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This easy homemade eyeglass cleaner is super simple to make and saves a lot of money over buying the pre-made stuff at the store. Make it for pennies in under 2 minutes!
Have you seen how expensive eyeglass cleaner is at the store? Did you know that you can make your own homemade eyeglass cleaner for just pennies?
Save money making homemade eyeglass cleaner in just minutes with this easy and inexpensive recipe!
Here is the best recipe we have found – We use it on a daily basis! With four people wearing eyeglasses in our family you know we go through a lot of eyeglass cleaner!
Homemade Eyeglass Cleaner Recipe
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- Author: Tawra Kellam
Ingredients
1/2 isopropyl alcohol
1/2 water
1 drop of dish soap (optional)
Instructions
- Fill a small spray bottle with all of the ingredients.
- Gently shake.
- Spray on eyeglasses and wipe with a clean 100% cotton cloth.
This homemade eyeglass cleaner recipe is from volume 2 of our cookbook:
You can make EASY and delicious meals at home in less time than eating out! You’ll save a ton of money on food and your family will thank you!
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Reader Interactions
Comments
- Brenda
I’ve been a fan of Living on a Dime for years and even purchased your cookbooks for Christmas gifts. You’ve done a great job educating us on thriftiness.
I guess that’s why I was a little taken aback when I pressed the print button copy instructions for the Homemade Eyeglass Cleaner. I expected to print the recipe and picture with the website name, but not the whole page, which took 2 pages to copy and contained other color pictures under the heading “You Might Also Like”, but useless to print. To me, that is not thrifty. Printer ink is very expensive.
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- Jill
Many websites are not set up so that you can copy the recipe only. I have had that happen to me many times on other sites too until I learned I need to copy and paste the recipe into word document.
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- Jaimie
Or highlight the entirety of what you want to print, then left click on the highlighted text and select “Print Selection.”
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- Roger Hagan
Highlight and copy just the six lines that make up recipe and instructions of use and then paste them into a new wordpad. You will then be able to alter the type, spacing, color, and other aspects of the information. You might want to place it on a recipe card for easy storage and this method will allow you to make it fit the card size before ever printing. If your printer allows it,you could actually print it directly to the card.
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- Lesia
Is this ok to use on glasses that have a non reflective coating? Thanks so much for all your help! Blessings.
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- Jill
Yes it does work on non reflective coatings.
- Susan
YAHOO! Thank you! I am so doing this!
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- Betty
That looks like the eyeglass cleaner that you buy in Walmart, if it is you can take it back to Walmart and they will refill it free.
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- Betty
Sorry didn’t finish. Anyway if not this looks really good and inexpensive but I have 2 or 3 of the ones from Walmart and I just take them back.
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- Pat
I have a Wal-Mart bottle that I take back to be refilled but it is a hassle to remember to take it with me. I have wondered what was in their bottle for some time now. I will give this a try! Thanks!
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- Jill
We posted this recipe because readers were wanting things like these but I don’t use it. I try to make my life as simple and easy as possible so I just squirt a bit of dish soap on my glasses when I happen to be at the sink,rub,then rinse them and wipe with my flour sack towel. This way I don’t have to take the time to mess with mixing anything or remembering to buy something.
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- C. Brown
Some of the newer types of lenses can be ruined with the dishsoap only rinse. Some advice has also been to limit any content at all in homemade solutions.
I have put two drops (from a different recipe) of a natural dishsoap in mine. My anti-glare Transition lenses seem to be okay with it.
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- Jill
It works fine on anti glare so it probably works with most glasses. It is like anything else if you get something really different and unusual you usually know the special care you need to do for it – like counter tops, floors. It is like being on special diets. You have general recipes then you need to know how to adapt it for your own special needs.
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- Carla
Great idea. I sometimes use just dish soap, rinse and dry with a micro fiber cloth.
I used micro fiber cloths for everything, dusting, dishes, washing windows cleaning the bathroom sink, you name it. I buy them six or eight at a time sometimes the dollar stores carry them,
The place where I bought my glasses will always give me a small bottle of eye glass cleaner, any time I ask and they are just up the street from me, so I usually go there for cleaner.Reply
- Janice
Thank you for the copy and paste to a word document. I have never thought of that before. If you are not ready to print, you can just save it.
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- Ann S.
Hi, and THANKS for the myriad tips I have picked up from your website, cookbook, ebooks, etc.! I was wondering if this eyeglass cleaner recipe would work on cameras, as well? We live in West Texas, where the wind blows constantly, and it’s really hard to keep a camera clean outside! Thanks again for the wonderful website!
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- Jill
I have never tried it for a camera lens but if the lens is just glass I don’t know why it wouldn’t work. Put a little bit on a rag and try it that way maybe.
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- Cindy
Camera lenses usually have a special coating on them. I would ask at a camera store or photographer before I used this prep on a camera lens.
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- Susan
I get my cleaner at Costco for free.
