First impressions matter, or so they say. This is why we style our hair, dress nicely, and do makeup. But the whole effect can be ruined by wearing dirty glasses, and you can’t always see that they’re dirty while actually wearing them.

They’re also a pain to clean, especially if they have a few miles on them. The frame often has corners that are awkward to get into with a cloth, most household detergents will damage the lenses’ optical coatings, and some stains seem to be practically baked on.

Anything that promises to help with this is welcome, like this pair of tongs that make it possible to polish the entire lens surface with microfiber cleaning pads in a fraction of the time it takes to rub it with a cloth. Microfibers are simply very fine threads that collectively provide a huge surface area, making it easier to clean things without using any detergents or even water. This gadget uses a special carbon microfiber compound designed by NASA, which should put it a cut above the typical soft towels meant for eyeglasses.

However, many people have been disappointed with the Peeps Eyeglass Cleaner. It seems that it’s good at taking glasses from “cleanish” to totally clear, but it’s not really a replacement for the old-fashioned cloth and perhaps some cleaning solution. Using this on really grimy glasses will simply gum up the cleaning pads and will probably not remove all the dirt in any case.

There’s also the risk of scratching the lenses: this isn’t really the Peeps’ fault, but if there are large dust particles already on the lenses, they’re going to get damaged. You might want to rinse them under some lukewarm water and dry them with a paper towel first, whatever method you use to clean your glasses.

Placing the Peeps in their carrying case is supposed to “refresh” the pads, but it’s not clear how this works. In any case, replacement pads aren’t sold separately, so you’ll need to order a new unit once your current one stops working. This should give you another 500 cleanings.