Eye protection is important at work and at home. Your favorite shades protect you from the sun, but when you’re hustling at your job or playing the role of weekend warrior at home, you’ll need eye protection that works better than just your standard sunnies.
Safety goggles and safety glasses are the go-to choices for many, but how do you know which ones you need? We’ll cover the differences and help you decide...and give you an option for both goggles and glasses in one single pair of frames.
What Are Safety Goggles?
Safety goggles offer all-around protection for your eyes. These are the eyewear pieces you remember from lab classes in school. They are large, fit over your entire eye area, and offer full optical protection from airborne pathogens, splashes, spills, and flying objects.
Safety goggles form an airtight seal on your eye area, which may be necessary for some professions. Usually, safety goggles have an adjustable rubber strap that fits around the head. Safety goggles can be worn with corrective frames as they will fit over the glasses and do not have arms that would interfere with the arms of your corrective frames.
Safety Goggle Highlights
Safety goggles are a great option if you:
- Work around airborne pathogens (be sure your goggles have the proper certification for airborne protection)
- Want airtight protection
- Don’t want to take off your regular corrective glasses
Because safety goggles are pretty bulky, it isn’t likely you’ll want to wear them for long periods of time.
Safety Goggle Concerns
If you have a quick job, safety goggles offer great protection, but some users find them uncomfortable.
You should know that safety goggles:
- Are bulky and rarely fit perfectly.
- Can be uncomfortable. The head strap can pull your hair, feel tight on your head, and the goggles may be tight on your face. (Psst- try this one instead.)
- Can fog easily.
- Might not be easy to use with your regular glasses, even though they can be worn with them.
- Aren’t very attractive. We said what we said.
If you don’t specifically work in an industry that requires the use of goggles, you may prefer safety glasses. Keep in mind that there are definitely some industries that 100% require the use of airtight safety goggles — like handling dangerous chemicals that could produce off-gases or working with live viruses.
However, the vast majority of safety goggle users aren’t in these positions and don’t need this level of protection.
What are Safety Glasses?
Safety glasses are like safety goggles, but they don’t offer the same level of protection. Safety glasses are made from the same type of lightweight and shatter resistant polycarbonate material you’ll find in safety goggles.
Safety glasses use side arms that you place over your ears to fit your face, the same way you wear your regular glasses or sunglasses. The frames usually have side shields that protect your eyes on the sides, where normal glasses usually have a large gap.
Some safety glasses have a wraparound design that extends and curves the lens around the temple. These may work, but they’re sometimes problematic if you need to have a prescription added to them. Sometimes, prescriptive wraparound glasses can produce a warped, fun-house mirror effect.
You won’t be able to wear your corrective lenses with safety glasses without some serious sliding around and discomfort behind your ears. However, you can always opt for prescription safety glasses that make it easy for you to have clear vision and optical protection simultaneously.
Safety Glasses Highlights
For most tasks, safety glasses will probably give you the protection you need. They’re also much more comfortable than safety goggles, which may make them a better fit for you.
Safety glasses:
- Offer impact protection
- Have a lightweight frame
- Are easy to put on and take off
- Is considered to be a more comfortable option
You’ll find safety glasses practically anywhere protective eyewear is sold, but you may find that not all of the options available at the local hardware store fit as perfectly as you’d like them to. Additionally, if you haven’t used your safety glasses in a while and they’ve been lying at the bottom of a tool bag, you probably want to replace them. Most inexpensive safety glasses should be replaced every one to three years, and if you can’t remember how long you’ve had a pair or when you’ve used them last, it’s better to err on the side of caution and get a new pair instead of risking your vision with the ones you have.
Safety Glasses Concerns
Safety glasses may be more comfortable for longer periods of wear, but here are some considerations to keep in mind.
- Standard safety glasses don’t have top shields to protect your eyes. This can leave your eyes vulnerable to spills, splashes, and projectiles.
- You can’t wear your prescription lenses with safety glasses. You’ll need to get safety glasses that have prescription lenses or forgo vision correction while you work (side note: we don’t recommend the latter).
- Safety glasses are like the pocket protectors of the eyeglass world. They aren’t known for their trendy frame shapes, and their size alone may be too large for most users.
While safety glasses are probably a lighter-weight, easier option for most people, you do miss out on some level of optical protection, and if you are wearing a cheap dollar-bin version, they probably won’t be comfortable.
What To Know About Safety Eyewear Design
It’s important to note that the sheer design of all safety eyewear is hyper-masculine. You’d have to go back in history to understand why. The earliest types of eye protection were worn by some of the hardest and most dangerous jobs available, like mining. In the 1800s, women simply weren’t manning the mineshafts.
Even as time evolved, the vocations that required protective eyewear were primarily taken by men. This resulted in a hyper-masculine design for safety glasses and safety goggles that don’t work for many people today.
