Eyeglasses: Plastic or Glass?

Different plastics are being used for corrective lenses and polycarbonate has the best abrasion/scratch resistance of the plastics but it's still not as abrasion/scratch resistant as glass.

Incidentally, paper towels, paper napkins, etc. should never be used to clean plastic lenses because most paper products contain wood fibers which can scratch the plastic (even polycarbonate).

Thanks Bluestone, I use whatever I can find to clean my glass lenses, and after years of use/abuse, not a scratch.

By the way, I'm jealous, your tornado is bigger than mine

Tom

I'm with you

... here is some data

1245, 6993440, 938347, 1.3.... 2 1/2. shoe size 8

more data..............

In my experience, there are still no substitutes for glass lenses as to scratch resistance- however I use plastic (resin) lenses with double coatings(scratch resistance, & uv light reducer) simply for 2 reasons- my myopia requires large lenses to correct, & the safety aspect if something hit my lens/es for obvious reasons- as to cleaning the lens, I make sure that I never rub the lens with paper or cloth- I simply use a soft paint brush with dishwashing detergent to coat the lens, then rinse off with rain water, & let dry naturally. Even so, there are microscopic scratches, but nothing that interferes with vision.

Glass is far harder than plastic to answer your question.

Plastic is good where a lense would be too heavy in glass.

I have one bad eye, (long sight) and the difference in weight with both lenses made of glass, left to right, is quite dramatic....so I have plastic!

Hi Andy, I use plastic lenses because when I am chiseling crystals out of solid rock the larger chips will not shatter the lenses, but when I am at home I switch to glass lenses for reading! Spencer.

I started wearing glasses when I was eight years old and started with 250 grade glasses. They were glass and I had no problems with them.

As my years progressed, so did my myopia and I was soon wearing 500 grade glasses. I switched to plastic out of necessity. They were lighter but scratched easily. Up until I reached 750 grade glasses, I stayed with plastic.

When I reached 800, I switched back to glass. The new high index lenses available today mean that my glasses are now just over 2mm at their thinnest. I wear 900 grade glasses now.

Hi. I have been wearing glasses since 4th grade. I am now retired and have had to switch to plastic lenses a long while ago because of weight. I am unfamiliar with the grade of glasses you mention. Please give me some insight into the "new high index lenses". This is the first I have heard of them. Thanks.

Grades of glass - that's what we call them here in the Philippines. I'm not knowledgeable in optics so I can't define them. Suffice it to say that the higher the number, the more blurred your vision is and, consequently, the thicker your glasses need to be.

With the old plastic lenses (at around 750 grade), the thickness was around 4mm at the thinnest part (near the center of the lens). If at 900 grade, I still used plastic, my lenses might have to be between 5 to 7mm thick.

My eye doc was the one who suggest the high index lenses. I think their proper name is high-refractive-index-lenses. I'm not sure if they're plastic or glass though, they don't scratch easily and they're thin.

I'm not sure if they're plastic or glass though

They're glass.

The screw on my left lens loosened and the lens popped out. It happened just before I was going home from work yesteday. It broke into two pieces.

My vision is terrible without my glasses. With only one lens, half of my vision was blurred.

I did a foolish thing but desperation does that sometimes. I drove home with one lens. I kept one eye closed the whole time. 'Drove slowly too. The usual 10 to 15 minute drive took more than 20 minutes.

This morning, I took a taxi to my optometrist and got another one fitted.

"This morning, I took a taxi to my optometrist and got another one fitted."

You're lucky - here in the UK glass lenses are nearly extinct, and anyone wanting them can have a wait of 2-3weeks, especially if they are to be tinted.

anyone wanting them can have a wait of 2-3weeks

If you don't want to wait, you can come to the Philippines and get them usually within one day. No need for an appointment.

My sister moved to the US a few years ago and she complained that everything needed to be done by appointment.

She came home for a visit last year and immediately went to an optometrist. No appointment, just walked in, got her eyes examined, chose a frame, waited about 15 to 30 minutes, got the glasses, paid the fee and out she went, all in less than an hour.

If she'd been in the US, she would have had to set an appointment, wait anywhere from a few days to a week or so just to see the optometrist. Then it'd be another wait to get the glasses.

You can do that here, to - its just that it only applies to plastic lenses, glass being seen as obsolete/special request only.

I wear glasses only occasionally for long distance driving, but my wife needs them all the time, and finds glass easier to see through.

True - glass alone is harder than plastic. BUT some of the coatings put on the plastic can be harder than glass. I also had rather thick lens which caused me to change over to plastic lens---which used to get scratched up quite easily. The new coating available now seem to have solved my scratched up lens problem. I do suggest to not get the anti-reflective coating. It is very difficult to keep clean.

Polycarbonate is naturally a UV stopper. Since I work with UV sources, hard coated plastic lens in the form of polycarbonate works well for me.

Of course dropping them on a cement floor is still a problem to be avoided.

Of course dropping them on a cement floor is still a problem to be avoided.

Ah! You need the anti-gravity coating...

(And here's some more data..

25.3, 82, 16.4, 8.5...)

mine need anti gravity and a homing beacon.

Anti grav. homing beacon, and proximity sensors so as not to be sat on.

Will vote for plastics as far as eye glasses are concerned , i usually used to break my glass lens more than 8-10 times a year due to my nature of work ( i am not a wrestler), plastic lenses seems light in weight , protective , break resistence far better than glass lens , if scratches & abrasion are accounted even glass lens are not fullproof ,still it is debatible for lesser degree of correction glass lens is better choice than plastic lens

Glass has always been more abrasion resistant. They went to plastics because it is lighter in weight.

