June 18, 2026 · 3 min read
How to actually clean your glasses
Your shirt tail is the problem. Here is the thirty-second method that will not put scratches in a coating you paid for.
Almost every scratch I see on a lens came from a dry cloth. Dust is mostly silica, silica is harder than the coating, and rubbing it in a circle is the fastest way to grind a permanent haze into a lens you are still paying off.
The method
- Rinse under lukewarm tap water first. This is the step everyone skips and the only one that matters.
- One drop of plain dish soap on each lens, worked in with your fingertips.
- Rinse again, then dry with a clean microfibre cloth — not a paper towel, which is wood.
What to avoid
Window cleaner, vinegar, alcohol wipes and anything marketed for a phone screen. Most will strip an anti-reflective coating within a few months, and the damage looks exactly like the coating failing on its own.
Wash the microfibre cloth every few weeks, on its own, without fabric softener. A dirty cloth is just a dry cloth with extra grit.