Should you invest in anti-reflective coatings?

In short, it’s a personal choice; but you will likely appreciate the added relief from eye strain, and even be much safer for investing in anti-reflective lens coatings. The safety part comes into play with nighttime driving. Driving at night is more difficult for most drivers, largely because glare from oncoming headlights or street lights can temporarily blind you to road conditions. Anti-reflective coatings tackle this issue, improving visibility and confidence navigating at night. Those who spend a lot of time with computers and electronic displays also find relief from eye fatigue by using a pair of glasses with anti-reflective lenses, which filter out most of the blue light radiation from electronic screens.

In summary, the benefits of anti-reflective coatings include:

• Cancelling out unwanted or harmful reflections
• Increase the transparency of lenses, making it look as if you’re only wearing frames
• Reduce blue light radiation from electronic screens
• Prevent water from sticking to the lens surface, helping keep lenses clear of water-spotting

Estimated price point

The best answer is that anti-reflective coating costs depend on your retailer. You may be looking at up to $250 price tag to outfit your prescription lenses with anti-reflective coatings, but it’s certainly possible to take advantage of sales and specials, or find a more direct-source retailer to get a high-quality pair for a lower price.

How to keep them squeaky-clean

After all, one of the incentives for getting an anti-reflective coating is the crystal-clear vision they afford--it’s well worth learning how to keep them smudge-free and good as new! Don’t worry, it’s not all that different from cleaning standard eyeglass lenses. However, with anti-reflective lenses, it’s especially important to avoid household cleaning solutions (including dishwashing detergent!) and any other cleaners that are not specifically designed for the lenses. That’s because the chemicals can actually damage and breakdown the anti-reflective coating composition, which will decrease its performance at eliminating glare. To be safe and maintain the pristine quality of your anti-reflective lenses, only use cleaning solutions instructed by your optometrist.