How to Make Adjustments to Sunglasses and Eyeglasses

Having damaged sunglasses or eyeglasses will make your daily life more difficult and so ensuring they’re in perfect condition is important.  A quick inspection every so often will also ensure the longevity of your eyewear for years to come.  

Whether they are fashion glasses or any type of eyeglasses and whether the glasses feature either plastic or metal, there are often issues with something broken or missing such as a broken arm or nose arch making them impossible to use but if is actually possible to fix many of the small niggling issues found with eyewear.  

The most common issues with damaged glasses are:
A broken glasses leg
Skewed / bent glasses leg
Glass has become detached from the frame 

How to fix glasses with a broken leg or bridge – Using needles and heat to repair eyeglass bridges

1.1 Fill a small pot with water and set it to “high” heat, as this procedure will use heat to repair the frames of your glasses that must be plastic for it to work
1.2 Melt the plastic. When the water is boiling, point the broken glasses near the pot and heat the rims until they soften
1.3 Insert a short needle into a piece, then take another piece and plug it into the other end of the needle. While the plastic is warming and soft, cover the broken marks and needles until smooth
The important point: not to put the plastic frames directly into the fire.

Issue with arm hinge

2.1 Repair your eyeglasses with an eyeglass repair kit, which can be found in eyeglass stores and on the internet. It includes everything you’ll need to get your glasses fixed, whether it’s a nut or a small screwdriver.  To fix the hinge, simply insert the knot into the joint, use a screwdriver to tighten it, then “pick” the end of the nut as needed.

2.2 You may get away with using a simple item like a toothpick to fix this part of the frame. If the joint nut that holds the temple and lens together is missing, try stacking the two joint holes and pushing the toothpick in as far as you can. The excess wood should then be broken or cut off

2.3 Using a piece of wire. You can often find a wire from a loaf of bread for example, take this wire and thread the through the eyewear and the hinge. Twist the wire ends together until the two glasses are securely connected. Cut the wire at the end and ensure no sharp edges are pointing out.  

The glasses legs are skewed

3.1 Observe the legs of the glasses. If your glasses look bent or tilted to one side that may be caused by a problem with your glasses legs. There is a simple way to test this: place your glasses on a flat surface. The legs of the glasses are usually equal on both sides. if placed like this and the glasses wobble then it needs to be adjusted.  

3.2 Adjust the position of the glasses’ legs. The temples are the parts of the frame that go over and cover the ears in order to keep the frame level. After you’ve determined how to handle the legs, the following step is to consider the type of glasses you own. Because adjusting plastic spectacles differs from adjusting metal spectacles.

For the metal frames. Using small pliers, gently bend the glasses’ legs to the desired shape. Put on your glasses and take another look in the mirror. to ensure that the glasses are properly positioned.  For the plastic frames, use hot air such as a hair dryer to blow on the temples of plastic frames to make the plastic softer then, using your hands, bend the glasses’ legs into the desired shape. Take care not to overheat, as this may cause the temples to melt
Another way to help bend plastic temples is to soak the temple legs in hot water for 15 -25 seconds. The plastic legs will soften and bend into the desired shape but keep in mind that even when it’s hot, plastic can still break so, be careful!

We hope you enjoyed these tips on how to make adjustments to sunglasses and eyeglasses, if they are beyond repair then head over to our shop and check our our sustainable sunglasses and eyeglasses.