How to take care of your sunglasses to make them last a lifetime
March 29, 2018
Copy and paste the title of this article in Google and, most of what you’ll find is wrong. Just wrong…
Paper towel, soap, rubbing alcohol, commercial glass cleaning products are the worst enemies of your lenses and yet, there are tons of articles about how you should use them to clean your eyewear.
Please invest some of your time reading this article and your sunglasses will live longer and you’ll see better.
Step 1: Protect Them
The best way to protect your sunglasses is to always keep them on your nose or in their case.
Sunglasses are delicate and, unless you bought them at the grocery store, they are not cheap.
The best way to protect them from scratches and breakages is to always keep them on your nose or in their case.
We ship our sunglasses with a hard case that’s perfect to protect them when you’re not wearing them: you can put it in your purse, backpack or luggage, you can leave it on your desk or in your car. We also include a microfiber pouch for extra protection and a cleaning cloth.
If you want something different or need an extra one, you can search the internet and find many options or head to your local optical shop, just remember to make sure that your sunglasses have some extra room in the case otherwise they might get crooked.
Lastly, if you prefer DIY products, there are many options of nice eyewear cases on Etsy and here’s our favorite: https://pin.it/mH2fmkS
Step 2. Clean them

Avoid aggressive detergents and anything that can scratch frames and lenses.
Frames and lenses will get dirty and need to be cleaned every day.
When you think of cleaning your sunglasses, think of your hand or face. Would you wash your face with dish soap or your hand with alcohol?
There are several ways to clean eyewear, but you need to avoid aggressive detergents and anything that can scratch frames and lenses.
Do not use paper towel, toilet paper, paper tissue any kind of paper: it’s too abrasive and it will, in time, scratch your lenses. You might not see anything the first time you do it, but after one year or rubbing paper towels on a lens, you will notice the damage…
The best option is microfiber cloth, it’s included with any purchase from The Quiet Before, but you can also buy different version on the internet or in your local optical shop.
Before rubbing lenses with microfiber cloth, you need to remove anything that can scratch them, like dust or sand, simply blowing on them or quickly putting them under tap water.
When microfiber gets dirty (or once every other month), wash it with cold water and mild soap (no softener, please…).
Do not use any kind of soap as it will damage permanently your lenses, as explained
in this article by Zeiss, one of the leading lenses manufacturer of the world.
If you are outside and cannot use running water, you can buy for a few euros a lens cleaning solution (avoid the ones you find at grocery store, please…) to spray on the lens before using your beloved microfiber cloth.
There are also lens cleaning wipes on the market that can be used, but they are more aggressive than microfiber so they are not our favorite option. If you prefer this solution, please buy quality wipes in an optical shop and, once again, stay away from the ones you find at grocery stores.
Last, but not least, you can buy an ultrasonic cleaner (there are many options on
Amazon) which is also very good for jewelry.
You don’t need to do this every day, but it’s good to do it twice a year. If you don’t want to buy a machine, most opticians will do it for you.
Step 3. Protect them even more
Even the best sunglasses of the world – like ours ;) – are delicate and should be handled with some care.
High temperatures will damage your frames and lenses, so keep them away from heat sources (like dragons) and do not leave them on your car’s dashboard in the summer.
Lenses are the most delicate part of your sunglasses so do not put them down on the lenses, but always on the frame.
If you want your sunglasses to last longer, do not put them on or take them out with one hand. We know that it makes you look cool, but it might damage the frame.
Always wear sunglasses with two hands, like the Dude. He’s cool. Deal with it.
If you have any question or doubts about how to take care of your sunglasses, feel free to get in touch with our team at
customerservice@thequietbefore.com, we’ll get back to you as soon as possible with answer to all your questions
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