[kenmacd]

Learning this has also changed my life, but maybe not for the better. Now every time I see someone I know and their shoes are tied in a granny knot I have to waste a bunch of calories deciding if they'd appreciate me telling them.

[sholladay]

I encounter this all the time, I just want to help people and pass along things I’ve learned but it’s not always received well. For sure, many adults would not want to be told how to tie their shoelaces.

My only advice is to start by approaching the problem. “Hey, do your shoelaces come untied often?”

[nunez]

OMG same!

It's like when you learn how to roll up headphone wires or properly clean glasses.

The temptation to do it for others (and get rejected) is way too high.

[itintheory]

Gonna need a description of the correct way to do these things. I have a feeling I'll be one of today's lucky 10,000.

[SturgeonsLaw]

Rolling up headphone wires (or any wires) works best when you create a looped bundle and alternate between overhand and underhand. It stops it from getting twisted and tangled. When done right, you can hold one end, throw the under end, and it all unfurls neatly.

Learned this from a theatre stagehand and have been using it ever since.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CYdu7aW_pm8

[whitepoplar]

Wait, how do you properly clean glasses?

[MarkusWandel]

Maybe this isn't proper, but, what I do is wet them, rub them with a tiny amount of dish soap, then rinse them under the hot water tap.

Then blow the droplets off both sides and let the rest air dry. We have soft water here, so no water spots. No rubbing dry with any kind of cloth.

[tharkun__]

Tap water if chlorinated is not great for the coatings on modern glasses I've been told. YMMV if you're not in such a place.

I mix my own spray bottles from dish soap, non chlorinated water and a bit of rubbing alcohol actually. Water is softened.

[keane]

The Spectacle Factory recommends, in order, (1) warm water and a microfiber cloth, (2) Zeiss lens wipes, or (3) an ultrasonic bath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4lJ_5Tg9Ms

They recommend (v=5FUUgO95sb4) against both detergent for the sake of the lens coatings and against sprays which may cause grease to accumulate around the lens rim.

[OneLeggedCat]

If you're the kind of person who has bought a dozen pairs of cheap Zenni's... the lens coating gets visibly damaged every time I've used hand soap on them. I now just blast them with hot water and wipe dry with a lens cloth. I don't know whether hand soap is a problem for more expensive brands, but it definitely is for Zenni's.

[tcoff91]

I don't have soft water so i blot the lenses dry with lens paper. Works amazingly and my lenses last so long since i switched to the dish soap method.

[LVB]

40+ year glasses wearer here who learned this perhaps only 10 years ago, I think this is the correct way. The one annoying part is the difference that the glass coating makes. The water just falls off some of my glasses with barely as much as a light tap. Others length tend to hang onto the water in beads, so I have to actually wait for it to dry (or walk around with water spots, which I also do when impatient...)

[alfiedotwtf]

I’ve been wearing glasses for just under 30 years, and only last month I decided to actually try and clean my glasses with the tiny microfibres cloth they give you when you buy a pair of glasses rather than throwing it out because it gets annoying in your case because you just use your t-shirt… I’m not a 100% microfibre guy

[tcoff91]

Use lens paper to blot the water off.

[bookofjoe]

Zeiss Lens Wipes. Apple’s Vision Pro care instructions specifies them.

[nunez]

Good in a pinch; better to use microfiber, as stated by Zeiss themselves: https://www.zeiss.com/vision-care/us/eye-health-and-care/hea...

[bookofjoe]

"Better?"

>Cleaning your glasses properly – what to do — Use this method for both for [sic] thorough cleaning of your glasses at home, and fast, effective cleaning when you are out and about: rub a microfiber cloth or a folded lens cleaning wipe gently over the lens surface to remove coarse dirt particles.

https://www.zeiss.com/vision-care/us/eye-health-and-care/hea...

"As good as" seems an equally valid takeaway....

[seb1204]

Nicely done Zeiss

[nunez]

Use a clean microfiber cloth. ANYTHING ELSE will scratch your lenses up. (This is probably the most common no-no I see. People will clean their glasses with anything on them and smudge/scratch them instead.)

Two cloths are ideal: one for cleaning and another for polishing.

If you're using soap and water, apply a tiny amount of soap onto both sides of the lens --- less than a grain of rice --- then apply water and rub with your fingers until clean. Skip to polish step.

If using cleaner, spray cleaner onto the cloth, NOT onto the lens. Spray onto one side of the cloth so that you have a wet side and a dry side.

(You can use water instead of cleaner in a pinch.)

Three passes.

First pass: with wet side, wipe lens in lines from top of frame to bottom. NOT in circles. (You'll spread the dirt around this way, making the cleaning process take way longer and potentially introducing scratches.)

