quote:

Originally posted by sigalert:
I've made a point of following the "Tech's" advice on care. Always clean wet with Dawn, water, and a clean microfiber cloth. I'm even using distilled water because we're on a well.

My opinion in wearing glasses for 30 years and AR coated lense for probably 20 or so of that, don't use dish soap.

Dish soap is fine for non-AR coated glasses, but just not good for AR coated. You can buy lens cleaner specifically made for AR coated lenses. Walmat sells Zeiss brand lens wipes which are really good. You can also buy a Zeiss lens cleaner by the bottle on Amazon. (I bought a 400 pack of the Zeiss lens wipes off of Amazon.)

The part about the water and the microfiber cloth is good advice. But believe me when I say that they will all eventually get scratches. As an aside, that is why I put a screen protector on every smartphone I get.

There are different levels of quality when it comes to AR coatings. But I personally love AR coatings and couldn't picture myself getting a pair of glasses without it. YMMV

the coatings are terrible. in variably begin to breakdown just after any warranty and require lens replacement. built in rip off

Does the anti-scratch coating go over the AR coating? Whatever my last glasses were made out of, the anti-scratch coating lasted about three years. I bought them at Sam's Club.

quote:

Originally posted by sigalert:
Does anyone have experience with non coated lenses?

I always insist on non coated lenses, just because my experience in the past with coated lenses has been that the coated ones scratch much more easily. I have much better luck with uncoated lenses.

Cleaning -- I flush well, under running lukewarm water, wash with a dilute solution of Dawn.

Save old cotton t-shirts, launder them, do not use fabric softener or dryer sheets, and use these for drying your glasses after washing them.

 
I get the $4.95 AR coating from Zenni, and I've never had any problem with scratching. Proper cleaning solves most scratching issues (wet, wet, wet + a good, clean cotton terry cloth wash cloth). I use a homemade cleaning solution of 25% rubbing alcohol, 25% white vinegar, and 50% distilled water, in a common spray bottle. Even just plenty of tap water with the same clean cloth.

I have had god luck with the Crizal coating on two pair of glasses from an independent shop . One year in between I went to Pearle Vision and was talked in to their proprietary version which was to be just as good and a fraction of the cost. Total waste. Should have gone uncoated. Attracted dirt so bad I was cleaning them twice a day.

Costco's coating are pretty good, and I've had a bunch. I carefully wash them every day with soap, not detergent and am careful to avoid hot water and the well water at my FIL's. I can usually go 3 to 4 years or more so long as I avoid getting my face too close to fireplace or grill coals and avoid chemical aerosols or anything else that may attack or harm the coating. I've had coatings craze, flake and scratch in the past, but I still really like the AR on my lenses, and just pay to replace them periodically. Usually about $100 at Costco with AR, UV, polished and rolled edges on 1.67 non poly single vision lenses.

AR coatings are a lot like progressive lenses now and are tiered in quality. In the independent optometry side of optical, most of those lenses come with at least a one year scratch warranty, better ones are two or more. I can’t speak for what Luxottica offers through LensCrafters but if it’s only thirty days like you think, that’s a shame.

I’ve seen opticians touch top tier coatings with their thumb and not leave a smudge or smear.

LensCrafters and Lux just merged with Essilor, a large lense manufacturer. Just like their progressive lense tiers, I’m sure they have two or three different AR coatings they can offer.

As for cleaning, I always use a spray designed for AR coatings and a microfiber cloth. Most good independent shops dispense this for free or have it for purchase with the frames.

After moving to the area 8 yrs ago, I went to the local glasses shop to get glasses, twice. They call themselves Visionworks recently. First pair I noticed got tiny scratches right away. I’ve needed glasses over 60 yrs Couldn’t figure out what the hell I was doing to cause scratches. Thought it was a fluke. 2 yrs later, needed new perscription. Went back. Same thing happened within a month. Sales manager said I didn’t know how to clean and refused to replace. Arrogant young shit. I called corporate and burned him. Corp made him replace but it took several levels of managers and calls.

Same thing. Scratches right away, despite holding under water, light dawn using fingers, special cloth etc.

Went to Costco. Replaced. One year later, few scratches. Has anti glare too. Better price as well. I thing most dispensaries use cheap material. Stay away from the likes of Visionworks or whatever they’re calling themselves now.