A patient came with the glasses in the picture above. I’ll share with you the story of how this happened in hopes of preventing others from trying this “home remedy”. This patient noticed he had scratches on his lenses which were distorting his vision. He told me that he read online that Armor Etch would be a great product to removed the scratches. He rubbed this solution over his lenses and this was the result. Needless to say, he ended up having to replace his lenses.
Sometimes patients will come in with scratches on their lenses and ask if we can repair it. I’ve heard of people trying Armor Etch, Lens Drx, nail polish, and the list goes on… Unfortunately, the answer is no, scratches cannot be repaired. Deep scratches cannot be removed and any fillers distort the optics of the lens causing blurred and glary vision. We ensure that our lenses have an anti-scratch coating, however this does not mean lenses are scratch-proof. The coating prevents surface scatches and minimizes deeper ones. Good thing our lenses come with a 2 year warranty!
The best solution to scratches is preventative care. Make sure you store your glasses in a proper glasses case and clean your lenses with a soft cleaning cloth. Stay away from facial tissues or paper towels.
I’m sure home remedies work for some things, but I have yet so see one that works for scratched lenses.