New lenses for old glasses?

[Mrs.Milo]

Usually I donate old eye glasses when the prescription has changed. But I’m curious, is it possible to have a new script put into an older frame? Or would it depend on going back to the original store that sold the frame? I will need to order 3 pairs, progressive, readers and sunglasses. Thanks

 

[kdonnel]

My son usually reuses the same frames 2 or 3 years with new lenses each year. It is definitely possible.

 

[BrianL]

Yes, they can do it. You just might need to let them send the old pair to the lab if they don't do their lenses in-house.

 

[NAB]

I have done this a few times. I get my glasses at Costco and they will do it. If I like my frames and can’t find any I like I do this.

First they will look to see if they are in good shape and not to old if they are plastic frames because plastic breaks down.

 

[jo-jo]

I find my frames aren't the expensive part. Yes, every little bit helps. But my lenses cost $500, do I want to chance older frames breaking??????

 

[Christine]

Yes, I use Lens Direct. I've done it a few times now and got my neighbor doing it. They always have a varying promotion at the top of the web page so don't forget to look. I got 40% off at Memoria Day weekend. Sometimes it's only 20%.

 

[tvguy]

I keep my old glasses as backups, so that wouldn't work for me. But it can be done if your dispensing optician still sells that frame.
HOWEVER, in my experience, the frames start wearing out. I had to have a titanium frame brazed back together after it snapped in half between the lenses, and back when I had plastic frames, it always seemed the frames had cracks in them after a few years.

 

[georgina]

Frames are quite expensive in our experience. DH has done it through Costco. They did warn him if the frames broke in the process he would have to order new frames, but it worked out fine.

 

[lilaurora]

Our vision insurance will cover new lenses each year but new frames only every other year. My husband just had new lenses put into existing lenses. It was the same place he originally purchased from.

 

[NotUrsula]

Most of the time it's possible, unless the new scrip won't work with the frame style. I wear contacts 95% of the time, so I've put new lenses in my existing frames multiple times, as my frames seldom wear out, and fashion isn't much of an issue because no one sees me wearing them but my family.

It's always a good idea to have two sets of glasses if you can swing it, not only in case you lose one, but regularly alternating them cuts down on wear and tear on the frames, making it possible to keep and re-use them for longer.

 

[Disneefun]

As long as the place you're getting them from has the pattern for the frame, you can do it. I get mine from my eye dr. and even if the frame isn't in production, their lab can still do it because they have the older patterns still. I can't take my frames to another place like LensCrafters because they likely don't have the pattern. (Although they might, you can always check, but a lot of places get frames exclusive to them so they won't have a pattern for a frame you bought elsewhere.)

And as a PP said, there's always the caveat that if it breaks while they're doing it, you'll have to buy new. The lab won't be liable for old frames.

 

[Mrs.Milo]

Wow lots of information here, thanks for the replies. I’m not crazy about my latest pair of progressive frames, not sure if I want to keep another year if they might break in the process and cost extra.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Yes. My daughter has done it many times.

 

[bcla]

I've done it the other way around. I had some FlexOn glasses and for whatever reason they broke right at the bridge twice. No abuse, but just a mild touch and went snap. Even though it was out of warranty, the shop I got it from replaced it once as a courtesy, reusing the lenses. Then it broke again and I put them aside. More recently I just bought a pair online with only plano (demo) lenses, and it was maybe $70 with shipping. I got these glasses a long time ago, but replacements are still available.

My problem is the (push in) nose pads with green gunk. I bought replacements and they need to be replaced about every few months. I got replacements cheap but I'm running out and need more. They can't really be cleaned since the pads break when I remove them.

 

[Mrs.Milo]

I don’t like those little nose pads, they do turn green and I find they are uncomfortable. So I always look for frames without those pads that have been built in as part of the frame.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I have never done it, but I know that the insurance provided by my employer will replace lenses yearly and frames+lenses every other year. So I am assuming that putting new lenses in old frames is definitely a thing.

I know the last time I got a new prescription, I just used Zenni and got a few pairs to just keep them laying around at different "stations" throughout the house. That way, no matter where I sit down, I will have some glasses within reach.

I have an older frame that I would like to do that thing were getting lenses only, but that is the one pair of glasses I cannot find. I have been looking for them for several months, but I have absolutely no idea what I did with them and it is really bugging me.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I have never done it, but I know that the insurance provided by my employer will replace lenses yearly and frames+lenses every other year. So I am assuming that putting new lenses in old frames is definitely a thing.

I know the last time I got a new prescription, I just used Zenni and got a few pairs to just keep them laying around at different "stations" throughout the house. That way, no matter where I sit down, I will have some glasses within reach.

I have an older frame that I would like to do that thing were getting lenses only, but that is the one pair of glasses I cannot find. I have been looking for them for several months, but I have absolutely no idea what I did with them and it is really bugging me.

OMG I found my best pair glasses this morning!

I also lost another one of my "good" pairs of glasses over the weekend... found them too, another pair I thought I lost, and another pair I forgot I had.
I found them all under the bed.

I guess what I seem to be doing is putting them off the nightstand when I go to bed, and at some point knocking them off between the nightstand and bed, they bounce and go underneath the bed not to be seen for a long time.

 

[ajlsjl]

I just had this done at my eye doctor's office. My doctor changed the strength of my lenses, and my insurance wouldn't pay for a new frame, so the Rx for the lenses was sent to the lab, and when they came in, I dropped my frame off, they popped out my old lenses and installed the new ones.

 

[seshat0120]

Make sure it's actually cheaper to reuse the frames. I just got new glasses and sunglasses. I was going to reuse the frames for my old sunglasses since I really liked them. Because Lenscrafters is having a special where it's 50% off a second pair of glasses, it was actually less expensive to get both the frames (identical to my old frames) and lenses for my sunglasses than it was just to get lenses for the old frames.