As you may know, I now wear 3D-printed glasses.

I’ve been wearing glasses for decades, since age 3, and because I’m lazy, I never take off my glasses even when I sleep, I’m not sure how, but even when I’m asleep, I never turn into a position that would damage my glasses. Decades of habit I guess…

Anyhow, the point is, apart from when I shower and when I go to the swimming pool, those 3D-printed glasses are sitting squarely on my face all day, every day. So probably close to 23.5 hours a day.

And I’m happy to report, PLA and PETG seem to have zero effects on my skin. No rash, no redness, no itching, zero discomfort. I’ve worn each material for at least 2 months straight and they seem perfectly fine.

I don’t see any degradation of either material either, even after being exposed to acidity and oil from my skin for hours on end. I didn’t expect PETG to react to anything, since it’s more or less the same stuff soda bottles are made of, but I thought maybe PLA would degrade. But it doesn’t. Perhaps it degrades slower than I anticipated. I’ll report back in a year 🙂

  • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.orgOPEnglish
    13·
    3 days ago

    I order my lenses from my local optician. They’re not cheap - I pay $75 for single vision lenses and $600 for my progressives. But I have strict requirements for the material the lenses are made of (Trivex) and the el-cheapo Chinese suppliers don’t really tell you what material they use (usually CR-39) or they simply disregard what you tell them.

    Also, I want the lenses edged with a precise kind of bevel and fitting the frame template I supply, and frankly the only company I really trust to do my lenses well is Hoya. They’ve always done a perfect job of all my lenses. Unfortunately, I can’t order direct from Hoya. So I go through my optician and tell them what to tell Hoya essentially.

    But the point is this: however much my lenses cost me, when I need new glasses, I can simply print new frames. The lenses are a one-off purchase: if I break my frames, I’m my own man: I print new frames in minutes and it’s like the accident never happened. I only replace the lenses when my vision changes, which isn’t that often.

    Simply not having to have new lenses made each time you have an accident with your glasses makes 3D-printing the frames worthwhile, even if you splurge on the lenses.

      • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.orgOPEnglish
        8·
        3 days ago

        I didn’t know that. Maybe I’ll order a set of lenses from Zenni to give them a spin. I’d be interested to see what I receive for that money.
        Thanks!

        • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
          2·
          3 days ago

          I already only use a microfiber cloth (provided with a case by zenni at purchase time), but I normally use water. Why do I need to buy a special fluid?

          • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.orgOPEnglish
            5·
            3 days ago

            The special fluid isn’t strictly needed. It’s just water with a few mildly useful ingredients in solution - most importantly a solvent that’s safe for plastic glasses. But it’s mostly distilled water, so it won’t leave stains like hard water would.

            If water is good enough for you, then it’s enough I guess. Although cleaning the lenses with soap would be preferable to straight water.

            The most important thing to avoid scratching your lenses is to resist the temptation to clean them with anything other than a spotlessly clean microfiber cloth and cleaning fluid - or soap and water. Like blowing on them and cleaning them with your shirt: that’s guaranteed to scratch them.

            And if you have only one microfiber cloth, get more. They get dirty and start scratching lenses too very quickly if you don’t clean them regularly. Me, for the price, I just throw them away and get new ones.