But there’s a right way — and plenty of wrong ways — when it comes to how to clean glasses.

Steps for cleaning your glasses

Follow these tips to clean your eyeglass lenses and frames without risk of scratching the lenses or causing other damage. These same tips apply for cleaning sunglasses, safety glasses and sports eyewear too.

1. Wash and dry your hands thoroughly. Before cleaning your eyeglasses, make sure your hands are free from dirt, grime, lotion and anything else that could be transferred to your lenses. Use lotion-free soap or dish washing liquid and a clean, lint-free towel to clean your hands.

2. Rinse your glasses under a gentle stream of lukewarm tap water. This will remove dust and other debris, which can help avoid scratching your lenses when you are cleaning them. Avoid hot water, which can damage some eyeglass lens coatings.

3. Apply a small drop of lotion-free dishwashing liquid to each lens. Most dishwashing liquids are very concentrated, so use only a tiny amount. Or apply a drop or two to your fingertip instead. Use only brands that do not include lotions or hand moisturizers (Dawn original formula, for example).

4. Gently rub both sides of the lenses and all parts of the frame for a few seconds. Make sure you clean every part, including the nose pads and the ends of the temples that rest behind your ears. And be sure to clean the area where the edge of the lenses meet the frame, where dust, debris and skin oils can accumulate.

5. Rinse both sides of the lenses and the frame thoroughly. Failing to remove all traces of soap will cause the lenses to be smeared when you dry them.

6. Gently shake the glasses to eliminate most of the water from the lenses. Inspect the lenses carefully to make sure they are clean.

7. Carefully dry the lenses and frame with a clean, lint-free towel. Use a dish towel that has not been laundered with a fabric softener or dryer sheet (these substances can smear the lenses). A cotton towel that you use to clean fine glassware is a good choice. Make sure the towel is perfectly clean. Dirt or debris trapped in the fibers of a towel can scratch your lenses; and cooking oil, skin oil or lotion in the towel will smear them.

8. Inspect the lenses again. If any streaks or smudges remain, remove them with a clean microfiber cloth — these lint-free cloths are available at most optical shops or photography stores.

For touch-up cleaning of your glasses when you don’t have the above supplies available, try individually packaged, pre-moistened disposable lens cleaning wipes. These are formulated specifically for use on eyeglass lenses. Don’t use any substitutes.

Which brings us to a very important topic — what NOT to use to clean your glasses.

Eyeglass cleaners and cleaning cloths

Spray eyeglass cleaners are available from eye care professionals or at your local drug or discount store. These can be helpful if you are traveling or don’t have dish washing soap and clean tap water available.

CLEANING GLASSES – DON’TS

DON’T use your shirttail or other cloth to clean your glasses, especially when the lenses are dry. This can scratch your lenses.

DON’T use saliva to wet your lenses.

DON’T use household glass or surface cleaners to clean your eyeglasses. These products have ingredients that can damage eyeglass lenses and coatings, such as anti-reflective coating.

DON’T use paper towels, napkins, tissues or toilet paper to clean your lenses. These can scratch or smear your lenses or leave them full of lint.

DON’T try to “buff away” a scratch in your lenses. This only makes the situation worse.

If tap water isn’t available to rinse your lenses before cleaning them, use plenty of the spray eyeglass cleaner to flush away dust and other debris before wiping the lenses dry.

If your lenses have anti-reflective (AR) coating, make sure the eyeglass cleaner you choose is approved for use on anti-reflective lenses.

When using individually packaged, pre-moistened disposable lens cleaning wipes, first inspect the lenses for dust or debris. Blow any particles off before wiping the lenses, to avoid scratching.

Microfiber cleaning cloths are an excellent choice for cleaning glasses. These cloths dry the lenses very effectively and trap oils to avoid smearing.

But because they trap debris so effectively, make sure you clean the cloths frequently. Hand-wash the cloth using lotion-free dish washing liquid and clean water; allow the cloth to air dry.

How to remove scratches from glasses

Unfortunately, there is no magic cure for scratched lenses. Once your glasses are scratched, they are scratched.

Some products are designed to make the scratches look a little less visible — but these are essentially waxy substances that wear off easily, and results are mixed, depending on the location and depth of the scratches. Also, these products often will smear lenses that have AR coating.

In addition to reflecting light and interfering with vision, scratches can affect the impact resistance of the lenses. For optimum vision and safety, the best thing to do if you notice significant scratches is to purchase new lenses.

When purchasing, choose lenses that have a durable scratch-resistant coating. And ask your optician if your purchase includes an anti-scratch warranty — especially if scratched lenses have been an issue in the past.

