Do Your Eyeglass Frames Have An Unsightly White Discoloration? Here Are 3 Ways You Can Get Rid Of It

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When your eyeglass frames develop a highly visible white discoloration, you don't have to stop wearing them — you can simply clean them in order to make them look like new. The white discoloration is caused by the plastic reacting chemically with oxygen in the air, and most eyeglass frames will slowly develop it over time. Thankfully, it's typically easy to remove the discoloration, and removing it instead of buying new frames will save you some money. To learn three options for hiding the white discoloration, read on.

1. Apply Oil to the Frames

One way that you can minimize the appearance of the white film on your eyeglasses is to periodically apply oil to the frames. Applying oil to the frames will help scatter light before it reaches the oxidized, damaged plastic. It won't fix the source of the problem, but it will make the white areas much less noticeable. Coconut oil is the best type of oil to use for this, since its high saturated fat content causes it to solidify at room temperature — it will stick to the frame and can't be rubbed off easily like liquid oils. You'll need to apply oil to the frame again whenever the white discoloration comes back.

2. Remove the Oxidized Plastic Using Sandpaper

If you want to permanently eliminate the white discoloration on your eyeglasses, you'll need to scour off the damaged, oxidized plastic. Removing the oxidized plastic will reveal the undamaged plastic underneath, which won't have any discoloration. Use a nail buffer or very fine-grit sandpaper in order to slowly sand down the damaged plastic. You may want to place painter's tape over the lenses in your eyeglasses, since rubbing sandpaper or a nail buffer on them can scratch them and ruin them. Once you've sanded off the damaged areas, your eyeglasses will look like new.

3. Have Your Eyeglasses Polished at an Optical Product Repair Shop

You also have the option of taking your eyeglasses to an optical product repair shop. The employees there can place your eyeglass frames in a polishing machine that will quickly remove all of the damaged, oxidized plastic. This is a good avenue to take if you're worried about accidentally damaging the lenses in your eyeglasses while you're sanding off the oxidized plastic, since the cost of replacing scratched lenses can be quite high. Going to an optical products repair shop to have your frames polished is quick and inexpensive, so it's a good option if you live near to one.

Once you've removed the oxidized plastic from the frames, it's a good idea to protect them by applying coconut oil to them every few days. The coconut oil will slow down oxidation, since it prevents oxygen from reaching the plastic. You should also try to keep your eyeglasses away from moisture, since water will speed up the oxidation process. If your frames ever become discolored again, you can simply sand them down or take them to an optical product repair shop for polishing — both methods remove very little plastic from the frame, so you can repeat them every time that your eyeglasses become discolored. Contact a company like Southern  Colorado Eye Care Associates to learn more.

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27 April 2021

protecting your vision as you age

How do you know when you need to get glasses for reading? As we get older, our eyes don't work as well as they once did. I squinted and adjusted my newspaper to make up for my failing eyesight but it wasn't enough after a while. I have talked with my eye doctor about the signs of failing eye sight and what can be done to put it off a bit. Between what my eye doctor has taught me and what I have read in books and online, I have gathered quite a bit of information about protecting your vision and seeing clearly long into your older years.