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- mark
Have you ever SMELLED that stuff from Costco? The free refill stuff, I mean. It STINKS. I think it’s designed to have you not come back for more. The smell of that stuff sent me scurrying to the NET to get a recipe.
Sometimes free is not worth it.
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- Terri See Alsohoney & jam | recipes + photos
Not anymore. You have to buy their bottle first then they will refill it. I have 3 I use but they won’t refill a non-Costco bottle like they used to, at lease not in my town.
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- Lillian Edison
Thanks for giving us an idea on stuff like this. True enough, eyeglass cleaners can be heavy on the pockets but this thing you are telling us is quite interesting to try. I’ve been trying stuff myself but haven’t really perfected on my experiment. Thanks a lot for this.
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- Cheryl
Another idea rather than copying and printing into a word document is to use joliprint (http://joliprint.com/). I use it all the time to save pages I want to save for later. It’s free.
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- Jill
Thanks Kim and Cheryl for your help in answering these questions. So many are excited about getting the new free e book but don’t know how to download them and we are trying to answer as many questions as we can but everyone’s problem is a little different so having our readers tell what they did really helps.
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- macqueline githens
wanted the free book but kindle not usable on my [emailprotected]
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- Tawra
I’m not sure what the problem could be here is the link for Kindle help. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_navbox_kspot_ksupport?nodeId=200127470
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- Bea
Do you need Kindle to print free ebook?
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- Tawra
You can read it on your computer using the link at the bottom of the post. You can’t print this one out yet. We will have a printable version available in 3 months. We can’t soon because of Amazon 1st rights use. :-(
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- Atindra
I started making my own glasses cleaner when Kaiser (where I still get my glasses) started charging rather than giving. Someone suggested it to me. They suggested using baby shampoo as it is non abrasive in any way and rinses easily. I do not buy baby shampoo though and just use the liquid hand soap (a couple of drops) per small cleaner bottles, I did save them from Kaiser. I don’t go to Kmart (personal) and do not have Costco card….and so needed to make my own. I think Kaiser was charging like $2.00 per bottle! No-brainer, no wasting $ on unnecessary cleaner. Thanks for sharing with us though…I just put you in my bookmarks for other saving tips as well. Yas never know.
Sincerely,
AtindraReply
- Janice
Question #1 I am wondering how much percentage of rubbing alcohol should I use. Question #2 Also I have a pair of glasses which has antiglare and anti-scratch coating. Would it be dangerous to use your recipe regarding this matter???
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- Jill
We have antiglare and scratch on our glasses and it hasn’t hurt it. There is no exact measurements really just use equal parts alcohol and water in a small spray bottle and add a drop of Dawn to it.
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- Nancy Wall
My eye doctor told me to only use alcohol and cloth to clean my glasses. It’s safe for all kinds, cuts grease easily and as it evaporates from the lens, it carries any leftover “dirt” with it.
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- Kathy Parrett
This is great but I wonder if its really effective and that it won’t cause any adverse effects.
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- Jill
The ingredients are just soap, water and alcohol none of which can hurt anything especially glass. The only thing you need to worry about when cleaning any glass is if it abrasive which of course this isn’t. We have used this or a form of it for years now with about 10 glass wearers in our immediate family and has worked great. You can do just soap and water if you want which if you hand wash your dishes you will know does nothing to them and the alcohol does nothing but cut the grease a little and give an extra shine.
Many store bought cleaners have no special or magic ingredients in them. They are usually just alcohol and water or something like that.
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- laura
Love this! I live out in the country, everything is a long drive away, so I can’t just go to a store and fill up. Lucky I found this :)
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- Jean Pulido
This is great. Now I don’t have to go to the store to buy cleaning materials for lenses. Got to try this one. Thanks for sharing.
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- Katie
This would probably work nicely on a Kindle/IPad screen.
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- mark
Yup, or a smart phone. :)
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- Denise
If using on an Ipad screen or Kindle, cell phone or camera, I’d spray the cloth and not the unit.
They don’t take kindly to getting damp inside!
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- Jill
We don’t really recommend using this on an Ipad, kindle etc. You probably should use cleaners made especially for that.
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- Teresa
I will definitely try this!! We are missionaries in Jamaica and the cost for eyeglass cleaner is atrocious!! I usually get someone to bring us cleaners down when they come to visit….now I might not have too! :-) I will post and let you know what I think once we run out of our cleaner and I make this recipe! I just signed up today for your newsletter and I love all the things you can do to save money.
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- Mary
This is slightly off topic. I don’t usually post. I recently spent 733.00 on an exam and a pair of glasses. I decided to treat myself and go to a private doctor instead of a clinic. Now, 3 months later and 3 re-do’s on the glass Rx, I can’t believe he won’t do as I ask. I wanted the bottom correction on the glasses to be +2.25, so that I can use them for the computer and for reading. I am right on the edge of both. He led me to believe that he had changed it, but he had not corrected the power, just in the distance. I literally have to be 12″ from the screen to use them. When is enough, enough? Can I go back a fourth time? Should I just chalk it up to a lesson learned and head for Walmart? I have always heard that you get what you pay for. Maybe not. 733.00 is a lot for me, but maybe it is a cheap lesson to save money over the long run. Thank you so much for this site! Mary.
