Leather Glasses/sunglasses Case Leaving Scratches?

[zaynexpetty]

I am about to design a leather sunglasses/glasses case. I am concerned that the flesh side of the leather, which would be on the inside of the case, will scratch/mark/scuff the glasses. I am using full grain hermann oak, and the flesh side is very tight, not hairy at all. Is this something I should worry about? I really do not want to have to line the inside with suede or another material. Would it be reasonable to lightly sand the flesh side to make it softer? I had thought about that but I don't want any flesh particles to be left on the glasses (I don't even know if that would happen, just hypothesizing). Maybe theres a conditioner or something that can be used?

Thanks!

Zayne

Edited October 29, 2014 by zaynexpetty

[RiverCity]

You should line it with a soft fabric of some sort. Even felt is an option. If you can find a nice microfiber cloth, that should protect the lens nicely. Use a little spray glue to hold it in and stitch around the edges.

Hope this helps

Chuck

[LNLeather]

I think that's a good idea too... a nice soft microfiber cloth.

The soft microfiber cloths are really good to clean the glasses with too

[billybopp]

Hmmm. If you were to put in a sewn microfiber cloth liner and attach it only at the case opening, you could pull it partly out to clean glasses with and then just shove it back in when done. That may work or not, depending on the case design. If it works it'd be pretty nice, tho!

Bill

[zaynexpetty]

You should line it with a soft fabric of some sort. Even felt is an option. If you can find a nice microfiber cloth, that should protect the lens nicely. Use a little spray glue to hold it in and stitch around the edges.

Hope this helps

Chuck

I really like the idea of lining it with something, but I am trying to make the case look minimalistic, so I want to avoid having a lot of stitching. Is there a way this can be done without stitching/extra rivets?

Thanks

I think that's a good idea too... a nice soft microfiber cloth.

The soft microfiber cloths are really good to clean the glasses with too

Hmmm. If you were to put in a sewn microfiber cloth liner and attach it only at the case opening, you could pull it partly out to clean glasses with and then just shove it back in when done. That may work or not, depending on the case design. If it works it'd be pretty nice, tho!

Bill

I kind of like that Idea, I do want to avoid having to line the whole case with stitches, but if I just had to do one line of stitches to hold the microfiber in place, that might work.

Thanks!

[LNLeather]

I could be wrong, but it seems like it might be easiest to

glue the lining in before stitching the case ?

I also think it would be a good idea to go lightly with the glue

so it doesn't dry hard... or maybe just a bit around the edges... ?

edit......

I was just looking around for more info on lining an eye glass case and found this info...

by northmount (link)---> Eyeglass Case Lining-Necessary?, How To?

"A lot of the scratches in plastic lenses are due to people using the same micro-fibre

cloth forever without cleaning it. Anything that rubs against the lens needs be soft & clean."

I might not have thought of this as I also have a residential and commercial cleaning business and

I launder my cleaning cloths daily... so what I use on my glasses is always clean.

After reading that other post I was thinking maybe it would be better to just lay the cloth inside the case

so it can be removed and cleaned periodically?

When I was a kid I had glasses with lenses that were made out of glass and they did not scratch easily.

After 30+ years of wearing contacts, I just had to get glasses (about 3 months ago) and they have plastic

lenses and scratch really easily.

It will be interesting to hear what others might say about this topic. I'm also interested in making an eye

glass case and would love to hear what others have to say that might have some experience with linings.

Edited October 30, 2014 by LNLeather

[zaynexpetty]

I could be wrong, but it seems like it might be easiest to

glue the lining in before stitching the case ?

I also think it would be a good idea to go lightly with the glue

so it doesn't dry hard... or maybe just a bit around the edges... ?

edit......

I was just looking around for more info on lining an eye glass case and found this info...

by northmount (link)---> Eyeglass Case Lining-Necessary?, How To?

"A lot of the scratches in plastic lenses are due to people using the same micro-fibre

cloth forever without cleaning it. Anything that rubs against the lens needs be soft & clean."

I might not have thought of this as I also have a residential and commercial cleaning business and

I launder my cleaning cloths daily... so what I use on my glasses is always clean.

After reading that other post I was thinking maybe it would be better to just lay the cloth inside the case

so it can be removed and cleaned periodically?

When I was a kid I had glasses with lenses that were made out of glass and they did not scratch easily.

After 30+ years of wearing contacts, I just had to get glasses (about 3 months ago) and they have plastic

lenses and scratch really easily.

It will be interesting to hear what others might say about this topic. I'm also interested in making an eye

glass case and would love to hear what others have to say that might have some experience with linings.

