Eyeglass wearers understand the frustration of getting their glasses to stop moving around. Whether it is because your skin is oily or sunglasses hinges are worn out, keeping your sunglasses from sliding down your face is an annoying struggle to deal with regularly. A pair of properly fit eyewear should stay in place when you bend over to pick something on the floor.
In most cases, glasses slip down because they aren’t suited for your face shape or the frames selected weren’t correctly fitted. Other reasons include oily skin, poorly adjusted nose pads, and worn-out hinges. Choose the correct frame size when buying eyewear to avoid slipping problems.
If you’re in a pinch and can’t afford to visit an optician to fix your eyewear, there are simple products and hacks you can use to address this issue temporarily. Read on to learn why your eyeglass keeps on falling and how to stop them from sliding down your nose in the future.
What Causes Sunglasses to Slip?
Here are reasons why you’re struggling to keep your eyewear in place:
Sweat or Face Products
Sweat or face products can cause your sunglasses to slide. These oily skin problems worsen when your skin isn’t well hydrated. Initiate a skincare routine to nourish your skin. Use lens cleaner to clean your glasses daily.
Too Wide or Heavy Frames
Your glasses will likely slip when the frame is too broad or heavy. In addition, people have different face shapes, and your frame may not be suitable for your face shape. You can buy an eyewear retainer or silicone ear hooks to help you keep your sunglasses in place.
Poorly Adjusted Nose Pads
If your eyewear features nose pads, you may need them inwards to stop your sunglasses from sliding down your nose. You can adjust the nose pads by pushing them gently. However, you can also take the glasses to an optical shop and have them adjusted for you.
Worn-Out or Loose Hinges
Located where the sunglasses’ temple joins the rest of the frame, loose hinges can make your eyewear slip. Loose hinges result from regular wear, vibration, and shock over time.
Using a repair kit, tighten these screws to adjust your hinges. This can restore your sunglasses and ensure it fits properly. However, your hinges might also be too damaged to repair.
Bent Temples
The part of eyewear that sits on your ears is called the temples. Over time, the temples tend to become broader and looser.
If the temples are not aligned, you can bend them back. But first, visit a local optical shop if your frames are plastic or acetate. The optical shop will heat and adjust the glasses to restore their shape.
You can view our sunglasses repair guide here.
How to Prevent Your Sunglasses from Slipping?
If you constantly push your eyewear back up your face, here’s how to prevent them from slipping anymore.
Buy the Correct Size for Your Face
Visit a glasses store or optometrist and request them to measure your face. This is the most accurate way to help you buy the correct frame size for your face. Some apps for online stores have a measurement function that uses your phone’s camera to measure the perfect fit for you.
Apply Wax to the Bridge of Your Glasses
Apply glass wax (on Amazon) on the frames’ bridge to prevent slips. Glass wax will increase friction between the frame and your nose. Apply glass wax, and put on your glasses to test if they still move. If they still slip, apply some more wax on the glasses.
Avoid Wearing Face Products
If you like wearing face products, your eyeglasses may often move around. Use natural skincare products (on Amazon) that effectively remove oils, and wash your face at least twice daily.
Rub the facial cleanser into your skin and rinse the face completely before putting up your eyewear. Your face may produce more even after washing it, so always carry cleaning wipes to help remove excess oil.
Increase Grip Strength Around Sunglasses Arms
You can increase the grip strength around your sunglasses’ arms by wrapping hair ties around them.
Slide the ties about a third way down the arms and twist them to make loops. Ensure the loops are tight, so the ties lie flat against the sunglasses’ arm. If the loops aren’t tight, you’ll probably feel uncomfortable wearing them.
Use hair ties that match your frames’ color, so they blend without sticking out.
Put Heat Shrinking Tubing on the Arm
Heat-shrinking tubes align to the shape of objects once heated. Slide the tubing over the glasses’ arm to cover the part that wraps around the ear. Hold a heat gun about 10 cm away from the heat-shrink tubing and run it for 30 seconds. The tubing will shrink.
Ensure the tubing matches your frames’ color. You can buy the tubing from the hardware store. You can use a blow dryer (on Amazon) if you don’t have a heat gun. Ensure the dyer is on the highest heat settings. Avoid holding the heat gun near lenses for too long since that can easily damage your frames.
Replace the Nose Pads
You can buy new nose pads from stores that sell glasses or online. Using a small screwdriver from the glasses kit (on Amazon), loosen the screw holding the nose pad to remove the pads. Ensure you tighten the screw back in place before replacing the pads.
If your glasses don’t have nose pads, you can use adhesive-backed pads to ensure your glasses stay in place.
Adjust Nose Pads
Some frames have their nose pads held by thin metal pieces to allow you to make adjustments. Grip the nose pads outer edges using your index finger and thumb and gently squeeze them together. Ensure both the nose pads move equal distance lest the glasses may look crooked on your face.
Adjust the Temple Angles
The temple angle determines the grip of your glasses’ arm. If your glasses have metal frames, hold the arm’s base with one hand and use needle nose pliers to grab the end of the arm, carefully bending the arm’s ends towards the inside of the frame. This will tighten the arms.
If your frames are made of plastic, use a hair dryer on the high setting to heat them for 1-2 minutes before bending them by hand.
Use Ear Hooks
Add ear hooks on your glasses’ arms, so they don’t fall off your ears. Ensure the hooks are tight against your ears when wearing the sunglasses.
Buy Glasses with Grip Strips
Some glasses come with frames with grip strips around the frame, so they remain in place. But always ensure the frame matches the size of your head. If your frames are too tight, you will feel uncomfortable wearing the sunglasses.