Lenses, not just frames
How to Adjust Glasses at Home
Small bends, low heat, one millimetre at a time. An optician still does this better. You are trying to get through the weekend, not become a lab.
Updated 27 Aug 2026 · 6 min read · how to adjust glasses at home
Diagnose before you bend
Slide down: pads too wide, or temples not hugging behind the ear, or the frame too heavy for the bridge. Pinch at the temples: the pair is too narrow, or the wrap is too much. One side high: a temple is bent. Look in a mirror, frames on, from the front. The lenses should sit level and the frame should not sit on the cheeks.
Read bridge fit and temple length before you invent a third problem.
Metal is easier; acetate is heat
Pads: hold the pad arm, not the lens, and nudge. Temples: bend behind the ear, not at the hinge. Acetate temples: warm water until the plastic is pliable, bend, hold in cool water. A hairdryer on low at 15cm is the aggressive version. A kettle is how you get a wave in the front.
- One millimetre per attempt
- Never twist the lens in the rim to ‘straighten’
- Spring hinges fight you — stop if they bind
What you should not touch
Rimless drill holes, titanium welds you cannot see, and any pair still under a warranty that forbids home heat. An optician adjustment is often free for 12 months and takes four minutes. Your weekend bend is for a slide on a train, not a new prescription that sits 8mm too low.
Questions, answered
- Can I tighten a screw with kitchen scissors?
- You can strip it. Use a proper 1.4–1.6mm screwdriver from a $3 kit. A drop of clear nail polish on the threads is a last resort, not a flex-hinge repair.
- Hot car as ‘heat adjust’?
- That is how acetate warps randomly. Directed warm water only.
- They still slide after pads are in.
- Temple length or a saddle that is too wide. That may be the wrong frame, not a bend you have not found yet.
