How to stop your glasses from fogging up when you wear a mask

Most common challenges with wearing glasses are easily addressed by your optometrist. For example, glare from the sun in your eyes while driving can be reduced with polarised lenses, frames slipping down the bridge of your nose can be prevented with professional adjustments.

But for many spectacles, wearers getting fogged up lenses while wearing a face mask is a new challenge.

Why do your lenses fog up while wearing a face mask?

Your spectacles and sunglasses fog up when you are wearing a face mask because the mask redirects your warm breath upward instead of forward, which condenses and forms micro-droplets on the lenses.

Generally, the problem can be reduced by increasing the tightness of the fit of your face mask. For example, homemade masks can also be modified to fit better by sewing twist ties into the top so they can be moulded over the nose. Or you can simply make sure that the elasticated strap is as tight as possible (Never adjust the mask so that its main purpose is defeated). Tightly fitted masks can lead to a problem itself if the mask then becomes uncomfortable around the face, leading to the need for constant adjustment.

Torga Optical’s solution to prevent your spectacles fogging up

Torga Optical has high-tech Anti-Fog Micro-fiber cleaning cloths available in our practices nationally.  The Anti-Fog cloths contain a special solution that when applied to your lenses immediately reduces the condensation retention of the lenses. So any condensation from your breath on the lenses quickly dissipates in a matter of seconds.

With our Anti-Fog Lens Cleaning Cloth, there is no need for additional lens spray or other cleaning compounds.

Our anti-fog lens cleaning cloths are also gentle on your lenses, ensuring streak-free and scratch-free results.

How long does the Torga Optical Anti-Fog Cleaning Cloth last for?

The cloth can be used to clean your spectacles up to 200 times. Make sure you store the cloth in the provided zip-lock bag after use as the Anti-Fog solution will dry evaporate from the cloth if not so protected. Also, do not wash the cloth as this will remove the solution.

What if I need a solution that both clean my glasses and provides Anti-Fog protection?

Torga Optical also offers a special Anti-Fog and Cleaning Spray. This spray works like a normal spectacle cleaning spray but it adds an additional hydrophobic layer to your lenses providing Anti-Fog protection. You will also need a regular microfibre cleaning cloth to apply the spray across the surface of the lens.

Remember also when using a cleaning cloth that you wipe your lenses from left to right, horizontally across the lens, rather than in a circular polishing motion. This avoids dirt accumulating in the centre of your lenses.

What’s the best solution? Torga Optical’s Anti-Fog cloth or Torga Optical’s Anti-Fog Spray?

Both products work really well. However, we find that the Anti-Fog cloth provides the greatest convenience as you only need to carry one item with you during the day and no spray is required.

How to use the Anti-Fog Cleaning Cloth

1. Remove the Anti-Fog cleaning cloth from its pouch
2. Gently wipe both sides of each lens in your spectacles to apply the Anti-Fog solution. Hold your glasses up to a gentle light source to inspect your handiwork, and re-apply if necessary.
3. Replace the Anti-Fog cleaning cloth in its pouch (it will last up to 200 cleans if stored properly). Enjoy your fog-free lenses for the whole day. Reapply as necessary.

How to use the Anti-Fog Spray

4. Clean the lens with our Anti-Fog lens cleaning solution. Apply the spray to the microfibre cloth, not to the lenses themselves. The spray and cloth method is there to keep your glasses clean and assist with fogging to stop.
5. Dry the lens with an ordinary microfiber cloth.
6. Polish the lens with anti-fog cleaning cloth.

Stand in front of a mirror and look straight ahead.

• If you have a bifocal lens, the line should sit at the lower eyelid. If you have a multifocal lens, the top line should sit at the bottom of the pupil.
  
  

Look for issues with the temple arms.

• If your eyeglasses appear level on your face but sit crooked when resting on a flat surface, this may mean that one of your ears is higher than the other. The temple arms should be bent to accommodate any differences in ear height.

