Eyewear, explained
The Designer Glasses Editorial Team 
A microfibre cloth used with a proper lens spray, or lukewarm water with a trace of washing-up liquid, rinsed off completely and dried with a clean microfibre cloth. That is it. Nothing abrasive, nothing with alcohol or ammonia in it, and nothing dry rubbed straight onto the lens — that last habit is what turns … Read more
A shirt damages glasses because it drags whatever dust, grit or fabric residue is sitting on it straight across the lens surface, and most shirts are woven tightly enough to trap those particles rather than lift them away. The result is fine, cumulative scratching in the coating layer — not the glass or plastic underneath, … Read more
Rinse the lenses under lukewarm running water first, then clean them with a small amount of mild, lotion-free soap on your fingertips, and dry with a clean cotton or microfibre cloth. The scratches most people blame on “cheap lenses” are usually caused by wiping dry grit across the surface, not by the lens itself. What … Read more
A hinge feels good when it opens and closes with a smooth, even resistance — no grinding, no sudden give, no floppy overshoot — and when it holds the temple exactly where you set it, pair after pair, for years. That feel comes from tolerances, spring behaviour and material choice, not from any one mechanism … Read more
Plating is a thin layer of metal — usually gold, palladium, rhodium or a coloured alloy — deposited electrochemically over a base frame metal to give it colour, shine or corrosion resistance. It wears through because it is genuinely thin, measured in microns, and every point where the frame touches skin, hair or a cleaning … Read more
Frames yellow and go brittle because the material they’re made from is slowly breaking down at a chemical level. Most plastics used in eyewear contain plasticisers and stabilisers that keep them flexible and clear. Over years, those additives migrate out, oxidise, or degrade under UV and heat — leaving a frame that looks amber and … Read more
Hand-polishing removes the last, fine layer of material left by milling and cutting, rounding every edge and corner until the acetate is smooth to the touch and glassy under light. It does not change the colour or structure of the material — it changes how the surface reflects light, how the frame feels against skin, … Read more
A frame is made by cutting a rough shape from flat sheet material or metal stock, machining it down to the finished silhouette, drilling and fitting the hinges and lens openings, then polishing and finishing by hand or machine. What separates a good frame from a poor one is how much of that process is … Read more
A screwless hinge joins the temple to the frame front without a visible screw holding it together. Instead, the two parts are held by a pin, a spring-loaded barrel, or a friction-fit mechanism built into the metal or acetate itself. The name refers to what you can’t see, not to an absence of engineering. It’s … Read more
A rivet hinge is the plainest kind of hinge there is: a metal pin pushed through interlocking barrels on the temple and the front, then flattened or peened at both ends so it can never work loose. There’s no spring, no give, no cushioning. Some makers still use it because that rigidity is exactly the … Read more
About what you read here. Everything on The Designer Glasses is general information and our own editorial opinion. We research carefully and we say when the evidence is unclear, but we can be wrong, things change, and no article can know your particular situation. Please do your own research and make your own judgement rather than treating anything here as the final word. This is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not a substitute for speaking to an optometrist, optician or eye doctor about your own eyes, vision and eyewear. We are writers and researchers, not clinicians. We do not recommend prescription treatments or give doses. If something is painful, getting worse, or worrying you, please talk to a professional — going early is not an overreaction.