Who hasn’t just bought a great pair of sunglasses, only to have them go missing or come to grief? Not losing your sunglasses is all part of taking care of them.

Some sunglasses are expensive and if they are prescription, then even more so. That’s why you should get into the habit of taking better care of them. You want them to last longer than one season.

How to Take Care of Your Sunglasses

When you find that perfect pair of sunglasses, get into good habits when it comes to taking great care of them.

Put Them Away

When you aren’t wearing them, put them in a case. Don’t drop them in your purse, toss them on the dashboard, throw them on the table, or put them in your pocket.

Don’t hang them from the collar of your shirt or park them on the top of your head, either. They can get scratched or damaged when they fall off your head, hit your keys, your phone or pens, and they can get sat on or stolen if you just leave them lying about.

Get a hard case or at least a microfiber case to put them in. The microfiber case helps them not get scratched but they can still get broken. Just shoving them in a shirt pocket will subject them to scratching, breaking, or falling out.

Don’t Leave Them in the Car

Avoid leaving your sunglasses on the dash, on the seat, or even in the glove box of your car. If the car is too hot or too cold, the glasses will melt or perhaps crack.

Of course, leaving them on the dashboard or the front seat is also an invitation to a thief to help themselves to them, particularly, if they are a nice pair. Not even if you are just going to be gone a few minutes.

Don’t Touch The Lenses

Putting your glasses on and taking them off is second nature but try to not touch the lenses, or stretch the arms. If you put them on by holding one arm, you can stretch it out, or it will become bent or broken.

Hold the sunglasses close to the nose bridge or where the arms connect. You have a better grasp on them so they won’t fall, get caught in your hair or clothes, and the lenses don’t get smeared or scratched.

Know How To Clean Them

Cleaning your sunglasses properly and regularly will also help keep them from getting dirty, smudged, and scratched.

Don’t use paper products. Even paper towels can ball up and leave lint or bits of paper fiber.

Use soap and water. Never use a harsh cleanser, only mild soaps, like hand or dishwashing soaps. Products like glass cleaners can also be harmful.

Rinse the lenses, frames, and nose bar under warm water. Rub a little bit of mild cleanser between your finger and your thumb, then gently rub it on the lenses.

Dry them with microfiber cloths that are meant to be used for the glasses. Not your shirt front or pants leg. The fibers can scratch the lenses.

If your sunglasses are polarized, you can scratch the coating. If the mirror is on the inside of the glass, they are more expensive. The mirrored coating can be harmed with scratches, cleansers, and rough treatment.

You should never breathe on your lenses to clean them, either. It’s very tempting to just fog them up and give them a good wipe across your shirt front, but that can scratch or harm them.

Inspect them Regularly

Get into the habit of checking them over before you wear them each time. Look for loose screws, loose arms, nicks, scratches, or possible breaks in the frames, chips or cracks on the frames or lenses, and other damages.

You should always have a repair kit for your sunglasses. Those tiny screws fall out and will disappear quickly. Have a kit ready for such repairs, plus a hard protective case, a few clean microfiber cloths, a good cleaning solution, and a spare screw and screwdriver.

You should take them in to be tightened and professionally cleaned. In particular, polarization or prescriptions need to be taken better care of. Having your optician check them over will help preserve their life.

Polarized Lenses

Polarized sunglasses are specially treated to help cut down on the glare, in particular from snow or water. For those who work outside, they make a great difference.

But good polarized sunglasses don’t come cheap, so replacing them is not something you want to keep doing. Take good care of your sunglasses so they can take good care of your eyes.

Investing in a great pair of sunglasses requires more from you than just looking good. Give them the care they deserve.