When to Replace Your Sunglasses: Clear Signs It's Time

1. Scratches on the lenses

Scratches scatter incoming light, tire your eyes and spoil your vision. They can't be repaired — if they sit within your field of view, it's time to change the lenses or the whole pair. Even light surface scratches gradually build up over months of everyday use, so don't wait until they become impossible to ignore.

2. Worn or peeling coating

When the anti-reflective or mirror coating starts to peel (cloudy patches, a milky “film”), performance drops noticeably. This is usually caused by incorrect cleaning — wiping the lenses dry, using paper tissues, or harsh household cleaners. Once a coating has started to flake, there's no going back, so protect it from the start by cleaning gently with the right products.

3. A loose or warped frame

If your sunglasses no longer sit steadily, keep slipping down your nose, or have warped from being left in the heat (a hot car dashboard is a classic culprit), both protection and comfort suffer. A misaligned frame also means the lenses no longer sit at the correct angle to your eyes. Minor adjustments can be made by an optician, but serious damage means it's time to replace them.

4. Doubts about UV protection

Good news: the lens tint does not fade the UV protection — that protection is built into the lens material itself, not the colour. However, deep scratches and worn coatings can undermine it over time. If in doubt, an optician can measure the UV level with a dedicated instrument, so you know for certain whether your lenses are still doing their job.