• For wireframes, gently bend the arms with small pliers until they are straight. Put the glasses on and observe in the mirror to see if they are correct. Do not use wire cutters. You must use padded pliers or the frames will likely be damaged.
• For plastic frames, the plastic on the lower arm must be heated by a warm air source, such as a hairdryer, to make the plastic pliable. Slowly move the plastic upward with your hands until it is in the desired position. Be careful using the hairdryer as you could melt the plastic.
• Another way to bend plastic frames is to run them under hot water for 15 to 25 seconds before trying to make adjustments. The arm should become pliable enough to adjust, but be careful. The plastic can snap even when heated.

• For wireframes, this adjustment can be made with pliers or even your bare hands.
• For plastic frames, you will need to make the plastic pliable using either heated water or air, before bending the earpiece section of the frames.

Nosepiece problems.

Check for squeezing or slipping.

• Take care not to over-tighten the screws, or you risk damaging the plastic or metal that they are holding in place.

Make minor adjustments. 

Never make huge, drastic adjustments to your glasses all at once. It can often be harder to bend eyeglasses back into a proper position after a repair than it is to make the original adjustment. Make minor adjustments, check the glasses, and continue making minor adjustments until they are corrected.

What are the benefits of wearing contact lenses?

Having healthy eyes is something that many take for granted. But when one doesn’t have it, one’s quality of life is severely compromised.

Just like diet can have a direct impact when it comes to reducing the risk of various diseases, so can diet reduce the risks of developing numerous eye maladies. Many scientific studies have proven that nutrition has a massive effect on vision issues and vision-related diseases including dry-eyes, glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration.

So, in the interests of maintaining good eye health, we’ve made it easy for you by listing the five best food groups that, if consumed healthily, will help to preserve your vision.

1. Antioxidants, antioxidants, antioxidants!

Yes, this has been a buzz word for what seems like forever – but, for good reason.

Vitamin C

Found in many easily accessible fruits (think citrus and berries) and vegetables, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an antioxidant that shows to significantly lower the risk of developing cataracts. Combine vitamin C with other essential nutrients, it has been scientifically shown to also slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration and the loss of visual acuity.

Vitamin E

Nuts, sweet potatoes and fortified cereals are an excellent source of another powerful antioxidant: vitamin E. Research indicates it protects cells in the eyes from unstable molecules called free radicals, which break down healthy tissue.

2.    Nutrients: Lutein & Zeaxanthin

Lutein and zeaxanthin are important nutrients found in green leafy vegetables (such as kale and spinach) and yellow vegetables, as well as in the yolks of eggs. Many studies show that lutein and zeaxanthin reduce the risk of chronic eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts.

3.    Vitamin D

Do you suffer from dry eye syndrome? Pretty much anyone who uses a digital device will probably experience dry eyes from time to time. Dry eyes are a common symptom of digital eye strain, which has become so commonplace that it's even been given its medical term: Computer Vision Syndrome. When one is reading off of a screen, the eyes have to constantly refocus and reposition to the process content. As a result, one doesn't blink as often. Blinking moisturises the front of the eye. The average person blinks around 16 times per minute. This is halved when using a digital device.

Diet can help to add extra moisture to the eyes to alleviate this modern-day malaise. Just add the following to your diet: fatty fish (like tuna, mackerel, and salmon); foods fortified with vitamin D, like some dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, and cereals, as well as liver, cheese and egg yolks. And of course, drink lots and lots of water!

4. Essential Fatty Acids

Fats are a necessary part of the human diet. They maintain the integrity of the nervous system, fuel cells and boost the immune system. Research shows Omega-3 fatty acids are important for proper visual development and retinal function. Fatty acids also work very effectively to alleviate dry eyes. Nuts, seeds, soy products, beans, whole grains, and leafy vegetables all contain varying amounts of essential fatty acids.

5.     Zinc

Zinc is an essential trace mineral or "helper molecule." It plays a vital role in bringing vitamin A from the liver to the retina to produce melanin, which is the protective pigment in the eyes. Zinc is highly concentrated in the eye, mostly in the retina and choroid (the vascular tissue layer lying under the retina). So, start adding grass-fed beef and lamb to your diet; oysters are also a good source of zinc; more nuts and luckily lots dark chocolate.

