24 Comments
AS on December 10, 2020 at 5:49 pm
STOP, just Stop please! The coatings are going to be dependent on the substrate. Many of these are proprietary formulas. Zenni optical is NOT a solution for all eyeglass wearers. QUIT spreading this horrible misinformation!
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Jakub on December 11, 2020 at 4:32 am
Hi,
Thank you for the feedback. We don’t claim that it is the ultimate solution to the problem. We are providing information about possible solutions, and we also mention in the article that it may not work for every case. But to make it clearer, we added a disclaimer at the beginning of the article as well.
Also, we are not affiliated (in any way) with Zenni Optical. Still, we wanted to provide information about a budget-friendly option for people who can not afford expensive alternatives.
If you have any tips on how to deal with this issue in effective and affordable way, we would love to hear it!
Thanks,
Have a great day!
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J on October 27, 2022 at 8:55 pm
Hi,
I worked for Zenni, an American company that has disrupted the Luxottica monopoly. I was also a Zenni customer before I worked there.
Some fun facts for you.
– Luxottica has a total monopoly on the optical industry. I literally mean they have a total monopoly. I don’t care where you buy your glasses or what brand they are, you are buying glasses from Luxottica. If you don’t believe me, go look it up.
– Luxottica uses their total monopoly to create a 3000% markup. You are paying 3000% more for your glasses than what they cost to make. If you don’t believe me, go look it up.
– With very few exceptions, ALL GLASSES are made in the same region of China. There are only about 2-3 labs left in the United States. They only major player I can think of that has their own lab outside of China is Kaiser. So as you might expect from my previous points about Luxottica and the monopoly and the 3000% markup, your designer glasses are made in China too. I don’t care if you paid $700 for them, they were made on an assembly line in China. If you don’t believe me, look it up.
– Zenni started with a mission to ensure sight to EVERYONE. Tibor Laczay was committed to ending blindness and creating affordable eyeware so all people could have the gift of vision. Believe it or not but there are millions of people in the USA who can not afford to get glasses or replace their broken glasses. Zenni makes this unattainable goal attainable.
– Tibor Laczay and Julia Zhen built their own lab in China from the ground up. Doing so they can control every step of the process. This ensures high quality glasses at affordable prices. They employ over 900 people in China and you can feel good to know that those employees are paid fair wages in work in a modern environment and treated respectfully.
– If you want to pay more for your Luxottica glasses go for it. They will be made at the lab across the street from the Zenni lab and they will cost about $1-2 dollars to make. They will be sold to you for hundreds more.
– Finally who can’t get glasses at Zenni? In the entire time I worked there I encountered maybe three prescriptions that could not be filled zenni. That is out of millions of prescriptions. 99.999999999999999% of all people can get their glasses from Zenni. The only exceptions are people who might have a prescription that is -13 in one eye and +6 in the other eye. Like two people in American have a prescription like that. Very few labs will fill a prescription like that, not just Zenni. However the Zenni lab will go out of their way to fill all prescriptions and will take special steps to make a pair of glasses work for a customer. I know. I helped with that process. Literally 99.999999999% of prescriptions can be filled by Zenni. That includes my -13.5 rx. I don’t care what your astigmatism is, if you need progressives, if you prefer chromatics, or what lens material outside of glass, you can get your glasses filled by zenni and they will be custom made and accurate. Zenni has a guarantee and will repair or offer store credit should there be a manufacturing defect – which is also exceptionally rare.
Please, stop disparaging a company that has done more to democratize access to high quality glasses than any other company on earth. I suspect you own an optical store and I suggest that you start studying for a new career because Zenni isn’t going away and that is a good thing. I have empathy for you, but times have changed. The internet exists and creative people are revolutionizing industries every day.
–
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Kuba Czudek on November 9, 2022 at 6:17 am
Thank you for taking the time to respond with such a detailed and insightful comment.
See AlsoStep-by-Step Guide: How to Remove Coating from GlassesHow to Remove Anti-Reflective Coating From EyeglassesBlue Light Eyeglasses, Eye Care Doctors, Prescription Eye ExamHow to Clean an Anti-Reflective Coated Substrate -Reply
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R on January 17, 2021 at 12:01 pm
I’ve used this method of removing AR coating to get extra life from old glasses with great success. Also, to the hater of Zenni Optical, I have been ordering from them for more 15 years without issues. They provide a quality base level product that, by nature of your eye prescription or damage to the lenses, needs to be replaced in 1-3 years anyway. Instead of spending $500+ at the eye doctor for glasses (big money maker for them), you can get a quality set of glasses for between $30 (base) – $125 (hi-index progressive bifocal). Companies like Zenni and Warby Parker saw the fat in the margins the specialty eyewear and doctors office glasses had and went after market share. The lenses are prepared by the same machines and the frames are acetate, plastic, and metal, just like the others. In my opinion, if on a budget, like most people, it makes little sense to spend over $200 on a pair of glasses, Completely unnecessary and wasteful.
