Ridding scratches from plastic eyeglass lenses

I have a wonderful pair of sunglasses that hold more sentimental value than expense. Sadly, I dropped them outdoors and noticed a scratch in the lens. Is there a way to get rid of it? They are coated and tinted.

I use search engine  duckduckgo.com

Search "scratched sunglass lens"  or similar will get you a list of answers.  Separately there's also a bunch of repairs for eyeglass lenses that WON'T work on coated lenses.

Please report back

Unfortunately you're kinda skunked. Any fix is temporary and underwhelming at best.

The good news: you can escape the Luxottica rip off machine quite easily today. Go check out eyebuydirect.com or $39 glasses or Zinni Optical. 

The glasses are just fine quality and looks wise, and if you trash them they're cheap enough (as cheap as $7. I am not kidding) that you can throw them in the junk drawer if they get a scratch.

+1 for Zenni Optical online... I have ordered prescription glasses from them for dirt cheap and they are the same if not better than the optician eyeglasses I have.

How do you deal with having them properly fitted when you get them online?

can you just get the lenses replaced?

I used to get my glasses from a place that guaranteed them.  The lenses in my glasses are very expensive.  One of the lenses got scratched.  I took it back and the man who owns the shop ground a new lens at no cost to me.  That he ate the cost of a new lens rather than repair the one that was scratched tells me that it likely can't be fixed.

If your sunglasses are non-prescription then you can likely get a replacement lens at any optician shop without spending an arm and a leg.  It won't be super cheap, but if they have sentimental value as you say then it may be worth looking into as an option.

Try toothpaste. The anti plaque kind. 

Thanks  for this post, I will def try Zenni Optical

Thanks all. None of the remedies are working. Fortunately, these aren't RX sunglasses or eyeglasses. Just regular sunglasses I purchased on a trip abroad and hold lots of memories.

BTW, toothpaste isn't bad and I can see how it could work. Just doesn't work on these shades. Sigh.

Replacing both lenses (so they match) and keeping the frames is probably the best idea.  If you can match the current lenses reasonably well, the glasses should still be able to evoke those fond memories.

If you love these frames and think they will last a long time, get new lenses. That may cost more than the glasses cost originally, but if you love them, it might be worth the money.

Thanks @joan and @tom. I thought about that but thought it was silly. Glad you made my thoughts less silly. I just might do that. Is there anyone local that would do that? Or should I go to Lens Crafters?

kibbegirl said:

Thanks @joan and @tom. I thought about that but thought it was silly. Glad you made my thoughts less silly. I just might do that. Is there anyone local that would do that? Or should I go to Lens Crafters?

I don't think its silly at all.  It probably wont cost much either.

I understand your problem as it happened to all of us at some point. There are various tips and tricks you can use to minimize the look of the scratch, one of which is to use baking soda. Mix baking soda and water in a bowl and rub the paste using a cotton ball into the scratch for 10 seconds. You can repeat this process if necessary.

Also good for removing light scratches in glass: any product with cerium oxide. This is widely used by photographers seeking to remove light scratches in photo lenses.

I tried everything, sans the cerium oxide, to remove the scratch but nothing worked.

I've been wearing the same eyeglass frame since early in the current century, replacing the lenses whenever my prescription changes. I'm probably due again, so I'll head over to the opticians in Essex Green, and see what's what...

-s.

WilliamClift said:

I understand your problem as it happened to all of us at some point. There are various tips and tricks you can use to minimize the look of the scratch, one of which is to use baking soda. Mix baking soda and water in a bowl and rub the paste using a cotton ball into the scratch for 10 seconds. You can repeat this process if necessary.

This is a spammer - weird.  I removed his link.  But maybe the above is an actual tip.  He tried to appear real by replying one word answers to 2 other threads.

I don't see how baking soda (an abrasive) can do anything more than additional scratching.

Old guy I knew swore by spraying Pledge on scratched lenses.  Not necessarily for a deep scratch, though.  And I've never tried it.

I can tell you NOT to use Rain-X on glasses with a coating.  Disaster!

I read on line about the use of Pledge and tried that too. Nada.