How long should lenses last

chris_aaaaa

What did you buy? Glasses
When did you buy it? 2 years
Where from? in store
How did you pay? CC
What went wrong? coating falling off
What are the vendors telling you? they are scratches
What solution or remedy are you looking for? replace/recoat lens


On a pair of glasses from Boots, the coating has fallen off in loads of patches. Boots call this scratches and say new glasses required, there is no change in prescription.


Am I being unreasonable to say that the coating should not fall off this quickly and they should sort it out FOC.


Chris

w211

I've just bought new glasses, and been told that coated lenses should last 2 years anyway.

Also I've been told certain cleaning solutions aren't suitable for coated lenses - which could cause the coating to come off.

I've been advised to only use the cleaning cloth which comes with the glasses to clean them, and if they're really dirty rinse the glasses under water, and dab them dry with a cloth before finishing off with the supplied cloth.

loracan1

I once made the mistake of trying to clean my favourite glasses with a damp microfibre cloth. Not something I'll ever repeat. Do the same as W211 nowadays.

chris_aaaaa

These just get breath and the cloth that came with them.

It is all clustered around the centre so it looks like microscopic scratch result in patches of the coating coming off.

I suppose that does prevent scratches in a way, but it is not quite what I mean by anti-scratch.

tidus

Coatings occasionally fail but its getting less and less common now - most coating companies will replace them FOC where there isn't significant scratching, within 1 or 2 years. If its over 2 years, you've no hope. Mostly i'm afraid its just scratch damage building up over time - just a few more each time you clean them.

Everybody claims they treat their glasses perfectly. I've had people claim that "they just fell to pieces in the case" when they've clearly been sat on or have dog teeth marks on the sides.

I'd say the expected lifespan of a pair of glasses would be two years, less if you buy cheap frames or mistreat them. Don't think you've much of a case here.

chris_aaaaa

Is the normal case a scratch surrounded by a patch of missing coating?
On these there are no visible scratches.

The glasses in question are my wifes, she has loads of pairs in various colours etc, so each pair gets little actual use.

Personally I have glasses with all the coatings, and they have many visible scratches, but no patches of coating are missing and I clean them with whatever is to hand!

tidus

Can be, yes. You can see bits of the coating flaking off, or sometimes just its an absence where its rubbed off. Usually on the apex of the lens (the bit that sticks out the most on a convex lens, on + power lenses). Less likely on a concave lens (- power) because the middle doesn't stick out, on these lenses you normally get the coating damage towards the edge.

unholyangel

tidus wrote: »

Can be, yes. You can see bits of the coating flaking off, or sometimes just its an absence where its rubbed off. Usually on the apex of the lens (the bit that sticks out the most on a convex lens, on + power lenses). Less likely on a convex lens (- power) because the middle doesn't stick out, on these lenses you normally get the coating damage towards the edge.

Concave? Been a while since I covered this in 4th year physics

tidus

Yep, just changed it!

unholyangel

tidus wrote: »

Yep, just changed it!

And there was me thinking they didn't teach me anything - kidding.

chris_aaaaa

There are no visible scratches and the prescription is valid, if I just take off the coating they will be fine.

Any ideas on how to get it off, something abrasive like jewelers rouge or a solvent like alcohol?

The underlying lenses are some flavor of plastic.