before i put on my clean underwear for the day, i use them (soft cotton kind) to clean the lenses. sounds gross, but they are clean!

Breath on lens. Quickly wipe with edge of cotton t-shirt. Nothing in the steam of your breath but pure H2O - and maybe pepperoni pizza fumes. And cotton is the kindest material on glass and plastic - unless you work in a very sandy environment.

the tissues from sam’s Club work good. I also like thier spray with a micro fiber cloth

According to my opthamologist, use plain old dish soap to wash your lenses then dry them with a clean, lint-free cotton towel. I find that a kitchen dishcloth, the non-loopy kind, works great. Also make sure you don’t wipe in circles. Start at one edge and wipe to the other. That way you don’t smear anything around, you move it off the other edge Works for me.

Every morming I rinse my lenses with water to remove any sand or grit, put hand soap on them with my finger, rinse the soap off, and dry them with a clean towel. I keep them on all day and they rarely get dirty. If they do get dirty during the day, I clean them the same way. If I can’t clean them the same way, I don’t clean them. I never use paper towels or special lens cleaning material. I’ve been doing this for several years and I don’t have a problem with scratched lenses.

I am another successful user of the soap and water method. Any liquid soap will do (foam soap works not quite as well). Start with clean, wet hands, then wet the lenses. Apply a little liquid soap to your fingers. Gently wash the lenses with the soap. Rinse and continue rubbing the lenses while running under water until the soap residue is gone. Otherwise, your lenses will attract dirt again. In public rest rooms, I use the paper towels without a problem. If the paper towel feels a bit rough, I just carefully dab it on the glasses. Been doing this for many years. Important precautions: fingers must be clean and wet to avoid scratching. Wash gently. Be sure that what you use to dry the lens is clean (no embedded dirt/sand to scratch the lens). Prior to using these precautions I did slightly wear off the scratch resistant coating on my glasses. But that was well after a year. If you have rough hands, consider using a soft cloth instead of your fingers.

I’ve found that liquid hand sanitizers work best, the clear type without any lotions added. After rinsing under water to remove any grit, I put a squirt onto each lens then dip my thumb and finger into the gel; using them to distribute and clean. The hand sanitizer leaves absolutely no residue and breaks down oils extremely well. After rinsing under water, you will be amazed how the lens sheds the water leaving only a few drops to dab away with the cloth of your choice. Quick. Sparkly Clean.. and Cheap…
You’ll never use any thing else again.

I use WetOnes or similar wet wipes (and if they are dried out when you get them home from the store, just add a little water to the container). Nice, smooth, no scratches. Think of your glasses as a baby’s bottom.

I use lukewarm running water with ordinary soap, making sure they are thoroughly rinsed and then dry them in my bath towel every morning. And I have never had a problem with scratches. But I think it’s important to specify a hard coating on your lenses when you order them. Otherwise It’s virtually impossible to stop them getting scratched.

This takes 20 seconds or less - do it on my way out the door. Give each lens a quick shot of Windex - if they’re very dirty, quick rub with a finger to boot. Immediately rinse with water under the tap. Dry with whatever is handy, clean & relatively soft. Paper towel works OK, I take it easy on the pressure since all required is remove the leftover clean water. Or if you’re in a hurry, just shake and wear.

Some folks are horrified at this and swear Windex’ll hurt the lenses. I use plastic lenses (with hard coating), keep each pair for several years, and do this every morning - sometimes evening too. Have never hurt the glasses. Side benefit of this method is that the nose pads get cleaned too, so it’s like a new pair of specs every AM.

I used to use those pre-moistened glass cleaner cloths that came in individual pouches. I have plastic lenses and after a couple of years I finally figured out that the haze that developed on the surface was due to the alcohol in the “moisture” of the cloth. When I had my lenses replaced (due to prescription change) a couple of years ago, I decided to try just soap and hot water to see if the lenses lasted longer. What a difference! They are still clear and abrasion-free. So I recommend just hand soap and hot water and plain tissues (e.g. Kleenex - no additives) for drying. Also, if you use tissues with aloe or other “softening” agents, they will smear your glasses. I swear by this simple technique.

Receving blankets. That’s what I use and they are washable.
If they are real bad, grease wise, I will like them first… I know, sounds discusting but it works really well, there are more grease fighters in your saliva than most soaps.

I recommend never to use any type of cloth except those special microfibre glasses cloths or the larger home version which work well for me (never use it for anything else); Indeed I have scratched many pairs of glasses using simple cloth like clean t-shirts, or the worst ever is a paper towel or paper tissue, it acts like sand paper on the fragile anti-glare coating of most modern glasses. I also noticed that window cleaners can be your worst enemy depending on what’s in it, I ruined glasses with simple “Windex” type cleaners.
My preferred method is simply warm water with a drop of detergent, the kind you would use to clean the dishes (i.e not dishwashing machine detergent).
Add a drop of detergent in your hand, add water, build up foam, clean your glasses with the foam, rinse, and air dry. I tap the glasses gently to remove excess water and they should dry up quickly, specially if you use warm water. Your glasses will be always clean and never get scratched again.

I use the Windex method exactly like Reid Sprague describes (July 29). The storefront girls at Lens Crafters say “no-no”, but so far I’ve had no problem with it. I have polycarbonate lenses with the Scotchguard Protector coating from Lens Crafters.

0. Ammonia can dissolve an anti-reflective coating in a heartbeat, so I never clean with that ingredient any more. (That may explain Windex warnings)
1. Always rinse first, to remove grit.
2. One drop of soap or detergent can make a lot of cleaner.
3. A little alcohol can dissolve a lot of filmy crud - but be careful, test first!
4. I use old T-shirts (launder WITHOUT oily fabric softener rinse) for drying.

I like everyone’s suggestions below, but I’ve found that a combination of all of them works best. These steps give me the cleanest glasses ever!

1. Wash your hands with soap (this is why the microfiber cloths begin to smudge your glasses after about three weeks–dirt and grease from your hands and fingers when you clean your glasses. The entire basis for fingerprinting!)
2. Wash the lenses with warm water and soap. Shake dry.
3. Use a microfiber cloth to dry the glasses, going from side to side, not in circles.
4. Apply to face.
5. Notice that pot-hole next time…

I use Dawn dishwashing detergent to clean them. Dawn will remove any of the ordinary dirt that may accumulate on glasses, but also the facial oils that may get on them as well. A very small drop of Dawn, clean both sides with fingers, rinse and then dry with a soft cotton towel. I have a few scratches, but not from cleaning.