How to Get Rid of Scratches in Eye Glasses

Buff out light scratches on your eyeglasses.

Prescription eyeglasses are expensive. For those whose prescription rarely changes (and who wear the same lenses for multiple years), keeping lenses clean and scratch-free is paramount. However, doing so is difficult if not impossible. Glasses are bound to be scratched, and too many scratches make lenses less effective. Deep gouges require lens replacement, but light scratches do not. Save the money you would have spent on replacement lenses by buffing the scratches out of your existing lenses.

Things You'll Need

• Soft, lint-free cloth
• Micro-abrasive polish
• Furniture polish
• Toothpaste (the standard white paste)

Instructions

1. Using your fingers, apply a micro-abrasive eyeglass polish (available online or through a local optometrist), toothpaste or furniture polish to both sides of clean eyeglass lenses.

2. If using eyeglass polish, allow the polish to sit on the lenses for a few minutes (see polish's instructions for exact time).

3. Using a soft cloth, buff the polish or toothpaste off the lenses until they're clean.

Tips & Warnings

• Lenses that have a protective or non-glare coating cannot always be buffed enough to remove the scratches without also removing the coating.

• Some scratches may reside in the lens coating, not on the lens; these cannot be buffed out.

• Buffing with anything abrasive means removing material surrounding the scratch(es) to level the surface. This can change the shape of a lens, making it less effective.

• Lenses made from glass (vs. plastic) are stronger and hold up better to abrasive buffing techniques.

References

• Scratched Lens Repair Directions

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Eyeglass Repair Discussion