Armour Etch wins hands down! If you’re like me and decided to go ahead and have anti-reflective coating put on your eyeglasses at an extra charge, of course, then you probably know what Armour Etch is. If you don’t, keep reading because you’ll want to know!
First of all, let me just say that steam is an enemy of AR coating, so if you happen to be an Italian chef cooking pasta everyday - then sooner or later you’re going to need Armour Etch! If you wear your glasses in the bathroom and take them off right before you step into the shower (and who doesn’t?!) and the bathroom becomes all steamy - then you’re going to need Armour Etch! If things get steamy in the bedroom and you’re wearing your glasses, I don’t think it really matters - but take them off anyway! (Okay, the last one was a joke, but hey, who knows?!!!)
Seriously, if you have AR coating, you will eventually end up wondering whether your eyesight is failing, you’re developing cataracts, or worse yet, going blind! I was starting to live life in a foggy haze when I realized that the fog was on my glasses! I took them back to where I bought them and, lo and behold, I was a couple of weeks past the warranty! “Sorry we can’t do anything about them now.” the girl behind the counter told me.
What could I do?! As I was going out the door, one of the girls working there asked me, “How are you cleaning your glasses?”
“With soap and water,” I replied.
“Oh you shouldn’t have used soap, that’s the problem.” she scolded me.
“You mean to tell me, I can’t use mild handsoap to clean my glasses?!”
“No, but would you like to purchase a cleaning kit that we have,” she wanted to know. (Like I needed something to clean the fog!)
Before leaving another girl said that maybe one of their competitors could have the AR coating taken off for around $25-$30. (Not true, I went to several places and they had no solution for me either. Well that’s not entirely true, they did tell me I could purchase a new pair of glasses!) I went home and started searching on the internet to see if anyone else was having the same problem. What I found out surprised me! It seems most people who have AR coating, have or will have, sooner or later, and later is the operative word, the same problem as me! Like after your warranty is up!
The way I see it, the eyeglass companies are offering this wonderful product (according to their description, you’ll be able to see much better, you won’t be bothered with glare from the sun, or headlights from other cars at night, and blah, blah, blah…), when in reality they know that a year later that coating is going to start peeling off and your only option is to buy a new pair! How convenient for them! Now instead of people buying new eyeglasses every two to four years, people will have to get new ones every year or two! Does anyone smell a rat?!
People had all types of solutions on the internet and I tried a lot of them, such as toothpaste, hairspray, furniture polish, etc. I mean afterall, what have you got to lose when you can no longer see through your glasses!? Nothing worked until I tried Armour Etch. Everyone was raving about how they were amazed by the results and were so thankful for the hint, I ran out and bought a bottle!
Armour Etch runs about $10 at any arts & crafts store. I put a nice coat on both sides of my lenses* with a Q-Tip and let them sit for 5 minutes and then rinsed them off with (yes!) mild soap and water! Amazing! I had a brand new pair of eyeglasses! It’s been about a week and I’m still amazed at how wonderful they are and how well I can see once again!
*Now a very important point I need to make is, Armour Etch works only on plastic lenses, if you have real glass lenses, do not use Armour Etch! It will ruin your eyeglasses! With older lenses you may need to repeat the process several times before it works. Why that is, I don’t know….perhaps the lenses were made differently. So if you have relatively new plastic lenses and you want to take off the AR coating, then Armour Etch works like a charm!
Maya Muses: Sometimes it’s not so bad seeing Life through hazy lenses which distorts our so-called reality, but personally, I’d rather pick and choose those times!
Photo Credits: Flickr
20 responses so far ↓
1 Chad // Nov 13, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Do you notice any difference with the AR coating removed? ie, more glare or harder to see at night while driving, etc?
2 Lynn // Nov 14, 2008 at 5:51 am
Hi Chad, ….just the opposite actually. When I had the AR coating I found that there was more of a rainbow effect that bothered me when I drove at night.
Without the coating I find that the only time I’m aware of a reflective glare is when I have a bright light directly in front of me, like when I’m using my computer. The moment I move a few inches away or lower the lampshade (that sits right above the computer) the glare is gone.
3 Marty // Nov 18, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Hi Lynn, yours is one of the few anti-anti-reflective coating opinions I’ve seen on the web. I just bought a new pair of glasses without AR and I’ve been kicking myself since, but thanks to you, maybe in a year or two I’ll be able to look back without regrets. I do have a strong prescription, so my lenses do reflect a lot, but if that’s the worst thing, I guess I can live with that. Thanks!
4 Lynn // Nov 19, 2008 at 5:36 am
Marty, I think you will be happy! Most people who have it end up with clouded glasses once the AR starts peeling away and it gets increasingly hard to see and your stuck with buying new glasses! So, thank goodness for Armour Etch!
I recently bought two more pairs of glasses one for reading and one for the computer, neither have AR on them and I have no problem with glare….unless there’s a very bright light directly in front of me and I’m looking at a dark screen; I just move the light and the glare is gone!
