Home Made Lens Cleaner...

I wear glasses, and cleaning them with the store bought lens cleaner can get spendy at $12 a bottle. (I tend to use it on other things as well...)

So after buying a bottle of it, I started making my own. It works just the same, if not better!

It also works great for cleaning mirrors, glass, lcd screens, tv screens pretty much anything you can get away with - and is made with items usually found in the home.


On with the show!

Step 1: ...What You Will Need...

What you will need is...

• Water.
• Isopropyl Alcohol 70%.
• Spray Bottle. (I reuse the bottle from the store bought stuff.)

I use filtered water for my mix, in the picture is a Brita Filter Pitcher, it cost a few dollars more than a new bottle of lens cleaner and comes with a filter! (Plus, you can drink the water!)

Step 2: ...Mixing...

For mixing the solution, 

• 60% Isopropyl Alcohol
• 40% Water

This is far from rocket science, just add the ingredients into the spray bottle in roughly these amounts.

Step 3: ...Shake It Up!

Take your spray bottle, shake it up until you feel it's all mixed well and put it to work!

Until next time...

Comments

[marlowe1356]

Thanks, Mutantpoptart, the mix was easy and my eyeglass lenses haven't looked this good since I picked them up from the lenscrafters!

[dbrtnd]

Will this solution take care anti static anti fog for lenses?

[mutantpoptart]

I do not get any issues with static from this, but my glasses do fog up from being in cold for a long period and moving to a warm environment (Lenses have to get cold enough). I think that is more an option for lens coatings.

[SeanD100]

STOP! Most lens cleaning products only have at MOST 10% isopropyl in a bottle... Zeiss for instance has 4-6% isopropyl in an 8oz solution. 96% is water! I would use no more than 10% isopropyl or risk injury to your eyes over time. Here is a link to back up my statement: https://www.zeiss.com/content/dam/Microscopy/Downloads/Pdf/MSDS/msds-zeiss-lens-cleaner.pdf

[RoccoT]

Go! Sniff your professionally made eyeglass cleaner and you will notice it's mostly alcohol. And you're not putting this stuff in your eyes, are you?

[RoccoT]

Excellent instructable that works. The key is NOT to use regular tap water because the smallest amount of minerals will leave streaks. Use distilled or filtered water. Right on.

[RodneyDSG]

It's not so much cleaning the glasses, but whether the mixture will have any prolonged effect since some residue will be on the lenses and next to your eyes.

Anyone knows whether isopropyl alcohol has any side-effects in proximity to your eyes?

[ToddR2]

I am wondering if this recipe is safe to use on Progressive Transition Lenses with the no scratch coating on them? i am wondering because i have tried other cleaners and the cleaners made the no scratch coating get all spotted etc. and messed up my lenses.

[EricS406]

woody allen you know you don't have to worry about what things cost!!!just make soon yi do it!!!

[JoleneW4]

Yes you can - I wear transitions with the same coating and I've been using a similar mixture forever. I do however use less alcogol for my specs - so about a teaspoon in a 200ml bottle - and you can work it down for smaller quantities from there.

[ToddR2]

also they have anti-reflective coating on them.

[MRRonP]

good post -my cleaner 50% white vinegar 50% distilled water.and use a clean rag..

not your handkerchief,

[martykip]

what are the exact proportions?

[waymentc]

Would most definitely want to attempt to make this :-)

[D.t.M]

Thats exactly almost how I do mine EXCEPT I live in the country on well water and my water is already filtered and instead of 60/40 I do 50/50 and it works BETTER THAN THE STORE BOUGHT 2 cents worth of alcohol and 0 cents for the water add a quarter for the bottle and u roughly have 27 cents in a 12 dollar bottle of eyeglass cleaner bet they use less alcohol too so really a ripoff to buy it from retailer go figure OHHHHHHHHHH it says right on the bottle under ingredients that it is alcohol and water NOTHING ELSE SO THEY BLANTLY RIP YOU OFF

[joesephyap]

I didn't have a spray bottle, so I just poured alcohol straight from the bottle and wiped my glasses with a cleaning cloth. Worked perfectly. So happy to be free from the marketing trap of lens cleaners.

[teresalhawley]

You can use any coffee filter if you do not have a microfiber cloth for plastic lenses. I've been using them since 1979.

[mpisarski]

I only have 91% Isopropyl Alcohol... can I still use it?

[mutantpoptart]

I'm sure you can - the mixture here isn't exact or anything I would add a bit more water than alcohol in the case of the 91% though. I usually just eye the "percents" in whatever container I am mixing it in.

[Bug Me Not Free Acount]

Liquid soap is the last thing that you want to use on your glasses. Some glasses are made of special materials, or may have a UV coating. When they come into contact with soap they can form a film on the lens that will render them useless. As in "throw them away" useless. If you have old solid glass glasses, ignore this. This is specifically for the light plastic ones. Lens cleaner is specially formulated for use on glasses etc. Alternatively, normal window/glass cleaner is excellent. Would the formula work as well without the soap? If so, excellent! If not, check with your optometrist before using this