Lens crazing is the spider web-like effect that can occur when your glasses' special lens coating gets damaged through exposure to extreme temperatures. Crazing can happen to the anti-reflective coating on eyeglass lenses, making the world appear fuzzy when looking through the lenses.
What causes crazing on lenses?
Antireflective coating is a bit like a thin layer that sits on top of the surface of your lenses. When your glasses have been exposed to extreme temperatures or chemicals, the thin layer contracts and expands differently than the lens it is sitting on. This creates a wrinkle-like appearance on the lens. Gratefully, higher quality antireflective coatings have more elasticity allowing them more bounce back before they “crack” under the pressure, while many value brands of coatings are not as forgiving.
But even the best coatings can be damaged, and you may not see it right away.
Heat- we would say is number one, for sure! The most common occurrence is probably leaving your glasses in your car. Let’s be real, it can be as hot as an oven in there! And, putting them under the seat or in the console or glove box isn’t going to cut the mustard, it’s still too hot. Some other hot activities include (but not limited to) grilling or tending a hot fire. The long and short of it is, just be conscious of it, and try your best to avoid exposing the glasses to direct heat. Heat can cause the anti-reflective coating and the lenses to expand at different rates. This creates crazing, a web of fine cracks that appear on the lenses.
Another thing that can cause lenses to craze is chemicals. For example, alcohol or Windex, anything with ammonia. These chemical culprits are bad news bears, some of them can actually cause the breakdown of the coating all together, but usually they’ll craze first.
Less common among retailers using high quality anti-reflective coatings, is manufacturers defect. If there is an honest to goodness bonding issue that causes the coating to craze, it will likely happen within the first month or so.
How can a crazed lens be fixed?
It may be possible to remove crazing from eyeglasses by stripping the anti-reflective coating from the lenses. Some eye care professionals and optical laboratories can have access to stripping solutions that can be used for this purpose, but the results can vary based on the type of lens and coating used.
All in all, be more cautious when using coated lenses in daily life. At the same time, choose a reliable and professional supplier to ensure stable lens quality with superior coatings, just as what we have on https://www.universeoptical.com/lux-vision-innovative-less-reflection-coatings-product/.