I’m making eyeglass cases as Christmas presents. I’ve been using 100% cotton, but my supplies are limited. If I can use acrylic, I’d have a huge selection of yarn to choose from in my stash, but all the glasses cases I’ve found online are cotton. Is there some reason why I shouldn’t use synthetic fibers for glasses cases?
I think acrylic might scratch the lenses. I wear glasses and every case I have had has a very soft interior, not a scratchy one.
If it’s very soft acrylic like Caron Super soft, that could work, though I don’t see that cotton would be any softer and not scratch the glasses. What kind of cotton does it call for? Sugar and cream may not be a good one to use.
I make these things up as I go along so I have nothing to go by except imitation. I did find a wool case online and several cotton but no synthetics. I also read to only use cloths made from micro-fibers – no tissue – no paper towels no matter how soft – when cleaning glasses.
I did use Sugar & Creme for one of them and Egyptian Mercerized cotton for the other one. I can’t imagine either of them scratching the lenses but I certainly don’t want to make and give something that isn’t going to do any good and may actually do harm.
I do not wear glasses. but I would use the softest yarns I could find for a case. Maybe someone will know if there is a certain problem with the microfibers. But I think there are some very nice soft yarns around.
I’ve searched over a dozen free patterns and they all call for wool or cotton. Only one mentioned soft acrylic as an option. None of them (or any article on eyeglasses care) contained any warnings about any yarn cases scratching lenses, and this message didn’t raise any red flags here, so I’m gonna stop worrying and get back to knitting theses things (but I am gonna stick to cotton). Thanks to all who answered. 
I think acrylic may scratch the lenses. You are not even supposed to use tissues or paper towels to clean glasses because the paper scratches.
(I use little cotton cloths made from diaper material to clean mine, because I have found that to be the best as far as lint-free. I also have some of those lens cleaning cloths that they sell for glasses and cameras, although I’m not sure what their material is.)
Hi!
I was told to only use natural fibers to clean my glasses, particularly cotton. Apparently acrylic over time can create micro-scratches that build up and dull the lenses. Definitely no paper products such as tissues or paper towels.
Perhaps it would be a good idea for you to wash the cotton cases first to get them really soft!
Good luck!
Ruthie :o)
I see one of the things you read said to use microfiber. Here is an articleabout what microfiber is. Here is another article about microfiber in yarn. LINK
It appears that microfiber can be made of acrylic, but not all acrylic is microfiber. I’ve used some yarns that say they are part microfiber and they are very soft and I think they should be good candidates for glasses cases. I think there are quite a few yarns available with differing percentages of microfiber.