Armour Glass Etching Cream Carded,2.8-Ounce

My glasses had a badly damaged AR coating that had severely affected their clarity. I was squinting very hard to read some smaller text. I thought my vision had taken a drastic downswing, in addition to how badly scratched my lenses appeared.I realized the scratches were in the AR coating, which an optician at Wal-Mart's vision center confirmed. Unfortunately they no longer offer AR coating removal services because the chemical they used was very dangerous, and in some cases they had damaged some customers' lenses, so they discontinued the service.Some time later I looked for other solutions, and came across Armour Etch. I knew of the product from reading about its use in glass etching, but did not know it could remove AR coatings without hurting plastic lenses.I purchased some, and while wearing gloves, used a Q-tip to apply it to the inside of my lenses. I applied it and once it started to dry slightly, I applied a little more, especially to the areas where it dried thin. The AR coating on the outside was fairly intact, but the inside was completely trashed. This tells me it was the salt in my sweat over the years. Unfortunately, when I went to rinse them, some of the diluted solution got on the front long enough to start damaging it, so I decided to take both coatings off.It took longer than 5 minutes and more than one application, but the inside coating was removed. The outside layer, being nearly intact, was much tougher to get rid of. After two applications and nearly 30 minutes for it alone, most of the layer was gone. Only a fine bit remained. At this point I could no longer stand to have my glasses off and I was developing a headache so I rinsed them off well again, and put them back on.The difference was 100%. The lenses are now clear once again. And I realized my vision hadn't gotten worse. There is a tiny bit of AR coating left on the front, but I'll be redoing the process again to remove all of it in the near future.This stuff works, but you need to have patience for it. Not everyone is going to have a 1-application, 5-minute perfect result. And you absolutely, without question need to wear chemical-resistant gloves and preferably goggles while using it. The chemicals in this will not result in an immediate burn if it contacts the skin, but will seep into the skin and start burning later. It can do deep-tissue burns all the way down to the bone, and will react with the ions in your skin and bones to keep burning potentially for days. Treatment for the slightest contact is a 15-minute flush with water, and then an immediate visit to an emergency medical facility. So don't think free-handling this stuff unprotected is fine as long as you wash your hands afterwards.It fixed my glasses and saved hundreds of dollars on new lenses I thought I needed. I now no longer have the AR coating which means I'll likely have some glare and reflection issues I'll have to accommodate to, but that's far better than the blurry, foggy scratchy mess I was dealing with before. Until I eventually get an updated prescription they'll do me fine. And in the future if I need to remove a damaged AR coating again, I know what I can use.Now if only we had a way to reverse the process and apply a new AR coating just as easily and simply. Could be a very nice fix, strip the old coating off first, then reapply a new one.

Based on on-line reviews and utter desperation, I purchased this product to use on the lenses of my eye glasses. The inside of each lens had developed a horrible condition of spotting that resembled water marks (not scratches). I keep my glasses in pristine condition, never a scratch on them. These particular glasses I purchased through Sears The lenses alone were $350.00. I did purchase insurance and replaced the lenses when they developed the water spots. I did this 3 times. Sears assured me they had no idea what the problem was and the best solution was to keep them insured and replace for the $25.00 fee as needed. Well, I let the insurance run out accidentally. Sure enough, the spotting started. It's always gradual ... then eventually the whole interior of the lense is spotted. So awful are the spots that another person looking at you can see them. There is nothing I have found that will erase these spots. I even tried toothpaste and sunscreen based on other on-line suggestions. Before I decided to call Sears back and order a $350.00 pair, I decided to Google the problem again and see what others are saying. Time and time again people were referencing their spots which sounded exactly like mine. And, they were finding the solution to be this product: Armour Glass Etching Cream. I had nothing to lose, so I ordered from Amazon. I painted each interior lens with a thick coating of this product, waited 1 - 2 minutes, rinsed with cold water and dried with a fluffy cotton towel. Unbelievably, the spots are completely gone and the lenses are crystal clear. I am absolutely dumbfounded and delighted. I just saved myself all that money -- so I wanted to share this with others. My lenses are plastic, btw. I don't think I would use this on glass lenses. But, actually, I don't think glass lenses have this problem. Good luck!

I used this glass etching cream on (qty=4) pint glasses and (qty=2) quart mugs.Anchor Hocking Pint Mixing Glass - Rim Tempered - 16 Oz, Set of 2German Style Extra Large Glass Beer Mug - 34 ozTotal time for etching: 1 hourPrep and testing time: 4 hoursMaterials:-etching creme (3 oz)-glass to be etched-inverted decal sticker-Q-tips-Rubbing Alcohol-paper towels-kitchen sink with sprayerProcess:1) decided on a design, my dad has a big beard, so I decided to make a decal with a big beard and his name above looking like a kings crown. Did some google image searching, found the beard image. Used MS-paint to edit picture, used MS-publisher to add Word-Art. exported as BMP2) Sent to my plotter/cutter. Made inverted decals, that is material removed where I want the glass to be etched.3) cleaned glasses with alcohol and a paper towel4) applied decal5) applied etching cream with q-tip (see my layer thickness in attached pictures), swirling, dabbing, trying to keep cream evenly covered, swirl and dab, wait 5 min, swirl and dab again (moving cream around for even random coverage). Wait 5 min, swirl and dab, apply a little more creme maybe 25% as much as the first time to keep cream wet. (total 15 min)6) wash off cream with medium pressure cold water kitchen sprayer, dry glass with paper towel, push on edges of decal to ensure none came up and would allow cream beneath it.7) Coating 2, same process and length as first coat: (15 min total)8) wash off cream with medium pressure cold water kitchen sprayer, dry glass with paper towel, remove decal with fingernails. wipe down with alcohol on a paper towel.--- see pictures, I think this came out great. crisp edges, even etching, very impressed!

it's easy to use but stinks and needs a decent coat to etch the glass evenly.