Sunglasses slipping down your nose? How to fix loose sunglasses

Short answer: If your sunglasses keep slipping down your nose, start with the easy fixes: clean the frame and your nose, tighten the hinge screws, and squeeze adjustable nose pads slightly closer together. If the temples have opened up on a plastic frame, let an optician reshape them with heat. And if the frame is wider than your face or the bridge is wider than your nose, no adjustment will hold – you need a smaller size.

Why sunglasses slip

A frame stays in place because it rests on your nose and grips gently behind your ears. When one of those two points stops working, gravity wins. The usual causes:

• Skin oil, sweat and sunscreen. A greasy bridge slides, especially on hot days. This is the most common cause and the easiest to fix.
• Loose hinge screws. When the screws loosen, the temples swing open too easily and lose their grip.
• Temples that have opened up. Wearing sunglasses on top of your head, pulling them off with one hand or sitting on them slowly widens the frame.
• Nose pads that have spread apart on metal frames.
• The wrong size. A frame that is too wide, a bridge that is too wide for your nose, or temples that are too long. Then the frame never really fitted in the first place.

Fixes you can do at home

1. Clean the bridge, nose pads and temple tips. Rinse the frame with lukewarm water and a drop of washing-up liquid, dry it with a soft cloth, and wipe your nose before you put the pair back on. Our guide on how to clean sunglasses covers the lenses too.
2. Tighten the hinge screws. Use a small eyeglass screwdriver and turn gently, about a quarter turn at a time, until the temple opens with a little resistance. Don’t force it – overtightened screws strip easily. Our frames use 5-barrel optical hinges and friction-lock screws with a nylon patch, which are made to stay tight, but any screw can work loose after a few seasons.
3. Adjust metal nose pads. If your frame has adjustable nose pads, squeeze them a millimetre or two closer together with your fingers. The frame will sit slightly higher and grip better. Our metal Vang and Dyhr frames both have adjustable silicone nose pads for exactly this reason.
4. Stop parking them on your head. It stretches the temples outwards every time. Hang them from your collar or put them in the case instead.

For sport or a long day at the beach, a sports strap or silicone ear grips can help as a temporary fix. They don’t solve a fit problem, but they keep a pair in place while you sort it out.

Plastic frames: let an optician adjust them

Most plastic sunglasses, ours included, have a moulded bridge without separate nose pads. The fix is in the temples: bending the tips slightly down and in behind the ears so they hold the frame back. On plastic, that adjustment needs controlled heat.

Our recycled sunglasses have fronts in rPCTG and temples in recycled cellulose propionate with a stainless steel core. Opticians warm the temple tips with a frame warmer, shape them and let them cool in position. Please don’t try it cold, with boiling water or with a hair dryer near the lenses: uneven heat can warp the frame and damage the lenses. It is a routine job for an optician and usually takes only a few minutes. Bring the sunglasses and wear them in, so they can see how the pair actually sits on you.

When the frame is simply too big

If a pair slips again a few days after an adjustment, it is usually the size. Look for these signs:

• The frame sticks out past the sides of your face.
• There is a gap between the bridge and your nose when you look in a mirror.
• The temples reach far past the back of your ears.

Check the numbers inside the temple – lens width, bridge width and temple length – and compare them with a pair that stays put. For a smaller nose, look for a narrower bridge. For a narrower face, look at the total frame width, which is not printed on the frame. Our guide on how to measure sunglasses shows you how to measure both with a ruler.

ECO SHADES frames for a smaller fit

If you have a narrow face or often find sunglasses too wide, these are some of our smallest frames (measurements from the product pages):

• Perini Brown – round, Small/Medium: 47□22-145, frame width 130 mm.
• Bono Brown – round, Small/Medium: 49□20-140, frame width 131 mm.
• Vang Black – round, recycled metal, Small/Medium: 50□22-138, frame width 135 mm, with adjustable silicone nose pads and shorter temples.
• Dyhr Black – rectangular, recycled metal: 56□17-138, frame width 140 mm. Not small overall, but it has one of our narrowest bridges, adjustable nose pads and short temples.

Size decides whether a frame stays put; shape decides how it looks. For that part, read which sunglasses suit your face or browse all our sunglasses. A well-made frame also holds its fit longer – more in how to spot quality sunglasses.

Every ECO SHADES pair comes with a 2-year warranty. If a hinge on your pair feels loose or you are unsure about the size, contact us and we will help.

Quick FAQ

Why do my sunglasses keep sliding down my nose?

Usually skin oil or sunscreen on the bridge, loose hinge screws, temples that have widened, or a frame that is too wide for your face or nose.

Can you tighten plastic sunglasses?

Yes. Tighten the hinge screws yourself, but let an optician reshape the temples with heat. Bending a cold plastic frame can crack it.

How do I stop sunglasses slipping when I sweat?

Keep the bridge and your nose free of sunscreen, wipe the frame during the day, and use a sports strap or ear grips for running and cycling.

Should sunglasses rest on your cheeks?

No. If the frame touches your cheeks, it lifts every time you smile and slides back down. That is often a sign the bridge is too wide or the frame too big.