So you bought some eyeglasses online and you like them butttttt they don't fit your face. They slip off, feel wiggly or look kind of crooked. You can adjust those eyeglass frames in about 5 minutes.
I bought these eyeglasses online years ago. Buying eyeglasses online is great, and convenient and usually cheap but what about fitting them to your face? That's not so great.
These particular glasses were the right size for my face, but they slid down my nose. I pushed them up. They slid down. I pushed them up. They slid down.
My optometrist also sells and fits eyeglasses and I'm sure they'd fit my Internet glasses for me (and then talk about what an ass I am for having them fix glasses that I didn't buy there), but ... I don't feel right about it. For obvious reasons. Also then I'd feel like I owe them a favour and frankly the last person you want to be in debt to is an optometrist. What if they need an eye one day? What then?
Then it hit me. All I needed was a bit of hot air.
Eyeglasses? Meet hairdryer.
The only tool you need to make your glasses fit perfectly. Without a single optician in sight.
How to Bend Eyeglasses So They Fit.
This is the before of my eyeglasses. You can see why they'd slip down someone's nose. The arms don't curl around the ears. They're very straight.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
Enter the hairdryer.
- Set the hairdryer to hot and point it at the portion of the arm you want to bend. Heat the arm until it's hot and bends easily with gentle pressure.
- You can use the hairdryer on the nose of the glasses as well. Heating it there you can slightly bend the frames from that point which will make the frames fit tighter against your head.
You did it. You fixed your own glasses. For free!
You have eyeglasses that stay on your face and you never have to push them up again, leaving your finger for more important tasks like picking up potato chips and pointing and laughing at people with poorly fitting eyeglasses.
To adjust your glasses if they don't sit straight on your head because of your embarrassingly unlevel ears you don't need the hairdryer at all. Just gently bend them up or down at the hinges.
You are the best. You are confident. YOU have glasses that fit. And you did it all without it costing you an arm and an eyeball.
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kippy
I don't understand why someone thinks I called them a troll and see no reference as such in my previous comment.. I always am respectful when commenting and never accuse someone of anything that might be considered cruel or demeaning.
Biggi
Hi Kippy, I think someone just confused the comments and commenters :) You're def NOT a troll :)
Biggi
Nor is there one in sight ;) they live under bridges I've read!
Mel
I hate that my plastic glasses slip. So much so that the next pair I bought were going to be metal rims with the rubber noses pieces. Then I would hate my glasses but avoid the hated glasses slippage. Now I can get what I want. You are my hero. Truth.
Christina
This is awesome. I'm going to fix my husband's glasses right now. His slip down and he leaves them half-way down his nose. And it drives me MAD. He knows it drives me mad, so he leaves them there on purpose and stares at me. He will be so very disappointed when he gets home tonight. Thank you!
Christina
I'm replying to myself because, Karen, I must tell you...two hours after adjusting the husband's glasses, I'm still evil laughing to myself. I can't wait until he gets home.
Karen
Lol! That's so much fun! Let me know when he discovers your dastardly plan. - karen!
Barbie
....but I can't "see" if it says "cold insert only" because when I take my glasses off...well I can't SEE! LOLOLOL
Martina
Hahaha!
Alli
Um, if Kippy is calling me a troll, I'm not sure what to say about that. I don't feel like my comment was rude, and was contributing to the discussion. It's not much of a discussion if everyone automatically agrees, now is it? I love this blog and read it daily, but that doesn't mean my only choices are to automatically agree 100% with everything said, or never say anything at all.
Sorry Karen, I'm not trying to highjack the post, I do love your blog and can't wait to see the big kitchen reveal!
gary
If you didn't think you were being rude why would you assume that comment was about you? It wasn't a reply to your comment.
jeannie B
Well, I always have had a hair dryer and I've always worn sunglasses and now I know how to get them to fit better. Thanks Karen.
Nancy Blue Moon
I think you should start another blog called "Ask The Experts"..Then people who know more than you about any subject can go there to leave their expert opinions on the things you write about..and the rest of us can come here to have fun, learn something and leave nice comments..You don't have to always agree with someone but you can always be polite and kind and if you can't..don't comment..I'm sorry Karen but I think some people just troll the blogs searching for something to be negative about..God forbid they just keep their mouths shut and let everyone else enjoy what is being discussed..I guess it's getting on my nerves because I'm seeing more and more of this rude behavior..
Karen
Meh. Well ... I just chalk it up to people are either a) nuts or b) unhappy. And the larger this blog gets, the more readers it gets and the more interesting opinions there will be. ~ karen!
Kris
Perfect attitude! Nice that your readers have your back tho 😉
Heather
Thumbs up!
kippy
I have a friend who was wearing reading glasses while he was working, somehow one bow of the frame broke. For an immediate fix, he ran a plastic drinking straw through what was left of the bow, with the straw bend coinciding with the part that would go behind the ear. It actually looks quite artsy(but wacky). The bad news is...he hasn't bothered to go get new frames or the bow repaired by an optician and it has been five months.
Karen and Brad, does the heat technique work on Flexon type frames or just plastic ones? Don't want to ruin my glasses!
Alli
This sounds like a sure fire way to create sore, red blisters behind your ears. For glasses to sit properly on your face and not slip down they have to be right behind your ears, and the hinges, and at the nose (and have a correct panoscopic tilt...the amount of tilt at the hinges, which is another reason it might be a bad idea to mess with the hinges) and work together to evenly distribute the weight across your nose and ears.
But, if they are your glasses and your face, I guess you can do whatever you want!
Dani @ lifeovereasy
I really needed to know this. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm not kidding. Now I have to go fix my crooked eyeglasses. Finally.
