Washing your hands is a proven practice to ensure good hygiene, and helps prevent the spread of harmful germs, but it is not the only sensible protective measure that we should take. Cleaning items that you touch regularly, such as spectacles and digital devices, should also be part of our daily hygiene routines.
In 2018 a study was performed by Hochschule Furtwangen University in Germany to investigate the bacterial levels on spectacles and analyse the efficacy of four different cleaning methods to reduce microbial loads. The cleaning methods tested were moist alcohol and alcohol-free lens cleaning wipes, dry tissue, and dry microfabric cloth.
The results of the study were:
- All spectacles are contaminated with bacteria including potentially pathogenic ones and therefore should be considered as objects which could carry infection.1
- Of the four methods tested, moist lens cleaning wipes showed the most germ reduction at ≥99% (a vast reduction).1
- Cleaning with dry tissues and microfabric cloths showed lower levels of bacteria reduction.1
Evidently, wet cleaning with a moist lens cleaning wipe is more effective than simple mechanical cleaning with dry tissues and cloths.