My problem with the plastic lens is with anti-glare coatings. They scratch easily so I have changed to transitions which have no coating. I have found they don't scratch as much. Still not like the glass lens I wore as a kid. I don't think they make glass with a Z87-2 safety rating.

Thanks for all the feedback folks. Something Ozzb mentioned reminded me of another reason I prefer glass. I always get "photo-grey" glass that darken when exposed to bright light. The equivalent thing in plastic is called "Transitions". The Photo-grey cost me $20 extra, and they wanted around $60 extra for the Transitions lenses.

A couple of people have mentioned safety glasses. Some years ago, my employer decided to purchase safety glasses for each employee, prescription if needed. I told them I wanted photo-grey glass, they said they would be thicker for the safety rating, I said OK. I'm not sure what rating they have, but they are quite a bit thicker than my regular glass lenses. Probably too heavy to wear for extended periods, I only wear them when needed for the protection.

Tom

After several disappointing tries at plastics and satisfaction with glass eyeglasses, I am trying to decide whether to try plastic again. As a news photographer, I found that the eyepiece on the camera would wear out plastic lenses in one spot of contact, and hasty cleaning made a mess of them in short order. Also as a photographer, I was very aware of the distortion in plastic lenses, both optical and chromatic. I was amazed that opticians were unaware of such shortcomings. Glass lenses outperform plastic, but will shatter, as I found out recently. So, I am back to buying a new pair, and when I ask for glass few opticians sell it anymore, or it means a special order, for a product they say is not ordered much. For those with stronger prescriptions, I recommend staying with as round a design as possible and not too oversized. Small, round glasses where your eye is centred in the circle will be the most accurate, and lightweight. (Keep in mind that all glasses are carved from a circle, so the largest deviation from the optical centre will be the thickest part.) John Lennon, John-Boy Walton, Ghandi and many others have proven the look is timeless. I have used high index "1.67 or 1.7" glass lenses. Here in safety-obsessed North America, they can only grind them so thin for safety reasons. In Asia they're not so fussy, and I have a very thin pair made for me in Hong Kong. Glass lenses last forever, even with tissue and shirt-tail cleaning methods, with nary a scratch while plastic/polycarbonate lenses last just months before they are visibly dulled by scratches. Give them a few years, even with careful users, and you're looking through a milky film. When I am out shooting photos and my glasses get dusty, smudged or dirty, I need to clean them. Right way. I'm not able to find a sink and soap, some special cloth, etc. I tried plastic with fancy Crizal coatings. They were wrecked inside a year. They replaced them on warranty. Those were unusable within another year. No warranty. I have a strong Rx, in the -7 zone, and for the first time need a 'progressive' lens, that is one combining distance and reading vision. Newfangled WAVE technology is only, apparently, available in plastic. I'm willing to try plastic only if they can promise freedom from distortion and scratches like glass. No takers so far. Another grip is that gosh, glasses are expensive! My prescription and reasonably nice frames are nearly upward of $750! Yikes. Hydesmith

try www.zenni.com

www.goggles4u.com

can't beat them for prices, I'm talking bout under $100 all-inclusive package

(including ultrathin 1.67's)

What is your resource in Hong Kong?

Steve Nissle

stevenissle@gmail.com

I am not registered with this blog. However, glass is far superior to plastic. I have been wearing glasses for over 65 years and have tried both. I am looking for a good place to purchase glass spectacles since most places don't carry them anymore. Costco has glass but they coat it with a sunglass filter which darkens when you are outside and supposedly lightens inside. My pair does that but it takes a long time and during the transision I cannot see clearly. So they defeat the purpose of prescription. L.S.

I got a great price for glass lenses at wallmart.

Where is the best place to get glass lenses? Online or other. I have worn both glass and plastic lenses for the past 51 years and still prefer glass. Any help would be appreciated.

I haven't shopped online for lenses, I'm sure you can get just about anything you want, the problem would be the frames. I like to try them on to see how they fit and look. Plus, most places that do the lenses will fit and fix the glasses if there is a problem, hard to do that over the internet. I just called a couple of places until I found someone who still works with glass. I do live in a metro area, so there's quite a few places to chose from.

Tom

I got a great price at wallmart. It was the last place I checked after checking many rip off places. It has been 2 years and I need new ones, so I will be looking again.

Sorry to drag up these old posts. I would like to know on the internet i can buy real Eyewear glasses instead of the plastic. I have found one web site and i am wondering if anyone knows of any others. I have done a number of searches. But i only have found one so far. http://www.eyeglassfactoryoutlet.com/index.htm

Thank you for your assistance.

Sorry i messed up the above post. This is how it should read.

Sorry to drag up these old posts. I would like to know where on the internet i can buy real Eyewear glasses instead of the plastic. I have found one web site and i am wondering if anyone knows of any others. I have done a number of searches. But i only have found one so far. http://www.eyeglassfactoryoutlet.com/index.htm

Thank you for your assistance.

Sadly all the plastic eyeglass lenses sold scratch.......there is no reason for this except that you are forced to buy new lenses more often......there have been absolute non-scratch coatings for plastics for over 50 years....they use them on the windows in airplanes and on jet fighter canopy's.......you can get a lot of damage on plastic windows at 500 mph......chalk this up to greed.....