Have you ever bought a new pair of glasses online, only to try them on and find out that they don’t fit your face properly? 

If your frames are loose and need adjusting, then you might be wondering how to tighten your glasses. In the past, it was pretty common to take them to a local optician to be tightened. Nowadays, most common problems with your frames can be easily fixed by yourself.

Your frames can easily be tightened at home to perfectly fit your face shape in just a few minutes. Take a look at our easy step-by-step guide below on how to tighten glasses!

Why tighten glasses if they’re loose?

Apart from constantly having to push them back on your face, loose glasses can lead to:

• The nose pads being out of place
• The glasses screws becoming too loose
• The temple arms of your glasses moving out of place

Without proper maintenance, this could end up permanently damaging your favourite pair of glasses!

What adjustments do you need to make?

Not sure how to adjust or tighten your glasses yourself? In just a few simple steps you can make sure they’re back to normal and sitting comfortably on your face again!

But before you do anything, you need to decide what the problem is. Here are a few issues you 

might encounter and how you can fix them at home:

Your glasses frames are crooked

Is one side of your frames higher than the other? Well, you may need to adjust the arms of your glasses. You can fix this problem by bending one of the arms back into place. If the right side is higher than the left, then gently bend the left arm down at the hinge. If it’s the other way round, then bend the right arm down instead. 

Remember, you should:

• Adjust your frames a little bit at a time to avoid damage. Apply only light pressure when bending.
  
• Run the arms of your glasses under warm water to make them more flexible. Only use warm water (not boiling), and don’t get any on your lenses as it can affect the coating.
• Or, if you prefer, you can heat them with a hairdryer for around 30 seconds.

Your glasses are too loose on your nose

If your frames keep constantly falling down your nose then it might be time to tighten the glasses. The way you fix this problem depends on the type of frames you have.

1. If your frames are metal, then you can use your thumbs to narrow the nose pads until the frames no longer fall down. 
2. If your frames are plastic, then soak the end of them in warm water for 30 seconds or heat with a hairdryer before applying gentle pressure on the end of the arms. This will give your glasses a tighter fit on your ear, stopping them from slipping down your nose.

Your frames are too loose or too tight on your temples

Sometimes your glasses frames might be too loose, or too tight, and either slip down your face or press into your temples – ouch! This painful problem can easily be fixed by adjusting the screws on the arms of your favourite frames.

If your glasses are too loose, try using a screwdriver to tighten the glasses screws at the side of your temple. On the other hand, if they’re actually too tight, then you can do the same by loosening the screws a little. 

It takes a bit of trial and error, but once you’ve got the hang of it, your glasses will sit much more comfortably on your face. If your glasses don’t have any screws at the hinges, then you might be able to tighten or untighten them by bending them into place.

Should you take your glasses to a professional to tighten them?

If you’ve tried our quick-fix methods and your glasses still don’t fit properly, then it could be time to take them to a professional optician. 

Try before you buy with Arlo Wolf

Buying a pair of glasses that suit both your face shape and style has never been easier! We offer all our customers a free try before you buy service, meaning you can try four pairs of Arlo Wolf frames for free before committing to buy!

We’ll send you four pairs of frames that you can try and show off to your friends and family. Once you’ve picked your favourite, you send back the trial frames to us, and we’ll then fit your chosen pair with your prescription if required. It really is that simple! We can even help you when it comes to adjusting your Arlo Wolf frames, just pop us a message.