Karen
Hey Dani - You're welcome from the bottom of my heart, lol. I know ... it was a revelation to me when I finally thought .. I'm SURE I can fix these myself. I've had glasses sliding off my face for YEARS now. No more. ~ karen!
Jody
My 80+ father needed to fix the bridge if his glasses. So he used a hot air gun and a toothbrush to melt "new" plastic onto the glasses. It worked but kinda looked goofy. Don't recommend this.
Tigersmom
I just recently learned about this for bending the nose to make them tighter on my face, but the ear piece part and bending them at the hinge for my super-lopsided ears is a revelation.
I can't wait to try this, (but I have to because everyone is asleep) especially since my glasses are thick and heavy even with a high index lens and if I'm wearing them and have to look down for any length of time I get an instant headache.
Do you think the hinge trick would work on cheap sunglasses and readers, too? The plastic on those seems to be the harder, more brittle kind and I wonder if it would break, (not that it would be much of a loss if they came from the dollar store to begin with).
Karen
Hey! All you can do is give it a shot. Heat the arm up well with the hairdryer. You'll know right away if you get the arm good and hot whether it's going to work or not. If it doesn't budge when you give it some pressure to bend, just quit. But usually plastic is plastic and it will soften and bend. ~ karen!
Angela
Thank goodness you included the part about adjusting at the hinges, as I have embarrassingly unlevel ears.
Chrissy @ Adventures in DIY
Brilliant! After reading your post, I immediately got out the hairdryer and my eyeglasses and did this (of course, after making sure it didn't stay "cold insert only" per Brad's comment). They fit so much better now. Thanks!
Karen
Excellent! ~ karen
SK Farm Girl
I love what you've done with your hair! The spikey hair thing we can see (now that we have properly adjusted frames) in your silhouette!!! That is your real silhouette, isn't it??? Please tell me it is! I love the spikey hair thing so much I'm taking your silhouette picture to my hair stylist so I can have a happenin' do like your yours! I'm not a stalker, well maybe I am, but not one of those dangerous types! I don't care what my parole officer tells you! I am not dangerous; there is a restraining order in place that clearly states I'm not allowed to have guns, knives or power tools! So clearly I'm not a dangerous kind of stalker just a Karen wannabe!!! How did I get off on this tangent??? Oops I forgot to take my meds today!!!
Debbie
Your post made perfect sense to me. Wait, maybe I forgot to take my meds today! (We have a name for tangents; they are called "squirrels". Oh, look a squirrel!)
Tina
Ah! No wonder my brother calls me squirrelly!
Patty Martin
I was going to tell you the same thing about the progressive eyeglasses as the above person. You need to go to someone that really knows what they're doing too. I never had a problem with my progressives from day one. I've had other friends who have gotten progressive eyeglasses from eye doctors who apparently didn't know what they were doing and found they couldn't wear the progressives because they made them so dizzy. I believe if they had gone to a competent eye doctor they wouldn't have had a problem.
Brad Rohr
As your favorite knitting optician, I heartily approve of your post! I've been working in the optical biz for more than 15 years ( I won't say exactly how long because I want to be thought of as a hot young stud instead of an old fogey) and a hair dryer is the best in a pinch. The only thing I will say is some frames are stamped COLD INSERT ONLY... Don't heat those, anything else is fair game.
Glasses online are awesome, especially for backups... But, this is for your readers, if you purchase progressive (no line) or lined bifocal lenses online and you get them and you can't see perfectly, please don't call or email the optician at your eye doctor's office and tell them that they are horrible at their job... There are several measurements for those lenses that need to be done with the precise frame while it is on your face. The online places just use generic measurements for these lenses and they are not made for you so they are awesome, AWESOME, as backups or occasional glasses, especially reading glasses, but just be aware that your eye doctor did not give you the wrong prescription if they don't work perfectly, the eyeglass manufacturer online did not make those glasses for your face.
That is the end of my public service announcement about eyeglasses. I'm going back to listening to the ocean outside my hotel room.
Karen
Thanks for the info Brad. :) I didn't know you were an optician too. I, quite frankly, was impressed enough with your knitting prowess. Now you've entered a whole new level of impressiveness. Enjoy the ocean! ~ karen
SeaDee
[Slaps forehead] why didn't I think of that! Can't wait to try this.
Pati Gulat
Awesome !!! You are amazing, Karen....but then you knew that already.... ;)
Karen
I am not. But thank you! ~ karen
James Nelson
Can we allow for some minor but friendly disagreement? You are amazing, and in a very special sense in special ways. I just had the good fortune to find your website, and I quickly recognized --- dare I repeat? --- your special approach and attitude to solving life's little problems, and I will not be surprised if you solve some big problems too once I have time for further investigation. You are appreciated and valued. In time, it is possible that your reputation will be legendary and renown in the far nether reaches of the human world. And you will still be as humble and unassuming as you are always. Thanks for all your efforts.
Mary W
What James said.
Mary W
What Jamison said.
Valerie
Where would women be without hair dryers, power drills, nail files, nut pickers, dental floss and razor blade scrapers?
Now, in order to complete your amateur status as an optician you also need to procure a small case of precision screwdrivers available at a dollar store. Checking the little screws on the eyeglass arms occasionally is a good idea to make sure they aren't working their way out. Putting clear nail polish on the screw ends also helps cement them in place.
Karen
What am I an amateur? Of course I have those teeny tiny screwdrivers! I love those, I use them for everything! Except fixing my glasses, lol. I'll get on that now tho. :) ~ karen!
Toni
Oooh, nail polish trick sounds great, never thought of it! Thanks, Valerie
Karen, I can feel my glasses slipping down my nose as I type this. You always have a timely post and make me LOL! Thanks so much on both counts!