When to have your glasses cleaned professionally

If your lenses are in good shape but the nose pads or other components of the frame have become impossible to keep clean, see your optician.

Sometimes eyeglasses can be cleaned more thoroughly with an ultrasonic cleaning device, and yellowing nose pads can be replaced with new ones. See your optician before attempting these fixes at home.

Use a protective storage case

Eyeglass lenses can easily get scratched if you fail to store them somewhere safe. This includes when you take them off at bedtime.

Always store your glasses in a clean eyeglasses case, and NEVER place them on a table or counter with the lenses facing down.

If you don’t have a glasses case handy, place your glasses upside down with the temples open — somewhere safe, where they won’t get knocked off a table or counter top.

Glasses don’t last forever

All eyeglass lenses will get a few scratches over time from normal use and exposure to the environment. (And from occasionally getting dropped or misplaced.) Eyeglasses lenses are scratch resistant, not scratch-proof.

When purchasing glasses, ask your eye care provider about anti-scratch warranties for your lenses. This is especially important for children’s eyeglasses or if you wear glasses in dusty conditions.

Following the above tips is the best way to keep your glasses clean and scratch-free for as long as possible.

Your eyebrow ridges, eyelashes, eyelids, and tears are part of a safety system designed to protect your eyes from injury. However, it’s not a foolproof system. Particles, objects, and liquids can all get into your eye and stay there unless flushed out.

You may also wish to flush out your eyes if they feel irritated or dry. These symptoms may be caused by allergies to pollution or smoky air.

Whatever the reason, if you need to flush out your own eyes or someone else’s, there are safety do’s and don’ts to follow.

Step-by-step guide

How you should flush out your eye may depend upon what got inside. If a chemical liquid, such as a household cleaner, splashes into your eye, your first step should be to check the label for safety instructions. Usually you will be instructed to flush out the eye with warm water.

If no label is available, flush the eye with water for about 15 minutes. Then seek medical help immediately. You can also contact a poison control hotline, such as Poison Help, for more information, but do this after you have flushed out the eye.

If a particle of sand, dirt, or other tiny substance can be seen hovering on your lower lid or eyelashes, you can try to remove it without flushing, by using a clean, unused tissue. Make sure your hands are clean first, and don’t attempt this if the particle is in the eye.

Here is a standard procedure for flushing out yours, or someone else’s, eye:

First, make sure your hands are clean, by washing them thoroughly with soap and warm water. Next, remove contact lenses if any are being worn.

Flush out the eye, or eyes, for up to 15 minutes with warm water, stopping every few minutes, to see if the eye has been thoroughly flushed out. There are several ways to do this:

1. Stand in the shower, and let warm (not hot) water cascade onto your forehead and into your eye, on a low-pressure setting. Do not tilt your head backward, and try to keep your eyes open for extended periods of time, while you are flushing them out.
2. Bend over the sink and turn the faucet on. Keep your eye area under the running water while tilting your head to the side, so that warm water can flow into your eye.
3. Bend down over a sink. Use a pitcher or glass of warm water to pour into the eye or eyes slowly, with your head tilted to one side. Do not tilt your head backward.
4. Fill a pan with water and dip your face into the water while blinking.
5. If you are helping a child to flush out their eye, gently hold their eyelid open while the water flushes it out. Keep calm so that the child remains calm as well.

What not to do

Your first instinct may be to rub, or press on your eye. This may only make matters worse, by pushing whatever is in there further in. Particles in the eye can scratch the clear tissue which covers and protects the iris of your eye, called the cornea. This can cause a corneal abrasion to occur. Corneal abrasions are not usually serious, but can be painful.

Make sure to keep your child’s hands away from their eyes, as well. This may require constant supervision until the situation is rectified. Very small babies can be swaddled to keep their hands away from their eyes.

When should you call a doctor?

If you could not remove the irritant, you will most likely require medical help to get it out. If after flushing, you continue to experience any symptoms, such as pain, redness, or abnormal vision, you should also seek out medical assistance immediately.

If a chemical solvent got into your eye, have a doctor examine it, even after flushing. Bring the solvent container with you, if you can.

If a foreign object flies into the eye, such as a shard of glass or metal, and becomes embedded, cover the eye with a hollow cup, taped in place, and seek emergency medical assistance immediately. Do not try to pull it out or to flush it out.

Not all hospitals offer emergency eye trauma care. If you have an eye doctor (ophthalmologist), call and ask which hospital they recommend. If not, go to the nearest emergency room.