Can some liquid hand soaps smudge your eyeglass lenses?

[12john]

My control variables are
1. water hardness level, as I live in Florida, and I lodged at a Ritz Carlton also in Florida. I'm not, in any way, affiliated with any corporation herein. I'm not, in any way, affiliated with any corporation herein.
2. my eyeglasses with $700 USD Nikon SeeMax Ultimate lenses.
3. my cleaning method.
4. and my Nikon micro-fiber lens cleaning cloth.

When I lodged at the Ritz Carlton hotel, I used their liquid hand wash to dab my eyeglasses.

But even when I used different bottles of this hand wash, after rinsing with the hotel's tap water, my eyeglasses remain smudged. I didn't take the images below, but they resemble my smudges.

When I got home, I daubed some of my Method Gel Hand Soap Refill, Sweet Water on my Nikon lenses as usual. Then rinsing with my home's tap water cleansed the smudges.

Therefore Ritz Carlton's liquid hand wash appears to be the culprit for my smudges. But I never knew that some liquid hand washes can cause smudges?!? What do you chemists think?

 

[Borek]

I am not surprised at all, liquid soaps often contain plenty of additives intended to moisturize/protect the skin.

 

[symbolipoint]

Beware: This may be a bad suggestion, but some glass cleaners, such as for use on windows, may clean the surfaces and leave no visible residue. Such cleaners may be bad for eye-glass lenses.

 

[Bystander]

Optics (glass) are typically coated with one/several of a variety of coatings that are not thick enough (microns) to affect focal length, but are terribly fragile mechanically; hence the "cloudiness/fogging" effects of various cleansers.

 

[Tom.G]

Since the smudging was temporary and removable by washing, it is likely that the smudges were from a lipid or oil added to the handwash as a "moisturizer."

Such additives are fairly common. Then the manufacturer can advertise that their soap "Leaves your skin silky smooth."

If you haven't already, you might want to wash the stuff out of the lens cloth too.

Cheers,
Tom

p.s. To save some money on Lens Cleaning Solution for eyeglasses, use liquid dishwashing detergent, warm running water, and your fingers. It doesn't take much detergent, a light smear on your finger gets both lenses.
1) Wet lenses w/ warm water
2) Liquid Dish Detergent on wet finger (it takes very little)
3) Rub finger and thumb together
4) Lightly rub both wet lenses
5) Rinse

5a) repeat 1 thru 5 as needed​

6) Shake off excess water
7) Dry with lens cloth (or towel if you are brave )

p.p.s. Saliva makes a decent substitute for dish detergent and warm water. Just apply tongue to oily areas and wipe with a soft cloth. That has become my morning routine cleaning method, the quickest I've found so far. Not quite as obnoxious as it sounds as most smeared lenses are just due to body oil.

 

[berkeman]

Optics (glass) are typically coated with one/several of a variety of coatings that are not thick enough (microns) to affect focal length, but are terribly fragile mechanically; hence the "cloudiness/fogging" effects of various cleansers.

Yeah, that's why the last few pairs of glasses I've ordered have been without any added coatings.

 

[hutchphd]

p.s. To save some money on Lens Cleaning Solution for eyeglasses, use liquid dishwashing detergent, warm running water, and your fingers. It doesn't take much detergent, a light smear on your finger gets both lenses.
1) Wet lenses w/ warm water
2) Liquid Dish Detergent on wet finger (it takes very little)
3) Rub finger and thumb together
4) Lightly rub both wet lenses
5) Rinse
5a) repeat 1 thru 5 as needed6) Shake off excess water
7) Dry with lens cloth (or towel if you are brave )

Absolutely my method or the past thirty odd (I do mean odd) years. I prefer very clean microfiber for the final wipe and palmolive free and clear for detergent . (One need worry a little bit about paper towels if they contain recycled paper: these can contain clay and be slightly abrasive)

 

[Nik_2213]

'Steamed up-plus' by mask wearing ??

I stopped trying to clean my glasses with domestic soaps or detergent, now just use a soft nail-brush under running water, dry with a clean, no-pile cloth.
Unfortunately, 'blue' hand-wash and 'green' dish-wash stuff are good at their designated jobs, but less so with 'coated' lenses. I'd prefer the colourless 'industrial' additive-free detergent I'd use in 'sonic' baths, but it only seems to come in multi-litre portions...

 

[rbelli1]

(One need worry a little bit about paper towels if they contain recycled paper: these can contain clay and be slightly abrasive)

Virgin paper can be abrasive too. I avoid touching my glasses with any wood based products unless they are specifically made for lenses.

BoB

 

[hutchphd]

As I understand it finished paper often has a slurry of clay applied as the hard finish. Are there other abrasive components also? Maybe white pigments in the clay?

 

[rbelli1]

The wood fibers contain some minerals and the papermaking process (outside of the clay finishes) uses them as well.

For example:
https://projects.ncsu.edu/project/hubbepaperchem/CSIL.htm

BoB

 

[chemisttree]

I worked on a project for paper recycling once. We found that in addition to clay, we found titanium oxide. Mostly in glossy magazine paper.

 

[Bystander]

we found titanium oxide.

For "blinding/glaring/brilliant" whites.