There's no substitute for the quality of life that good vision provides! By just adding a few of the above-mentioned ingredients to your daily diet you can improve your eye health.

Speak to one of the professional Torga optometrists for more insights into the health of your eyes. 

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Keep Your Glasses in Spectacular Condition

Spots, smudges, streaks and scratches! These are just some of the daily irritants for the average spectacle-wearer.

It’s tempting to reach for your shirt and wipe! But, if you want your lenses to last as long as they should, we urge you to resist. It's important to know how to clean your glasses the correct way. We’ve put together a list of what-not-to-do and our recommendations to keep your specs in sparkling condition.

What NOT to do when cleaning your glasses:

1. The number one thing not to do when cleaning lenses is to wipe them with tissues, paper towels, napkins, or any other paper product. No matter how soft these materials might seem, they are made of wood pulp that can easily scratch your lenses.
2. Avoid wiping your glasses with your clothing. Your clothes accumulate dust and dirt throughout the day. These particles can cause scratches even if the fabric doesn’t.
3. Don’t put your glasses down uncovered or unprotected, and especially don’t drop them into your handbag or pocket. This leaves them extremely vulnerable to scratching. Furthermore, you can smudge the lenses if you retrieve them by the lenses instead of the frame.
4. Don’t use just any kind of cleaning chemical. Chemicals like ammonia and window cleaner can damage or even remove the protective coatings on the lenses.
5. Don’t leave the lenses in areas where there might be splatters and sprays, like the in the kitchen or bathroom. Hair spray and perfume can also cause damage to the coatings on your lenses.

How to keep your Specs Sparkling:

1. When you’re not wearing your glasses, always store your glasses in a protective case. This will help to reduce dust particles settling on the lenses. If you don’t have a case, make sure to at least store them with the lenses facing upwards to avoid scratching the lenses.
2. If you do not have access to a good lens cleaner, use warm soapy water to gently lather the lenses, frames, and nose pads. Then dry them gently with a clean and dry cotton cloth, or preferably a clean optical microfiber cloth.
3. For every day, we recommend that you can get a special lens-cleaning solution and keep a dedicated microfibre cloth with it. Alternatively, you can make your cleaner by filling a small spritzer bottle with water and adding one drop of dish-washing soap. Shake-spray-rise and dry with a clean microfibre cloth.
4. If your lenses do get scratched, bring your glasses into your nearest Torga Optical and we will see if we can fix them, instead of you trying to buff out the scratches yourself, which could do more damage.
5. All Torga Optical stores offer a complimentary spectacle cleaning and adjustment service. Pop into your nearest Torga Optical so that you always have a sparkle in your spectacles!

Are you (literally) being Blinded by the Light?

Everyone wants polarised sunnies. But why? How much about this amazing technology do you know?

We’ve put together the low-down so that you know why and when to don your polarised sunglasses.

To polarise or not to polarise? What, when and why?

   1.   What is the unique advantage of Polarised Lenses?

Polarisation is the only technology that reduces harmful and uncomfortable glare. To understand why polarised lenses are often a better solution than tinted lenses and coatings for some lifestyles, we need to understand the nature of glare.

   2.   What is glare?

Light consists of two types waves - one is propagated in the horizontal plane and the other in the vertical plane. When light bounces off a flat surface, such as water or snow, road surfaces, or shiny metallic objects (like cars), the horizontal component is seen as glare. Glare can cause significant strain on the eyes.

The only way to eliminate this glare, and in doing so reduce eye strain, is to place a polarised lens in its path that can effectively absorb the interfering glare.

   3.   How do polarized lenses work?

Polarised lenses are made using a special optical filter (chemical film) that absorbs the horizontal component of light and transmits only the vertical component. As a result, the bright reflected light is eliminated and eye strain is reduced.

