine since they don’t actually use glass anymore. They use polycarbonate lenses which are strong and won’t shatter if broken (I’ve definitely tested this on accident…)

  • over_clox@lemmy.world
    3·
    2 months ago

    I recently viewed and saved a post regarding modern day lens coatings. Took me a bit to find it…

    https://lemmy.world/post/18532120

    There’s also a particular comment in that thread that says what chemical they use to remove that coating. Check back soon and I’ll reply to this comment with a link to that particular comment…

  • credo@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 months ago

    I don’t know about outer coatings, but I always wondered if lapping film would work on glass lenses. Think super fine sandpaper for fiber optic cables.

  • thirteene@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 months ago

    After you get your replacement lens, you can also try putting a drop of resin and wiping it away. In theory the resin should fill the crack with a transparent material and the heal the blemish. Then you “buff it” by removing excess liquid before it cures. But as others mentioned there is coating and more specifically glass treatment that may cause issues, but that’s the process for auto class repair (they usually drill out a hole around it first to prevent further spreading but that sounds worse here). Those kits can be pretty cheap

  • irotsoma@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    You’d need to be able to replace the coatings on them. The scratch would likely be the easier part. The coatings might be hard to get. Most sold commercially are not as permanent and industrial ones are either very proprietary or require expensive equipment that wouldn’t be worth it for a one pair of lenses.

  • Kaiyoto@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 months ago

    I don’t think it would work in the slightest either way but rather than buff them out, maybe find something to fill in the scratches.

    • khannie@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      Yeah one of the recommended things I saw was furniture polish or car wax to fill them in. Both would only be temporary. Based on the replies so far I may give this a whirl as I don’t see it being damaging.