An optometrist-related friend claims that dishsoap+water will damage the coatings, and that one should use a microfiber cloth instead.
I'm getting a new pair of glasses soon; I intend to clean one lens with dishsoap+water, and the other with a microfiber cloth. Around 2024-01-01, I will:
not-clean my glasses for a few days, to let them accumulate grime
find a friend who doesn't know about this experiment
hand them my glasses, ask them if they notice anything interesting
if "yes, [soap lens] looks worse": resolve YES
else if "yes, [microfiber lens] looks worse": resolve NO
ask them if they notice any difference between the lenses
if "yes, [soap lens] looks worse": resolve PROB(50%) (or lower if they sound tentative)
else if "yes, [microfiber lens] looks worse": resolve NO
ask them if they notice one lense looking worse
if "yes, [soap lens] looks worse": resolve PROB(20%) (or lower if they sound tentative)
else: resolve NO
Details about my glasses:
They came from Zenni Optical, with the default coatings (anti-scratch and UV protection).
I clean them 1-2x/wk. (So, 10-20x before this market resolves.)
My guess is that the if there is coating damage it would cause the effect of said coating to diminish. (So more glare if anti glare is damaged, faster smudging if smudge resistance is damaged)
Neither of these things would inherently make one lens look worse. Perhaps if you were to not clean them for some amount of time before the test the latter would become noticeable, if present.
@Tetra Good thought! I've added "don't clean my glasses for a few days" to the experiment design.