Cheap Glasses: How to Get Them & Care for Them

Getting cheap glasses online is getting easier everyday. With new sites popping up all the time, it's becoming easier and easier to find a style you love at a very fair price. While there can be a few pitfalls to buying cheap glasses online, if you follow our tips you'll be fine. To get your glasses online, just follow these simple steps:

1. Find a licensed optometrist and have your eyes tested.
2. Pay for your eye exam either out of pocket or present your insurance card if you are lucky enough to have vision insurance.
3. Once the exam is over, ask for a copy of your prescription. Your optometrist cannot refuse to give you this as you, as you have paid them for this test and you are entitled to a copy of the results of this test.
4. Take your pick of places to order your glasses; use our links for help with this. Contact one of the online companies who supplies cheap glasses and they will take you through the ordering process. They all have huge online catalogs with the frame styles pictured and you should be able to find something you love an perhaps even use their website to look at a picture of yourself with different frame styles superimposed onto your face.
   

A good tip to remember is to have someone at the optometrists office measure the distance between your eyes, or more accurately, your pupils, and get the number (in millimeters) that they write down before you leave. This is your pupillary distance or PD. Give this number to the online company you choose to manufacture your cheap eyeglasses, as they will need it to make your lenses properly. Some people may not feel comfortable about paying for their prescription and leaving. There is no need to worry about this though as most optometrists will be comfortable with this practice. You might find that your new cheap glasses need some minor adjustments to be comfortable on your face. If this is the case, just go to any optician and you will find they will be happy to do this for you. We will also have a series of articles coming soon to help you do this on your own.

Now that you've got your discount eyeglasses, it's time to learn how to care for them. This info pertains to all eyeglasses, not just the cheap ones. Taking proper care of your glasses will ensure that they last a long time, and the the lenses stay in perfect shape. This will help you always see clearly.

• Always take your eyeglasses off using two hands, instead of one. This keeps the earpieces straight and in the correct alignment. Taking them off one-handed risks stretching them out and making them loose.
• Don't put your glasses on the top of your head. This will distort the shape of your eye glass frames, and there's a greater chance of them falling off and getting damaged that way.
• Try not to push them up on your nose by sticking your finger on the bridge (right between your eyes) if they're wire-framed. This causes stress on the nose pads, and if they're any color but silver, it can wear off the finish. Instead, grasp the lenses by putting your thumb at the bottom and fingers at the top, and them move them to where you want them to sit on your face.
• Purchase a microfiber optical cleaning cloth. These are generally available at optometrists, chemists and supermarkets for a few dollars. They will also be included for free if you buy glasses online. To clean them, hold your glasses firmly in one hand. Take the cloth in your preferred hand and gently rub both sides of each lenses until you can see no smudges. Breathe on them gently so that you can see any spots you missed in the fog, and wipe them quickly, before it evaporates. Never use the following to clean your glasses:
  1. clothing - dirt trapped in the fibers can scratch the lenses
  2. paper towels or tissues - these fibers scratch lenses
  3. a dirty microfiber cloth
  Keep in mind that when you're not using the microfiber cloth, put it in the eyeglass case; if it collects dust, it'll scratch the lenses, rather than cleaning them.
  
• Always use the proper solution to dissolve any spots. No harsh cleaners needed. More often than not, a little hot water will do it. Still not happy? Buy some lens cleaning spray and spray a small amount on both sides of each lens, and repeat the above.
• Buy an eyeglass repair kit. These are available at the counter of some markets, at big drugstores, and at eyeglass vendors and optometrists' offices. Sometimes the screws that hold the arms on can come loose, which makes the arms not able to 'grip' the sides of your head as well. This happens to all glasses, it isn't just for those of us that buy cheap glasses. You can either get a tiny screwdriver and tighten them yourself, or visit your optometrist and have them do it for you.
• Always keep your glasses in a case when you aren't wearing them. You should get one free from your optician, or where you bought your new cheap glasses. When you take your glasses off, putting them in the case will help keep them from getting scratched. The best ones are the ones that open and close, rather than the ones you slide the glasses into. Even the act of slipping them in can rub against the lenses and cause minute scratches, which your eyes perceive as haze. Any particles, scratches, or tiny hairline fissures will make it harder for you to see perfectly through your glasses, especially at night or in darkened rooms (light will travel along those scratches, creating halos and prisms). If you aren't putting them in a case, at least make sure the lenses are up, away from any hard surfaces.
• Don't leave your glasses anywhere that you could step on them.
• Take off your glasses before you spritz hairspray, perfume, or cologne. Not only can it damage the lenses, but it can also dirty the lenses and nose pads.
  

Hopefully, these tips will help you keep your new cheap glasses in tiptop shape. Most are common sense, but if you are new to wearing glasses they will be invaluable.