How to Care for Your Sunglasses
Singapore heat is no joke. Between the humidity, the sunscreen, and the inevitable mid-ride sweat, your shades take a beating every single outing. Most SundayShaders are great at pushing through the kilometres — not so great at showing their shades some love after.
Here's the thing: a little proper maintenance goes a long way. Scratched lenses, corroded hinges, misaligned frames — most of these are avoidable. Let's fix that.
1 Wash your hands first — always
Sounds obvious, but it's the step most people skip. Oily, grimy fingers on your lenses just moves the mess around. Give your hands a proper wash before you touch the frames. Clean start, clean finish.
2 Clean them after every outing
Sweat is corrosive. Sunscreen is corrosive. Seawater and chlorine? Definitely corrosive. Left to sit, these residues eat into hinges and degrade lens coatings over time. Make cleaning part of your post-activity wind-down — same as stretching and hydrating.
3 Rinse under running water first
Before you touch the lenses, run them under a gentle stream of tap water. This flushes off any loose grit or debris. Skipping this step and going straight to wiping is how micro-scratches happen — you're essentially dragging those particles across the lens surface.
4 Use a drop of mild liquid soap
If there's a stubborn smudge or sunscreen buildup, use the foam of a mild soap in water and gently work it into the lenses with your fingertips. Rinse thoroughly after. That's all it takes to lift oils and fingerprints without any fuss.
5 Dry with the microfibre pouch — not your shirt
Every pair of Sunday Shades comes with a microfibre pouch — so you've already got what you need. Use it. Dab gently on the lens surface; don't rub. T-shirts, tissues, paper towels, and scarves all have a texture coarse enough to scratch lenses. Wet wipes are even worse — the alcohol in them damages lens coatings directly.
6 Always use both hands to put them on and take them off
Single-handed whipping-off looks cool, but it puts uneven stress on one hinge and one arm. Do it enough times and your frames start to warp and misalign. Two hands, every time. It also stops you from smudging the lenses when you're in a hurry.
7 Store them in the pouch when not in use
Even a brief toss into your bag without the pouch is an invitation for scratches. Loose keys, bottle caps, zippers — your lenses don't stand a chance. The pouch doubles as a cleaning cloth; it's doing double duty, so use it.
8 Keep them away from heat
Don't leave your shades on the car dashboard. Don't toss them face-down on a hot surface. Excessive heat can warp TR90 frames over time and is especially rough on the lens adhesive and coatings. Pouch in the bag, or on your face — those are the only two places they need to be.
9 Post-pool and post-beach: rinse immediately
Chlorine and saltwater are your sunglasses' worst enemies. After any swim session or beach run, rinse your shades under fresh water before you even think about doing anything else. Don't let them dry with that residue still on them.
10 No, saliva does not work
It's an old habit and a persistent myth. Saliva doesn't clean lenses — it smears and spreads bacteria across the surface. It also speeds up the breakdown of coatings over time. Just carry the microfibre pouch. Problem solved.
The bottom line
None of this is complicated — it just takes a bit of habit-building. Rinse, soap if needed, dry with microfibre, store in the pouch, use both hands. That's it. Do those five things consistently and your Sunday Shades will go the distance with you.
Because the only thing better than a solid pair of shades is a solid pair that still looks brand new three years in. These Shades Won't Slide — but only if you take care of them.