Asklemmy

Optometrist here; rinse with cold or ambient temperature tap water (don't use hot water!), use dishwashing soap without citric acid if the glasses are really dirty, dry with a clean cotton cloth.

I tend to wear cotton t shirts so I tend to just grab a corner of that to clean em.

Been doing this for 20 yrs and never had to replace a set before my eyes said otherwise.

Frames on the other hand...

I clean them with the hem of my shirt, always assumed this is what everyone does.

I have been using tap water and dish soap for years to clean my glasses. Everything else leaves streaks.

I rub them with my shirt whenever the smudges are making my view too blurry.

In the 20 years I've owned glasses, I've never had an issue just using my shirt.

I rub them with my teeshirt

The actual way is to use dish soap under running warm water (not hot apparently, it can damage some coatings I've learned in this thread). First rinse the lenses under a stream without touching them, to wash away any loose debris (which is the reason why you should never use any sort of cloth to wipe them, they just move the debris around which causes scratches). Then use a bit of dish soap on your (clean) fingers to gently rub each lens, which will get rid of any grease or other smears. Then a final rinse -- for this one it's best if you use a very slow and even stream as it gives you the fewest water spots, but as long as you don't have super hard water it'll be moot in a few minutes.

I will never forget the time I saw my classmate clean his glasses by licking them. It wasn't a small lick. The lenses were covered in his saliva afterwards. 🤮

Water and hand soap, unless they really need to be cleaned right now. I used to use a microfiber cloth, but I ran into the same problems as you. Soap and water will allow you to get oil from your hands and face off, as well as water spots and whatever else might be on there, and it's gentle enough that it doesn't hurt or scratch the lenses. When I put my glasses back on after cleaning them like this, It's a Whole New World starts playing in my head.

Rinse glasses. Rub on some hand soap or a very small amount of dish soap. Rinse again. Dry with paper towel.

I use microfiber cloths, dawn dish soap, and water for a deep clean every once in a while. The microfiber cloth kinda gets cleaned in the process. I then use a second dry microfiber cloth to dry it off and prevent water spots on the lenses. Unfortunately I have to shake out my glasses before drying since water gets stuck in between my frames and my lenses.

For quicker cleaning, I use those Zeiss glasses wipes, though not entirely sure if getting brand name is important or not.

Got a box of alcohol wipes made by Zeiss, specially for cleaning camera lenses and the like. Works great on glasses.

Spray from optometrist and tissues to remove most oil

Then polish the lenses with the microfibre that came with them

Wash the microfibre when it stops working

Microfiber. Throw it in the wash. Air dry (although I've never had an issue with them going through wash) I use the viscous cleanser and really don't wash very often at all.

I have a small machine that creates super sonic sound (Sonic Soak), submerge that with the glasses in a bottle with soapy water. Turn on and wait around 3 minutes. You can see stream of dirt particles coming out of small crevices, I don't think I can reach those with any wipe or cloth. The glasses is super clean after the process. But if I don't have time and not home I use microfiber cloth

I use the edge of my shirt, or whatever I happen to be wearing. I never use any sort of soap or cleaning solution. Works fine. My specs last longer than it takes until I need to get a new prescription anyway.

Hand soap and water most of the time, a microfiber with the spray they give you when you get new glasses, or a dry microfiber if I have to. My lenses are immaculate.

I leave the microfiber cloths in my pockets when they need washing and that works well enough if not perfect.

Microfiber cloth. They are easy to wash, just don't add fabric softener or chlorine and don't put them in the dryer.

I use a microfibre cloth my optometrist gave me along with the glasses. When it gets dirty I run it through the wash with my clothes. I have an anti-glare coating on my lenses, so I don't use any chemicals, even just dish soap.

I’ve been using Windex and Bounty. 😬 Probably not the best options, but they seem to get the job done for me.

I mention Bounty because regular paper towels are crap for that sort of thing.

I work in a lab, and while we carry lens cleaners, sometimes you don't have time.

A little bit of 200 proof ethanol and some elbow grease is all it takes for a fresh pair of specs!

If this helps you, I've washed microfiber cloths in the washing machine before and it never went wrong. I just toss them in with regular clothes. I usually wash cold, but I don't think it makes a difference

Microfiber cloth with dish soap and water. Works pretty well.

Ive never had any luck with lens cleaner+microfiber cloth just smears the shit out of glasses. Here's my glasses cleaning process, I have had glasses my entire life and can't stand smearing even a little. My glasses coating has never been damaged from this though to cover my ass I will say do at your own risk.

1. Get paper towel, wet and spray with a liquid soap+water mix spray bottle I recommend Dr.bronner soap very environmentally friendly works well You can also use regular dish soap if that's all you have.
2. rub lenses with soapy paper towel really well on both sides. Get it soapy.
3. (MOST IMPORTANT PART TO PREVENT SMEAR) rinse soap off glasses and gently shake frames to get off all excess water that you can. Then grab 5-8 sheets of toilet paper, roll/fold into a square and fold tp square gently around lenses to wick remaining water. Do not rub tp into lenses, only gently press.