the good doctor on: Cleaning Your Glasses
Hello again from Burlington Eyecare,
Last week we looked at contact lens wear, and how to steer through all the subtleties that COVID presents. In that blog I gave a cursory mention of the need to clean your glasses, and then I spent the whole week picturing people pouring corrosive cleaners/disinfectants on them. Let us go into more detail on this cleaning process.
We first need to remember that this virus can stay on hard surfaces for three days or more and that the Center for Disease Control has concluded that the virus is mainly transmitted through person-to-person contact. Even the most diligent person, will inadvertently touch their glasses during some part of the day. So the message is to regularly clean your glasses. This is where the nightmares come up, I pictured people slathering hand sanitizer, bleach, peroxide, or alcohol all over their glasses. This will dry out the plastic, damage finishes, and even damage lenses, so don’t do that.
Instead, please use the following steps to safely clean your glasses:
- Run your glasses under warm water covering the entire frame and lenses.
- Use mild soap or a small drop of dish detergent on your fingers and wipe down all surfaces of your glasses along with the lenses. (Hand soaps are not recommended, they will have moisturizers, leaving a film on them)
- Rinse your glasses under warm water to remove soap and dry with a soft cotton cloth.
- When not wearing your glasses, put them in their case so they won’t be exposed to contamination.
Sounds like a lot, but these are interesting times. Hopefully not as obsessive as Lady MacBeth after her dealings with King Duncan,
“Out, damned spot; out, I say. One, two,--why, then tis time to do’t.” Act 2 Scene 2, MacBeth
A segway to the Stratford Festival’s streaming of the Scottish play this week, so enjoy.
Until next week, and keep safe,
The Good Doctor, Dr. Mark Germain, Burlington Eyecare
