Do I have more in common with the Statue of Liberty than I might have thought? ๐Ÿค”

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[โ€“] 49 points 3 years ago (2 children)

The metal your frames are made of is an alloy that contains copper, which turns green when it oxidizes. It's the same with cheap gold plated jewelry that turns your skin green.

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  • [โ€“] [S] 17 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    TIL why my nose pads turned green! Thank you, knowledgeable Lemmster! ๐Ÿ†

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  • [โ€“] 10 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    So the answer to your other question is "Yes!" The Statue of Liberty is also green because it's made of copper. It was metallic when it was first installed in 1886, but had turned fully green within 20 years.

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  • [โ€“] 40 points 3 years ago (2 children)
  • [โ€“] [S] 36 points 3 years ago*

    No more calls; we have our winner.

    Glasses frame is usually made of a type of copper called monel. Monel is a table metal and unreactive towards a lot of chemical. It is also skin friendly. The only downside is that it turns greenish when it gets rusty.

    [edit] It's interesting that that article suggests a way to clean them--but the Costco optician just now said you can't really clean them. (They replaced them for no charge.)

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  • [โ€“] 6 points 3 years ago

    I think the green is from the locktight they use on the screws. But the glasses people blame the eyeglass wearer. It's a racket.

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  • [โ€“] 5 points 3 years ago

    Might not just be copper. Nickel is a common coating due to its corrosion resistance, but even that can oxidize over time and form a green oxide

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  • [โ€“] 3 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    Does nobody actually wash their glasses regularly? I've never had a pair of glasses have their nose pads turn any color.

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  • [โ€“] 1 point 3 years ago

    I rarely wash my glasses with soap and water, maybe once every month or two. I DO regularly wipe them with a cloth, usually my tshirt. My nose pads have never turned green in 60 years of wearing glasses.

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  • [โ€“] 1 point 3 years ago

    I've had this with cheap sunglasses that use copper screws to keep the pads on. The green is the copper oxidizing.

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