| Optical hygiene has always been of particular importance for contact lens wearers. This is a selection of the many products held in the museum.
To the right is a plastic bottle of 'Soaclens' soaking and wetting solution 4 fl. oz from the late 1960s. This product was made by Burton, Parsons & Co in America. Beside it is Hydrosoak, a 1970s sterile soaking solution in Great Britain made by Contactasol Ltd.
Some of these solutions were provided in patient starter kit with other accessories including sterile cases, suction holders and mirrors.
Multipurpose solutions, such as 'Re-Nu' by Bausch & Lomb, were developed that claimed to clean, rinse, disinfect, lubricate and store.
Cleaning solutions did not only come in bottled form. Below is a box containing foil sachets for mixing up an intensive cleaner for soft hydrophilic contact lenses. It was intended for professional use, not for the use of patients (c.1990) and might have been used in a heated cleansing unit such as this brown 1980s example by a company called Focus. The unit was effective but must have been awkward to assemble and use.
In the twenty first century much research has gone into designing a 'washing machine' for patients to clean their own contact lenses. The item on the right, designed in 2000 by entrepreneur and contact lens wearer Charles Ifejika, gained exposure as a competition entry in the 'Best Inventions' television programme produced by the BBC. Launched commercially in late 2003 it was claimed that this was the first proven, pocket-sized, powered cleaning device for contact lenses. It was designed for use as part of a 'complete' cleaning system set of products.
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