Second pass: Repeat first pass with dry side of cloth.

Repeat first and second passes until lenses look mostly clear.

Third pass, if you have a polishing cloth: Wipe polishing clothes in circles until lenses are clear.

Your lenses will last forever if cleaned this way.

The cleaner steps above also work on any glass surface, like laptop screens or car windows.

[coldtea]

>Use a clean microfiber cloth. ANYTHING ELSE will scratch your lenses up.

No, it wont. I'm cleaning mine for decades with anything at hand (cotton shirts, napkins, etc) and not a scratch.

And of course there's the little fact that microfiber cloth is a recent synthetic thing. People used cotton and linen squares, or chamois leather ones if they felt fancy, to clean their glasses.

[nunez]

yes they do. it's not so much the cotton fabric that will scratch your lenses; it's the dirt on them. cotton weaves leave bigger holes for dirt to get caught in; much much bigger than microfiber, which is why it's best for the job.

[codesnik]

but glasses were made of glass, and nowadays most are plastic.

[Kirby64]

They’re also typically covered in hard anti reflective coatings. Making them similar to glass in scratch resistance.

[coldtea]

You can trivially get glass lenses nowadays. It's a prescription option.

In any case, no scratches on my non-glass eyewear either.

[nunez]

most cheap ones, yes.

if you have vision benefits in the US, you can get glasses with glass lenses for free or heavily discounted

the best optics are glass

[eudamoniac]

I don't know why people say this. When I wore glasses I cleaned them with my cotton shirts for over a decade and they didn't get scratched up, at all. I don't see how cotton would scratch glass to begin with.

[varjag]

Usually it's not the fabric but trapped dust that scratches the coating when you wipe.

[eudamoniac]

Dust is harder than hard plastic?

[dpark]

They live in an imaginary world where no one ever cleaned glasses until microfiber cloths were widely available.

To clean glasses safely you basically need a soft, clean cloth. Cotton is totally fine. You could get away with a soft clean sponge, too. Or even a soft-ish piece of paper (which is what most disposable lens words are.)

[dredmorbius]

There is lens-cleaning paper (I used to use this in photgraphy), and facial tissue-grade paper.

The latter does tend to scratch over time, if perhaps only slighly, but the damage can accumulate.

I'm on team soft-cotton, with a very-well-worn bandana serving as my usual cleaning material, plastic lenses, no scratches.

Another sin, for glasses, is laying them lens-down, or face-up, on surfaces when not in use. Lens-down of course grinds the lens into whatever is on the surface. Face-up, as you'd wear them, is vulnerable to flipping over (most glasses are top-heavy), so upside down is preferable. Or folded, with the earpieces down and lenses up. In a case is of course preferable to either.

Leaving glasses randomly on chairs, sofas, beds, etc., is also an invitation to catastrophe.

I've lived with people doing many of the above, and their glasses were perpetually scratched and damaged. Given the high cost of a new pair for many of them, this was ... curious.

[coldtea]

Most believe whatever marketing material or sponsored "expert" advice is presented to them for "proper care", without actually checking. At least glasses clenaning is a harmless area - people do the same for supplements, diets, and all kinds of health advice too.

[seb1204]

Yea, this reads very meticulous to me. I clean my glasses under running hot water and the micro fibre cloth. I wash the micro fibre cloth with dish soap from time to time. In a bind I clean the glass with any clean fabric that feels soft.

[calmbonsai]

The thing about many of the "proper" headphone roll-ups is they are dependent on a particular level of minimum bending radius, tension tolerance, and elastic deformation in the cords.

To put it more simply, many of them will simply ruin your headphones if they're done with reasonable frequency.

For thin earbud type cords, just coil them loosely in a small plastic bag or use a loose bundle secured with a broad velcro strap.

[sublinear]

I bought a giant pack of velcro straps on amazon several years ago and added at least one to every single wire or cable I use.

It made a massive difference in my quality of life and I still have so many velcro straps that I find myself giving them away.

[susiecambria]

They make fantastic stocking stuffers if you celebrate Christmas.

[calmbonsai]

Velcro Santa! ;)

[garettmd]

Please explain. I want to know if I'm doing those 2 things correctly...

[sanderjd]

On the bright side, burning calories!

[dieselgate]

I've been using Ian's for the past few months since it was last posted here. It's quite good to the point I prefer it but wouldn't say it's changed my life.

[jonathanlydall]

I have this problem too!

It could make their lives so much better, but kind of awkward to broach. Perhaps sholladay‘s advice will work well.

[gcanyon]

> deciding if they'd appreciate me telling them

This is me daily.

[kgwxd]

Don't tell them. Just use the information to silently judge everything they say or do, and have ever said or done. It's gotten me where I am today.