Like brand-new eyeglasses

If you wear eyeglasses, and use metal frames, you probably hate how the nose pads get green gunk (corrosion? fungus?) and eventually turn yellow. A quick and cheap solution: change the nose pads.

I got this tip from an office mate who told me that replacement nose pads are actually available in optical shops. I never thought of replacing them, though I totally detest the gunk and yellow color. So when we ate out last Sunday at a mall restaurant, I went to an optical shop and got two pairs. Just make sure you get the right kind for your eyeglasses—turns out that there are several types depending on how they're attached to the frame. I guess you can ask the shop to change the pads for you (I'm so DIY it didn't occur to me to make them do it because I knew that I would).

When we got home, I changed the pads of my distance glasses. Suddenly, my black frames look so much newer than my gold ones (my reading glasses) when they're actually two years older. (I used the second pair for my husband's frames and I completely forgot to count my reading glasses—next time.) Anyway, my friend said that the pads turn yellow in about a year's time so an annual change would be fine. But for the green gunk, you really just have to remove the pads every couple of months to clean them thoroughly.