Let’s be honest, scratches on the lenses of your glasses are very common and really annoying and you’d be lying if you hadn’t seen at least one of the many “hacks” online that claim they can remove scratches on your lenses. I too have seen them and up to now, I have assumed that they’re rubbish – but a couple of months ago I got a big scratch on my lenses and so I thought I would try out one of the hacks and see if it actually works.
Okay, so a little context first, the scratch was made by a rhinestone, which I ashamedly admit was on the sleeve of a jumper which I used to clean the lenses of my glasses one afternoon when I couldn’t find a lens cloth. I didn’t realise the stone was there until I finished cleaning the glass and saw the extensive scratch across the whole of the lens.
As you can see the scratch consists of a number of sweeping scratches that cover the middle of the lens. So, now we know a little more about the lens itself, what about the hack? Well, there are a number of resources you can find if you Google ‘lens removal hack,’ I used this one which noted a number of options, but which I chose to use the toothpaste hack rather than any others, because of the ease and lack of preparation required (no mixing of baking soda for me!).
So let’s see how it went!
Step One: Clean lens and apply the paste
The first step is to make sure that your lens is clean to start with. Once you’ve got a nice clean lens, you’ll need to take a toothpaste that is not a gel based one, nor should it be abrasive or it might actually scratch the lens further – a general white paste is fine. Apply a pea-sized amount of paste directly to the lens.
Step Two: Rub the paste across the scratch
Once you’ve applied the paste, rub it into the scratch across the whole of the lens for a minute or so, really working the toothpaste into the scratch. The theory here is that the toothpaste fills the scratch and then cleans the edges so that the scratch is less visible and will reduce any impairment on your vision.
Step Three: Clean the lens well
Now clean the lens either with a lens cloth or by running it under the tap. I chose to run the lens under the sink as I was trying to take pictures at the same time, so I can’t comment on the result if you used a lens cloth instead to clean the paste away.
Results
It didn’t work. Well, take a look at the photo below and see what you think. Personally, I think it might have reduced the edges of the scratches slightly so that they don’t appear as harsh as before, but to be honest, all I think this hack did was give my glasses a good clean, although I now have stubborn bits of toothpaste in the cracks of the lenses!
Thinking about this realistically, I think there are a couple of pointers if you want to try this for yourself. Firstly, my scratch was a couple of months old, at least. I think if you scratch your glasses and then immediately try it, you might have more success. Secondly, my scratch is quite extensive and deep – perhaps it would be more successful on a smaller scratch.
I did repeat the steps again, to see if there was more effectiveness a second time around, but sadly there was no difference. It looks like I will just have to bite the bullet and buy myself some new glasses. I’ve had my eye on these TODS TO5155 glasses which are just beautiful so I think I’ll be investing in these in the near future – they’re a luxury purchase, but they do come with free single vision lenses which I can benefit from, and as I wear them all day every day, they’re a worthy investment for me.
So my final thoughts are that, if you want to try this hack out, then it doesn’t really cause any harm to the lenses, so at the worst, you’ll end up with glasses that are just as scratched as they were when you started, but perhaps if you do have a smaller scratch, or if you try this as soon as you scratch your lenses, you might have a better result.
Please note: Select Specs, nor the author assumes any responsibility for those who try this hack for themselves. All responsibility is taken by the individual.
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