Clean Contact Lenses
Contact lenses are medical devices, and should be treated with care. If they pick up any dirt, they could transfer bacteria to your eye and cause a serious infection. If you drop your contacts or if they make your eyes itch constantly, do not wear them until you have cleaned them.
Steps
- Check the lifespan of the contact lens. Check the packaging your contacts came in to find the maximum time you should wear a single pair. If you've passed this deadline, toss the lenses and replace them. Otherwise, clean the contacts daily unless they are prescribed as extended wear. Extended wear contacts should be cleaned on the schedule prescribed by the doctor, usually once a week. Clean immediately whenever your eyes start to itch, because you could risk eye damage.
- You should not need to wash one-day lenses.
- Contact lenses that can be worn longer than one month are very rare nowadays. If you've been wearing them this long, talk to your optician to confirm that this is correct.
- If you have trouble remembering, note the day you change lenses on a calendar.
- Prep the contact lens case. Before you remove your contact lens, prep the case by rinsing it and adding new solution. This way you can place the lens directly in the case rather than on a paper towel or trying to keep it on your finger while you clean the case. This makes for less risk of the lens drying out, picking up dust and debris, or getting lost.
- Always use new cleaning solution. If the solution you suspend the lenses in is dirty, your lenses will get dirty.
- Check the lens for damage. Take out the lens and examine it closely, on the tip of your finger. If you see any dirt stuck to the sides of the lens, return it to its case and move on to the next step. If you can't see dirt, hold the lens up to the light. Itching could be caused by a tear, bump, or other deformation. If you see anything like this, throw out the lenses and replace them.
- Repeat for the second lens as well.
- Find a contact cleaning solution. Every optician should provide this solution along with your lenses. If you've run out, you can buy more online or at a drugstore. Make sure you're using a cleaning solution intended for daily lens storage, and for your type of lenses (hard or soft). Do not put your lenses back in or continue with these steps until you have the solution.
- Wash your hands with soap and water. Dry your hands with a paper towel or lint-free cloth. Normal towels leave lint, which can dirty and damage your lenses.
- Wash off any eye makeup as well.
- Water left on your hands can get trapped under the lenses, causing them to bulge.
- Clean the lens gently. Clean the lenses as follows, one at a time:
- Place one contact lens in your palm, with the part that goes on your eye facing up.
- Place exactly one drop of cleansing solution on the lens. Let it soak for a few seconds.
- Place your finger on the lens and move it up and down, then left and right. Do not move in circles, as this risks tearing the lens.
- Shut the lens in the case. After cleaning each lens, put it back into its proper compartment of the lens case. Make sure both compartments are tightly shut.
- Gently shake the case. It may sound bizarre, but this actually helps to remove any lingering dirt in the lens. Don't shake it too hard, to avoid damaging the lenses. Leave your contact(s) in your closed case for as long as recommended by the manufacturer. It may take a few minutes to several hours to disinfect them.
- If your contacts still cause you pain after cleaning, it's damage, not dirt. Throw out the contacts and put in a new pair.
- Consider other treatments. If the lenses are still dirty or blurry, you may need to try a different option. Talk to your optician, or consider these options:
- If your lenses look blurry, try a contact lens solution intended to remove protein deposits. Check the instructions, as the cleaning process may be different.
- Keep extremely dirty lenses in a stronger disinfecting contact lens solution for several hours. These powerful solutions can damage your eyes if used incorrectly, so you should always follow the exact instructions that came with your product.
- There are machines that will clean the contacts without solution, but these are intended for convenience, not for extra-strength cleaning. Follow accompanying instructions exactly to avoid damaging the lenses.
- Visit your eye doctor if irritation persists. Conditions such as giant papillary conjunctivitis and allergic conjunctivitis can make contact lens wear uncomfortable and require treatment beyond cleaning the contact lens.
Tips
- If you can't read without your contacts in, have someone read these instructions to you as you clean.
- Even if your contacts are safe to wear overnight, it's best to take them out until morning. This will reduce the amount of waste buildup on the contact, and lower the risk of eye irritation.
- Soft contact lenses can flip inside out. If necessary, flip the lens into the right position before inserting onto your eye.
- Using too much solution may cause the contact to float in the solution, making a mess when you try to scrub it.
Warnings
- Do not try to add the contact cleaning solution directly in your eye. This will harm more than it will help.
- Only use a solution specifically made for contact lenses.
- Contacts are incredibly delicate and sensitive to your skin oil. Do not touch your face in between washing your hands and handling the contacts.
- Soft contact lenses are very fragile. Be careful not to rip them during this cleaning process.
Things You'll Need
- Soap
- Water
- Contact lenses
- Contact lens case
- Contact lens cleaning solution