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Jakub - Homeexplained.com on January 22, 2021 at 6:09 am
Thanks for the comment! We agree with you. With this article, we simply wanted to provide helpful information about other possible solutions when dealing with this annoying issue.
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Ohad on March 8, 2021 at 1:31 pm
I used the instructions to remove AR from plastic lens.
It worked like magic!
I did not have to scrape anything – just apply for 5 minutes and rinse.
Thanks a lot.Reply
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Jakub - Homeexplained.com on March 10, 2021 at 7:09 am
Hi Ohad! I’m glad it worked for you! Have a nice day :).
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R. Martin on April 2, 2021 at 12:08 pm
Guys, This is quality useful information, but lets take it to the next level:
How do I apply my own Anti-Reflective “baked-on” coating as opposed to Spray-on coating onto Polycarbonate clear lenses or onto polarized mirror finish polycarbonate lenses.Reply
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Jakub - Homeexplained.com on April 29, 2021 at 5:51 am
Hey Martin, good call! I would love to know that as well, but I’m afraid there is no simple solution. If you have any idea let me know!
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HARRY WILLIAMSON on July 24, 2021 at 4:14 pm
I used Armour Etch to remove the coatings from my glasses, the process was simple and quick. However once the film was removed minute variations (bobbles) could be seen on the surface (apparently these are as a result of recent manufacturing processes which the coatings cover). I resolved this by using Sensodyne toothpaste as a rubbing compound, an electric toothbrush speeds up the process but a cotton wool ball can be used successfully. BEWARE NOT ALL TOOTHPASTES ARE FINE ENOUGH FOR THIS PURPOSE.
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Jakub - Homeexplained.com on September 1, 2021 at 8:25 am
Hi Harry, thank you for the helpful tip!
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Sadie on August 23, 2021 at 1:11 pm
The etching cream worked perfectly. You have saved me $600. Thank you!
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Jakub - Homeexplained.com on September 1, 2021 at 8:01 am
Hi Sadie! I’m glad to hear it :)! Have a nice day.
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RDub on September 17, 2021 at 3:46 am
Hey there! I am trying the method with Armour Etch to remove the AR coating from plastic lenses. I am having some amount of success, with about four applications so far. At first it looked even more scratchy! I suppose only partially removing the AR coating will make it look worse before it gets better, right?
During the last application, I rubbed a bit more with the microfiber cloth, which seemed to remove a bit more of the coating.
Perhaps I misunderstood, but is it okay to use the plastic scraper on plastic lenses? Or is the scraper only for glass lenses?
I appreciate any more suggestions! Thank you.
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Kuba Czudek on May 24, 2022 at 7:22 am
Hi, RDub. No, you should only use the plastic scraper for the glass lenses. With plastic lenses let the etching cream do the work. The most important step is to correctly identify your type of glasses, using etching cream on a glass lenses will permanently damage them.
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Christina on September 11, 2021 at 12:57 pm
I’m honestly so thankful to have a warranty on my lenses! It is up in a couple months so I need to have them redo my lenses and I hope to be more careful with what I clean my lenses with. If next year my anti-glare coating is as scratched off as it is, then I know what to try! Thank you so very much.
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Julian Hughes on October 7, 2021 at 10:26 am
I had some cheap new glasses with plastic lenses from Specsavers UK and the coating started degrading on one lens after just a few months. It wasn’t scratched at all but was separating from the lens and making lots of reticulation type patterns. I tried this method using ArmourEtch and it has solved the problem. I had to work quite a lot at it, it wasn’t as quick as the article describes and I had to work the lenses with cotton buds and ArmourEtch a few times (including rinse) and then finally do the little bits that I’d missed, mostly at the edges of the outer surface. But it worked! I can see again with perfect clarity.
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Jakub - Homeexplained.com on October 15, 2021 at 8:01 am
Thanks for the comment, I’m glad it worked, even though I took a bit of elbow grease :).
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Hannah on January 15, 2022 at 9:47 pm
Brilliant. My AR coating started scratching within weeks and there were times I could hardly see out of my lenses. I didn’t even leave it on for 5 minutes. First coat I left on for one, used soap and water, then spot treated the remaining bits around the edges for just a few seconds. Boom! I can see through them again!
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Ginette on May 29, 2022 at 7:47 pm
I used Sensodine toothpaste and warm water and I got rid of the coating on my glasses, thanks for this info.
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Kuba Czudek on June 15, 2022 at 8:24 am
Hi Ginette, thanks for the insightful tip. I’m glad you found a way to deal with this issue.
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Camille Marinetti on October 19, 2022 at 12:16 pm
I want to say thank you! I have an old pair of progressive lens glasses I wanted to use as a spare when my current pair broke, but they were so cloudy they were pretty much unusable. After dabbing Armor Etch on the insides of the lenses, leaving for 5 minutes, and a rinse and wash with soap and water, they’re clear again. For the small cost of a bottle of etch cream I have a usable pair of spare glasses.
Thanks again!
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Kuba Czudek on November 9, 2022 at 6:30 am
Hi Camille! I’m very glad it worked for you :).
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