How to do Eyeglass Repair Yourself

Prescription eyewear can cost $200 or more, so eyeglass repair is important to keep wearers from having to invest in new expensive eyewear.  Eyewear is delicate, whether it is prescription or not.  Accidents happen all the time, and no eyewear set is going to last forever without braking.  Scratched lenses are difficult, but not impossible, to repair.  In most cases, a scratched lens will have to be replaced.  Frames are different.  The frame is the easiest part to fix, and the most fashionable.  Unfortunately, the most attractive frames tend to break easier.  That is due to their design.  If the frame is all that is broken, don't through it all away without first assessing if it can be fixed. 

Most optometrists or eyeglass dealers offer repair services.  This can be convenient if you do not have the time to learn how to do the repair yourself.  Besides, it can be had to do the repair work if you cant see properly because your eyeglasses are broken.  These services are offered as a convenience, and the charges are not very high.  They make their money by selling the frames and lenses.  Offering repair services is an added value that is designed to keep customers returning when they actually need to purchase new eyewear.

Eyeglass repair is easy to do by yourself, so long as you can still see to get it done.  There are kits available at specialty stores and on the internet for fixing eyeglasses.  The tools in these kits are specifically deigned to fix broken eyeglass frames. One tool you will recognize is the tiny eyeglass screwdriver.  Designed to handle the tiny screws that hold eyeglass frames together, they have found further use in opening battery compartments many modern toys and high tech devices.  Other tools that can be found in the kit are a penlight for illuminating the repair area and a magnifying glass to make the damaged area easier to see.  The parts of a frame that break can be very small and hard enough to see for someone with perfect 20/20 vision.  For an eyeglass wearer, seeing the part to fix it is impossible without a magnifying glass. 

The expensive part of eyewear is the lens.  When they become scratched or broken, most people just replace them.  However, scratched lenses can be fixed if you know how.  To do the part, you will need purchase rubber gloves and etching cream from a hardware or home improvement store.  Apply the cream to the lens and spread it with a cotton swab.  Then rinse the lenses with warm water and wipe dry with a soft towel or cloth.  This works for plastic lenses only, not for glass lenses.  You can also purchase a spray on scratch remover that can work in some circumstances.  If your lenses are severely scratched, chipped, or cracked, then you are going to have to get new lenses. 

As long as all that is broken is the frames, then eyeglass repair is easy.  The lenses are a different story.  While mild scratches in some plastic lenses can be fixed, deep abrasions and cracks cannot.  In those cases, the lenses must be replaced.  It would be silly to toss away a perfectly good set of lenses because a cheap frame came apart.  You should always try to fix the frames first.  If that cannot be done, then take the glasses to your optometrist and have the lenses mounted into new frames. Explain what happened to the original frames, so the optometrist can help you pick frames that will not break on you the next time.