Gah! I am racking my brain trying to think of ways to attach the microfiber cloth so that it isn't permanent. I want to have it attached so it isn't just lazily floating in the case. I was thinking velcro, but that is kind of tacky. A couple of snap buttons might work, but they'd be bulky. Im thinking now, that I may just line the one side with some suede, that way, no one will be rubbing any dirty microfiber which might scratch the lenses. The suede will at least protect the lenses when they are in the case, which is the purpose of the case, and I don't expect that the glasses will be moving around a ton inside of the case to cause the suede to scratch the lenses.

Thank you for finding that thread by the way, I didn't even think about needing to clean the cloth.

Edited October 31, 2014 by zaynexpetty

[LNLeather]

Hey, you are welcome...... I've been thinking about this and

I bet we are probably over thinking this... most cases I've seen have a liner

and

then you'd use a separate piece of soft microfiber to clean the glasses with.

I think when I make my case... I think I'll just put a bit of glue on the edges of a piece

of suede (or microfiber) cut to fit before assembly...

fyi - here's another link with a couple of patterns borrowed from an excellent leather-worker here.......

hope this helps

[zaynexpetty]

Hey, you are welcome...... I've been thinking about this and

I bet we are probably over thinking this... most cases I've seen have a liner

and

then you'd use a separate piece of soft microfiber to clean the glasses with.

I think when I make my case... I think I'll just put a bit of glue on the edges of a piece

of suede (or microfiber) cut to fit before assembly...

fyi - here's another link with a couple of patterns borrowed from an excellent leather-worker here.......

hope this helps

Yeah, thats kinda what I was trying to get at in my last reply, definitely over-thinking it, haha (something I am notoriously guilty of).

I think I will do the same, and line half of the inside of the case with suede. Shouldn't be too difficult!

P.S - I purchased that Ev-R-Round circle cutter yesterday, Ill let you know how I like it!

[Tramps Leatherworking]

I made a pouch out of microfiber cloth with a drawstring at the top and I just put my glasses in the pouch and slide them in the leather glasses case --- plus it gives me something to clean my glasses with...

[LNLeather]

P.S - I purchased that Ev-R-Round circle cutter yesterday, Ill let you know how I like it!

I hope you like it as much as I did - it saves so much time and wasted leather...

I made a pouch out of microfiber cloth with a drawstring at the top and I just put my glasses in the pouch and slide them in the leather glasses case --- plus it gives me something to clean my glasses with...

OH, what a clever idea. Thank You for sharing that!

[silverwingit]

You might get some ideas if go to an optician's store and look at the more expensive pouch-type glass cases.

Other than that, methinks that the lining should be made of a material that doesn't tend to pick up foreign particles. There are many kinds of cloth made of microfiber. Some microfiber cloth mimics suede (it's even called Ultrasuede). It has a "nap" to it meaning that it is sort of fuzzy giving it a tendency to pick up and hold onto dust, grit, etc. Some microfiber cloth is like terrycloth, very fuzzy and a magnet for grit. Still other microfiber has sort of slick surface and doesn't seem to attract or hold onto dust and grit.

Good luck and please let us know what you settle on.

Michelle

[Tree Reaper]

I made a case and lined it with suede, it marks the lens.

[zaynexpetty]

I made a case and lined it with suede, it marks the lens.

You might get some ideas if go to an optician's store and look at the more expensive pouch-type glass cases.

Other than that, methinks that the lining should be made of a material that doesn't tend to pick up foreign particles. There are many kinds of cloth made of microfiber. Some microfiber cloth mimics suede (it's even called Ultrasuede). It has a "nap" to it meaning that it is sort of fuzzy giving it a tendency to pick up and hold onto dust, grit, etc. Some microfiber cloth is like terrycloth, very fuzzy and a magnet for grit. Still other microfiber has sort of slick surface and doesn't seem to attract or hold onto dust and grit.

Good luck and please let us know what you settle on.

Michelle

I hope you like it as much as I did - it saves so much time and wasted leather...

OH, what a clever idea. Thank You for sharing that!

Although I have not tried it yet. I talked to an optician and he said that microfiber is what he would use (the kind used for cleansing lenses, NOT the terry cloth style). The problem is, I CAN NOT find any of that kind of microfiber wholesale or by the yard, I have been searching the internet for a couple of hours, and I can only find it sold in up to 14 x 14 cm squares, with not a lot of color options at the larger size. The optician also said that the material usually found in glasses cases is similar to velvet (he gave me the name, I can't remember what it was). So, when I build my case tomorrow, I will be using some black velvet that I purchased from the fabric store. Ill let you know how it goes!

P.S - I have done some searching, and it looks like a lot of glasses cases are lined with velvet, so it should be good enough.

Edited November 5, 2014 by zaynexpetty