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- Jill
Mary, I have never believed that because something is expensive it is the best deal. I have had expensive brand shoes fall apart the first time I wore them and I now am wearing a pair of shoes I paid $2 for and have worn them almost every day for almost 8 years now. My son spent thousands going to a dentist who really messed up his teeth and the guy basically said oops sorry and that’s it so my son is now having to save again to get enough money to have it done all over and besides that go through the pain of the surgery where Tawra goes to a dentist that charges the cheapest prices I have ever heard of, doesn’t recommend doing anything unless you seriously need it and does a great job to top it off.
I think one of my pet peeves too is the buying of expensive carpet because it will last a live time. First who wants to live with the same color carpet all of your life. Second how many people stay in the same house for a lifetime now a days and third do you know how much flooring has changed just in my life time. It has gone from linoleum, to carpet (in the kitchen), to tile, to hardwood, now bamboo is getting popular. I would rather spend less and in a few years if things change or I hate the color (I had green shag like everyone else and it was suppose to last forever) then I won’t feel bad about changing it. I’m afraid we often jump on the bandwagon or don’t think things through on something like the carpet.
Now granted there are some things that are expensive and you do get what you pay for but usually those are out of the price range of the average person. It use to not be that way. If you bought something expensive it was worth it but that doesn’t seem to be the norm now.
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- Mary
Thanks for the perspective! I was too hasty and did not find out all the facts. I think a carefully worded letter expressing my feelings and my regrets might help. I will offer to return the glasses ask for a partial refund. All he can do is ignore me or say no or maybe, give a refund. It wasn’t his fault that I did not do my research and ask questions BEFORE I ordered them. I can still use the glasses for distant and reading. Maybe, I will buy Walmart glasses for computer use. I know better than to rush off half-co*cked. Research, comparison and prayer would have been better. Thanks!
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- Jill
Boy Mary have we been there and done that too. Sometimes even when I have done my research and checked things out I still find I didn’t do it quite right and am sick at the thought of all of that money I in my mind wasted. I am doing better in the fact that I use to stew over it so bad and berate myself for making such a bad buy. I don’t know when it happened but a few years back God finally made it clear to me that – yes I goofed but I didn’t do it on purpose and sometimes it wasn’t even my fault but it was like He said “Relax. I can take care of this the same way I can everything else. I will provide the money or what ever it is you need again if you will just stop worrying and hand it over to me.” I keep forgetting He can’t help me as well until I let go of it and let Him deal with it. I am so much like my grand kids when they were tiny and insisted they could feed themselves, wouldn’t let me help them and dumped the food everywhere making a big mess. After much struggle they finally figured out if they let Nan help they would get their food faster, easier and with so much less mess if they would just let go. I tell you I am still living and learning.
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- Jo-Ann
I’m sort of laughing at this post, and I have to comment. How about using ONLY water and a soft dish towel to clean your glasses? I’ve been doing that for 40+ years, and it works fine!
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- Jill
I Jo Ann have made this same comment. That is all I use too. A flour sack dish towel and water. If they get really bad like a grand child who has had bread and butter and then plays with my glassed type of thing, I will use a little dish soap on them first, rinse and dry them. I laugh at most “homemade recipes” because I think we try to make things way more complicated then they need to be. For example I have usually use the damp edge of my rag that has been used to dry my bathroom sink to wipe my mirror down instead of getting out some special cleaner and I have never bought or made any special all purpose cleaner to clean my house with.
Why do we have these recipes? Most people want them because it is one of those latest trends. Many think they can’t clean without out them and many are wanting to go green and make all their products so they will know what is in them and to save the environment but (and I holler about this all the time) what they don’t realize is you don’t need to mix several ‘special” things to clean with and the manufacturing of all of this stuff does more to the environment to make these natural products then if they used good old soapy water for most things.
I keep trying to push keep it simple and you will save money, time and work. So as you can see I do agree with you.Reply
- hannah
The reason people want to use a glass cleaner is that water and a dish towel does not always cut it. Water does not cut grease effectively on it’s own, and if you have hard water it is even worse.
Most of the time I rinse with water and dry them, but if they are oily for whatever reason, or if I’ve been cooking on the stove top, something that cuts grease is necessary.
A spray bottle is the most effective way to apply a cleaner, and people want to save money. So here they are, looking for a homemade alternative to expensive store bought products.
I fail to see how this makes their lives any more complicated. The fact is, having to wear glasses adds complications all on it’s own, and for that we have no choice!Reply
- Jill
I have had glasses for years and just rubbing a little dish detergent on them then rinsing with water and drying with a towel always gets the grease off. If you think about it the dish detergent is made to remove from glass dishes. I have never bought glass cleaner spray. The way I apply it is to put a drop of detergent on my finger, rub my fingers together, then rub them on both sides of the lens then rinse.
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