Glasses maintenance — wipe glasses when they get wet or they will develop permanent scratches due to limescale

Wearing glasses can be a pain if you don't take care of them. The biggest problem is that they develop tiny scratch marks after some time, with no reasonable explanation why that's happened. What I discovered by accident is that, when I left my glasses in the bathroom and let them get wet, they developed massive scratch marks, but that's only the surface-level observation.

How limescale forms

Water hardness determines the amount of calcium (more common) or magnesium (less common) in the water. Long story short, when water sits around, it absorbs CO2, which turns into a weak carbonic acid. This acid reacts with the minerals to form limescale. The same process applies to your glasses as well, except the limescale rips into them. It's not until you wipe them that the scratches appear.

Conclusion — carry soft cloth or glasses wipes with you

Avoid getting in the rain or just splashing water around you while wearing glasses. Despite my best efforts and wiping down the glasses right away, I can still notice minute scratch marks on my brand new glasses, which I had planned on lasting for at least 5 years. Oh well...