We’ve evolved, and we think eyewear should have, too. Stoggles eyewear is gender-inclusive. Our eyewear is flattering, comfortable, and protective for all eyes. Anyone can wear our frame shapes. Our color schemes are for every shade of skin and every personal taste.
If you prefer yellow cat-eye glasses, you can have them. If you want clear, rectangular safety eyewear, you can have that, too.
Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent who needs to keep their eyes protected while chopping onions or scrubbing a tub, or a doctor or lab technician who needs to keep their eyes safe from *ahem* bodily fluids, you’ll find protection and style collaborating in every pair of Stoggles you wear.
Safety Goggles vs. Safety Glasses Key Differences
Which do you need for your own projects and tasks?
We aren’t doctors or carpenters, and we can’t exactly tell you exactly what eyewear you 100% need… but we can definitely help you understand the key differences between the two so that you can decide for yourself.
That said, if your employer has specifically stated that you need to wear a particular type of safety eyewear, you should follow that rule.
Here are the key differences between goggles and glasses:
- Safety goggles offer complete protection around your eye. Safety glasses may only offer protection around the front and sides (not to the top).
- Safety glasses are more comfortable and lightweight. Safety goggles can be bulky, difficult to take on and off, and painful.
- Safety glasses can’t be worn with your corrective lenses. Safety goggles can be worn over corrective lenses, but there’s no guarantee you’ll enjoy the way it feels.
- Both safety goggles and safety glasses have a tendency to fog. This means you’ll have to take them off to wipe the lenses. Anytime you remove your protective eyewear, there’s a chance you could injure your eye or contaminate your glasses with dirty hands or cleaning rags.
- Neither safety goggles nor safety glasses are a good look for your profile picture.
If only there was a way to get the full eye protection offered by safety goggles with the lightweight comfortability provided by safety glasses. Oh—and make them look good, too.
Safety Goggles + Safety Glasses + Serious Style = Stoggles
Surprise, unicorns do exist. Stoggles are safety eyewear that offers serious protection, wear like glasses, and look like your favorite pair of frames. Our safety eyewear is unique because each pair offers side and top shields, giving your eyes the all-around protection to keep them safe without the bulk or brain-crushing elastic strap you’d experience from a pair of goggles, or the slip-and-slide you’d expect from cheap safety glasses.
Every pair of Stoggles has:
- Anti-fog coated lenses. No matter how many times you go from hot to cold or break a sweat, you won’t have to worry about your lenses getting steamy. Forget the anti-fog drops or wipes, this anti-fog coating goes on and on (and on).
- ANSI Z87+ certification. Impact resistance, durability, and protection you can rely on based on industry standards. In terms of reliable, durable protection, this is the gold standard.
- Blue-light blocking lenses. We understand you want protection from more than just flying objects, chemicals, and liquids. Blue light can be damaging to your eyes and can cause eye strain, headaches, and even damage to your vision long-term.
- Prescription lens availability. Stop struggling with goggles over your glasses. We handle all prescription lens requests in-house, saving you time, money, and a huge hassle. If you need prescriptive lenses, just upload your prescription to our website and we’ll take care of the rest.
- Sleek design. You shouldn’t have to choose between protection and style. On the job, you wear your safety glasses for hours. Feel good about yourself when you scrub in and out or pass by the lone mirror in the shop.
- UV blocking. Whether you are inside our outside, Stoggles will keep your eyes shielded from harmful UV rays. Our eyewear is made from polycarbonate, which is naturally UV blocking without the need for tint.
Stoggles keep your eyes protected without sacrificing comfort, making them a better choice that will help keep them on your face longer than bulky, uncomfortable options.
What Makes Stoggles Different?
Of course there’s competition, but Stoggles is always a step ahead. In addition to packing every pair of our eyewear with the safety features you need (and a few you probably didn’t realize you needed), we offer several advantages.
First, our blue light-blocking lenses don’t change how you see the world. Bargain eyewear often has a noticeable tint that makes it hard to see computer screens or your tablet. Our polycarbonate lenses have blue light protection that is barely visible.
Additionally, our side and top shield technology helps eliminate a possible issue that some people experience with wraparound style eyewear. Some styles of wraparound eyewear can cause a funhouse mirror effect, especially if your lenses have a prescription.
Side and top shields offer the same protection as wraparound but without the curved lens, which may be a better solution.
Finally, there’s just no competition for style — and let’s be honest. When you feel good, you do good. If you love your eyewear, you’ll wear it more frequently and keep your eyes safe. If you feel ridiculous or uncomfortable in your glasses, you’ll take them off as quickly as possible and probably allow them to collect dust.
Forget the Glasses and Goggles; Get Stoggles
Goggles and glasses are so last year, but eye protection never goes out of style. Opt for safety eyewear that fits, works, and keeps you comfortable at work and home.
Stoggles are the personal protective equipment solution for the most discriminating individuals (or, you know, just people who like to look good).
Sources:
Protecting your eyes at work | AOA