   4.   When to polarise?

Polarised lenses are essential if you are confronted with flat reflective surfaces such as roads when driving. In fact, for day-time driving, there is no better visual safety solution. Cyclists, runners and many other athletes also benefit from polarised sunglasses. Also, if you spend time looking at water during water sports such as fishing, boating, etc. polarised lenses can ease the strain that glare places on your eyes and allow you to see more clearly and more comfortably.

   5.   Are Polarised lenses worth it?

Not only is glare a nuisance and causes eye strain, but it also impairs depth perception, distorts colours, and can cause temporary blindness, so the extra cost is worth it — especially for driving and athletes!

  6.   What are the benefits, summed up?

Polarised lenses increase visual comfort, improve visual acuity and lessen eye fatigue. Polarised glasses are the best eyewear for day-time driving and athletes (land and water). They protect the eye from UVA and UVB while improving contrast and colours in bright sunlight.

Polarised lenses act like a “visual filter” for your eyes, making every situation where the sun is present look clearer and richer by blocking blinding glare.

Torga Optical supplies two top-quality polarised products - Polar T and NuPolar.

To Trivex or to Polycarb?

For the lay-person, understanding different lens materials are potentially foreign ground. It was with this in mind that we decided to demystify some lens materials and clarify both the benefits and limitations of two of the most popular lens materials available. The question we set about answering: which is better for your optical lenses – trivex or polycarbonate?

--->Both materials are popular and for good reason. When eye safety or protection, as well as durability, is a concern, both polycarbonate and Trivex lenses are excellent lens materials for your eyeglasses, sunglasses and sports eyewear. Both provide excellent visual solutions to many different lifestyles.

--->Polycarbonate and Trivex lenses are thinner and lighter than regular plastic lenses.

--->They also offer 100 per cent protection from the sun's harmful UV light and are up to 10 times more impact-resistant than other plastic lenses. It’s because of these properties that both of these lens materials are a very good choice for children's glasses and, of course, safety glasses.

It is advisable to apply a hard coating (anti-scratch protection) to polycarbonate and Trivex lenses, as they are a ‘soft’ material and can scratch easily. This means that they absorb energy, which is why they are impact resistant. (All Torga Optical lenses come standard with a tough hard coating / anti-scratch protection coating.)

Polycarbonate lenses: a brief history

Polycarbonate was developed in the 1970s for aerospace applications and is currently used for the helmet visors of astronauts and for space shuttle windshields. Eyeglass lenses made of polycarbonate were introduced in the early 1980s in response to a demand for lightweight, impact-resistant lenses.

Since then, polycarbonate lenses have become the standard for safety glasses, sports eyewear and children's glasses. Because they are less likely to fracture than regular plastic lenses, polycarbonate lenses are also a good choice for rimless eyewear designs where the lenses are attached to the frame components with drill mountings.

Most other plastic lenses are made from a cast moulding process, where a liquid plastic material is baked for long periods in lens forms, solidifying the liquid plastic to create a lens. However, polycarbonate is a thermoplastic that starts as a solid material in the form of small pellets. In a lens manufacturing process called injection moulding, the pellets are heated until they melt. The liquid polycarbonate is then rapidly injected into lens moulds, compressed under high pressure and cooled to form a finished lens product in a matter of minutes.

Trivex lenses: the low-down

In 2001 a rival lens material called Trivex was developed. Like polycarbonate, lenses made of Trivex are thin, lightweight but are even more impact-resistant than polycarbonate.

Trivex lenses are composed of a urethane-based monomer and are made from a cast moulding process similar to how regular plastic lenses are made. Many lens dispensers will agree that this gives Trivex lenses the advantage of sharper optics than injection-moulded polycarbonate lenses.

Optical professionals generally concur that Trivex is the superior lens material.

Let’s sum up. Polycarbonate versus Trivex Lenses: A Quick Comparison

Here is a useful comparison of polycarbonate and Trivex:

 Please note: It is important that you should always discuss your options with your optometrist in order to find the best solution for you – one that will suit your lifestyle as well as your budget.

Click here to make an online booking at your nearest Torga Optical store.

The above article was compiled with a professional consultation from Andre Brits (FOA(Disp)SA).