Guide
Outside Magazine: the best sunglasses for sports and outdoor adventures
by Siri Schubert
Crooked sunglasses? How to straighten them in a few minutes
20.5.2025
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
In many cases, you can fix wonky shades yourself. With this step-by-step guide and a bit of skill, you should succeed.
Do you also own a pair of wonky sunglasses you’ve been wanting to take to the opticians but never got round to it? You know, the pair that’s been sitting in the drawer with all those bits and bobs and hasn’t seen the light of day for ages because there are always more important things to do? Now the time has come to take them out. I’ll walk you through how to get your glasses back in shape in no time. All you need is to follow a few simple steps and not be too ham-fisted.
Step 1: examine your glasses
Place your sunglasses on a flat surface with the arms open. You can tell that the frame is bent if one of the arms isn’t touching the surface. Before you proceed, remember which side of the glasses is affected.
Source: Stephanie Vinzens
Step 2: heat your glasses
Before you start bending your sunnies into shape, you need to make the plastic more flexible. To do this, point a hairdryer at the bridge and carefully heat this area. Caution: heat can damage the lenses. So make sure to cover them with a cloth beforehand.
Step 3: straighten your glasses
Hold the glasses at the side of the frame using both hands and aim for a twisting motion, as if you were wringing out a cloth. Gently press the two sides evenly in opposite directions. If the arms are pointing towards you, press the protruding side slightly towards you (this will push the arm down) and press the other, lower side, slightly away from you.
Source: Stephanie Vinzens
Step 4: check your glasses
Now place your glasses on a flat surface again and check that both arm ends are touching it. If that’s not the case, repeat the above step. In any case, you’re better off adjusting the glasses in small, careful steps.
Step 5: ta-dah – put your glasses on
If they look good, put on the glasses and take a look in the mirror. Is everything in place? Well done! You’ve fixed your glasses and saved yourself a trip to the optician’s.
If adjusting the bridge doesn’t give you the desired result, other areas, such as the arm curves or the hinges, could be the problem. In that case, seeing an optician is probably unavoidable. Sorry!
Header image: Stephanie Vinzens
Has endless love for shoulder pads, Stratocasters and sashimi, but a limited tolerance for bad impressions of her Eastern Swiss dialect.
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