5 Chad // Nov 20, 2008 at 6:47 pm
After Armour Etch my glasses are now clear as a bell… amazing!
Don’t know if I will miss the AR coating or not but at least the scratches are gone!
6 Lynn // Dec 5, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Chad, it truly is amazing. I don’t know if I was happier because I felt like I had a new pair of glasses when the AE took out the AR film clouding my glasses, or because I saved myself $200 not having to buying a new pair! Probably both!!!
7 Tony // Dec 19, 2008 at 7:33 am
I bought some armour etch the other day, and tried it on my plastic lenses (or maybe they’re polycarbonate?)
While the coating seems to have been removed, they’ve now gone cloudy. I wonder if it’s the anti scratch coating disolving and not coming off completely.
Anyone have any suggestions as to how to get rid of the fog that now makes my glasses useless?
8 Lynn // Dec 19, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Hmm….Tony, I don’t know how AE would react on polycarbonate, but the reaction you’re having sounds like your lenses are made of glass! As I said in my post, do not use AE on glass lenses because it will ruin your glasses. (I know, too late in your case!)
That said, if they are plastic, are you talking about relatively new glasses, because I also mention that AE doesn’t seem to work well on older plastic lenses. Maybe they were made differently before, but on new plastic lenses AE works like a charm!
Sorry Tony, I have no idea how you can clear up your glasses now that they’ve become foggy….. maybe someone else has a suggestion….
9 Nicko // Dec 30, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Tony if you do have plastic lenses and they became cloudy you probably need to let the AE sit on the lenses longer, or apply it a few times. The AE dissolves the AR coating quite slowly, so if its only partially removed it will look really foggy. Just put a liberal amount of AE on again, wait 3-5 mins, then wash very well with soap and warm/hot water. If you still see some fogginess repeat the process 1-2 more times.
First time I did it on an old pair I had the same issue. After the second time when I held it up to the light, I could start to see patches with the coating and the areas without it were clear….so I did it a 3rd time and they were perfect. Of course the next set I did this on I just knew to wait a longer time and it only took me one application.
10 Lynn // Dec 30, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Thanks for the info Nicko, it’s good to know! I just did mine once and it came out perfectly, but what you’re saying is exactly what happened to my friend with his old pair of glasses! I’ll have to tell him to try it a few more times, or else leave it on longer.
Thanks again!
11 Deena // Mar 23, 2009 at 6:40 pm
I don’t wear glasses, but my boyfriend does so I’m going to tell him to take them off in the bedroom! Lol.
12 Lynn // Mar 23, 2009 at 10:49 pm
LOL! I’m with you Deena, it’s always better to be safe than sorry!!!
13 A professional // Jul 22, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Hi,
You simply need an AR coating that can stand higher heat levels. Plus, you probably bought your AR coating from a chain store, who, mainly uses an AR coater that’s designed for high volume and low quality, rather than from a doctor who may charge quite a bit more but provide a coating that will last for a significantly longer time and withstand high levels of heat.
Go to your independant doctor of optometry and ask the optician to research how hot your lens can get to. They will not know, so tell them to ask various venders and provide proof to them.
14 Lynn // Jul 23, 2009 at 4:09 am
AP, thanks for the valuable information! As for me, after taking off the AR coating with Armour Etch….I really do quite well without it and won’t have it on my next pair of eye-glasses either!
15 Matt // Jun 19, 2010 at 11:45 am
THANK YOU SO MUCH! This worked!!!! It’s funny though… one lens the AR came right off. The other lens required me to do it several times before it could come off. Strange. Either way, it saved me a lot of money on new glasses!
16 Lynn // Jun 21, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Glad to be of help, Matt…. I know how you feel! I was so delighted when my glasses became clear once again and I didn’t have to waste money buying a new pair!
17 John // Jul 8, 2010 at 11:36 pm
I CAN SEE AGAIN!
My lenses were really BAD! Worked perfectly, removed lenses from frames first, then Armor-Etch (3 oz. at Michaels, they have a 50% off (most anything) coupon you can print from their site right now BTW, makes the normally $12.99 only $6.50+ tax! Valid through Saturday July 10, 2010), q-tips, did both lenes both sides twice, 5 minutes each…except for a few scratches are crystal clear now. THANK YOU!!!
18 Lynn // Jul 9, 2010 at 6:36 am
John, I know the feeling! Looking through hazy glasses for so long and then presto - everything is clear! Glad to help!
19 Karen // Aug 23, 2010 at 5:03 pm
I have my glasses back! Thank you for posting this! I’d been getting headaches every day from trying to wear my old glasses with a different prescription but now as the song goes, “I can see clearly now…”
20 Lynn // Aug 24, 2010 at 9:40 am
Karen, you remind me of how I felt when all of a sudden “I could see clearly now”!!! LOL! It was like having a new pair of glasses!
Glad I could help!
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