No matter how careful you are with your precious Ray-Ban sunglasses, the lenses will eventually get covered in fingerprints and smudges. So, what’s the best way to clean your Ray-Bans?
To clean Ray-Ban sunglasses, start by rinsing them with water to remove dirt particles. Once they’re dry, dip them in a solution of dish soap and water. Make sure to cover all parts of the frame, including the temple wings and nose rests. Wash away the soap with warm water and let the glasses dry.
Cleaning your Ray-Ban sunglasses isn’t too hard once you know what to do and how to handle them safely. Let’s take a look at the material and cleaning solutions you should use and what you should avoid so that you don’t damage your sunglasses in the process.
What Material Should You Use to Clean Ray-Ban Sunglasses?
Many people have a habit of using paper towels or cotton t-shirts to clean their sunglasses, but these materials can actually scratch the lenses. The best material to clean your Ray-Ban sunglasses is a microfiber cloth.
A microfiber cloth — like this one from MagicFiber (on Amazon) — keeps the glasses in perfect condition, and you can wash it to reuse it multiple times, too.
Some Ray-Ban sunglasses feature glass lenses that are harder to scratch compared to lenses made of other common materials like Trivex or polycarbonate. Still, it’s best to stick with a soft, lint-free microfiber cloth.
Just make sure the cloth is clean since oil and dirt in it can transfer to your sunglasses as you “clean” them. This not only affects your vision but also damages the lens coating.
Which Cleaning Solution Is Best?
The best cleaning solution for your Ray-Ban sunglasses is any mild, lotion-free dishwashing liquid like Ajax, Joy, or Palmolive (on Amazon).
Keep in mind that you might have to dilute the thick dish soap with a little bit of water since you want the cleaning solution to be thin enough that you can easily spread it over the lens surface with your fingers.
Alternatively, you can use an optical cleaner like this one from Zeiss (on Amazon). Hold the glasses away from yourself and lightly mist both sides of the lenses. Then, gently wipe the lenses in a side-to-side motion with a microfiber cloth. Find a dry corner on the cloth and wipe the lenses once more.
Which Cleaning Solutions Should You Avoid?
You should absolutely avoid any glass cleaner that contains ammonia, like Windex, and dish soaps that contain lanolin, oils, or lotions for skin softening. This is because such soaps can leave smears on your sunglasses that you can’t remove even with a clean cloth.
You should also avoid abrasive solvents and harsh chemicals. Such cleaners tend to damage polycarbonate lenses like those used in most glasses these days.
Keeping this in mind, you should also avoid bleach-based cleaners, polishes, and cleaners, especially since they strip away the lens coatings with time.
Instead, your safest choice is a basic dishwashing liquid like we mentioned above. Choose one that doesn’t contain any extra chemicals in it apart from soap. Also, avoid using soap powders or soaps for automatic dishwashers.
How Do You Clean Polarized Ray-Ban Sunglasses?
Cleaning polarized Ray-Ban sunglasses is pretty easy. Here’s what you have to do:
Step 1: Rinse the Glasses With Water
Inspect the lenses carefully for grit and dirt. Gently wet them with clean water to remove the dirt. If your household water is very hard, then you should use softened or filtered water to prevent suspended particles present in the water from scratching the lenses.
Then, wipe the lenses using a microfiber cloth. Use a side-to-side motion while making sure that you cover the entire lens surface with a clean part of the cloth. Let the sunglasses dry completely.
Step 2: Dish Soap
Check the lenses for smudges. Put one or two drops of dishwashing liquid on each lens. Alternatively, you can make a solution of warm water and a couple of drops of dish soap, and dip the sunglasses in that.
Step 3: Scrub Both Sides
Gently rub the entire lens surface (front and back) with a cleaning cloth. Make sure you target the smudges, but be careful — you don’t want to press too hard.
You can also rub the cleaning solution on the lens with your fingers, but make sure you don’t have any callouses, dry skin, or scabs. Rough skin can easily scratch the lens.
Also, make sure that you fold the frames and clean the hinges.
Step 4: Take Care of the Whole Frame
Clean the whole frame to get rid of all the body oils. This means you need to clean the nose rests, temple wings, nose pieces, and ear pieces. If needed, you can unscrew the nose pieces and hinges with a repair kit (on Amazon) and clean them before putting them back together.
Step 5: Wash Off the Soap
Wash the glasses under warm water until the lenses are completely clean. Then, dry them using a microfiber cloth. Let your glasses dry completely.
Step 6: Inspect the Glasses
Finally, check that you’ve gotten rid of all the oils and dirt. The best way to do so is to raise the glasses toward the sun or another light and look for lint specs, dirt, or smears. If you see any fingerprints or spots, simply buff them with a clean cloth.