The humble silicone nose pad is one of the most popular types of nose pads available today. Silicone nose pads used in eyeglasses is an example of a common product which exploits the unique properties of silicone in order to provide a comfort level to glasses and sunglasses wearer's that is unattainable by the use of other nose pad materials. So striking is the popularity of nose pads made from silicone, that eyeglass and optical spectacle wearers usually purchase replacement nose pads by simply specifying the generic silicone material that the nose pad is made of, instead of requesting a particular eyeglass manufacturer brand name of nose pad.
Is it Silicone or Silicon! People often refer to silicone nose pads as silicon nose pads. While the words "silicone" and "silicon" look similar, they are in fact not equivalent. Silicon is a chemical element, just as copper, oxygen, and gold are also chemical elements; whereas, silicone is a compound composed of different chemical elements, one of which happens to be silicon. In 1901, the word "silicone" was coined by the English chemist who invented it, Professor Frederick Stanley Kipping.
Advantages Of Silicone in Nose Pads: An eyeglass nose pad made from silicone has several unique advantages over a similar nose pad fabricated from other materials. Some of the properties that make silicone nose pads popular include:
Flexibility: A silicone nose pad for glasses easily flexes with little applied pressure. This property enables the surface of a silicone nose pad to easily conform to the nasal area of an eyeglass wearer. Since a high surface contact area translates into a better weight distribution of a glasses frame over a wearer's skin, the use of silicone nose pads results in a lighter feeling pair of eyeglasses as well as diminished irritation and discomfort.
Adaptability: As most silicone nose pads are soft, cushy, and comfortable, most eyeglass and sunglasses wearers adapt almost immediately to the feel and weight of a new pair of glasses.
Hypoallergenic: For many spectacle and sunglasses wearers, the use of nose pads made of silicone provides a hypo-allergenic experience; however, since different people have different sensitivities to materials, allergic sensitive people should consult with a health care professional for a recommended hypoallergenic nose pad material.
Easy To Clean: When silicone nose pads become dirty or soiled, they are easily cleaned with plain or soapy water.
Long Life: Due to the resiliency of the silicone used in the manufacture of silicone nose pads, the nose pads of a pair of glasses often outlive the life of the eyeglasses themselves! At times, though, silicone nose pads may wear out, get damaged, or even become lost, thus necessitating the need for replacement silicone nose pads
Inexpensive: Unlike in the early days when silicone was an expensive novelty material, silicone nose pads are today relatively cheap and often cost the same or less than other common nose pad materials such as vinyl, acetate, pvc (polyvinyl chloride), pc (polycarbonate), glass, rubber, plastic, ceramic, and titanium.
Where To Buy?: Replacement silicone nose pads may easily be purchased on-line. The site www.NosePads.Com, "THE NOSE PAD BUYER'S GUIDE", offers a selection of over 100 nose pads including the most comprehensive collection of silicone nose pads. This site has no minimum orders (1 pair of nose pads is fine), very low cost flat rate shipping, a FREE SPARE PAIR of nose pads for each pair ordered, top quality name brand OptiPad® nose pads, and cheap discount low cost nose pad prices.
Shapes and Sizes: Silicone nose pads are available in virtually all shapes and sizes that nose pads come in. This includes the popular d-shape, oval, mushroom, bullet, round, strap-bridge, uni-fit, soft-wing, saddle bridge, symmetrical, rectangular, teardrop, and asymmetric shapes.
Oakley is a major manufacturer of stylish sunglasses and eyeglasses. Many Oakley frames use silicone nose pads due to their superior comfort and durability. You may wish to check out this favorite resource to obtain high quality discounted Oakley Nose Pad Replacements.
A popular Oakley nose pad consists of a soft silicone outer shell which surrounds a bubble of air! This Oakley nose pad is used on many Oakley sunglasses and eyeglasses styles such as the Oakley Air Tech, Titanium Crosshair, Feedback, EVR, Daisy Chain, Given Sun, Tincan, Tinfoil, Blender, Wingfold, Carbon, Holbrook Metal, Metal Keel, Tailpin, and others. You may wish to visit this established well known source for low-cost premium quality replacement nose pads for Oakley glasses.
Ray-Ban is another well liked worldwide brand of sunglasses and prescription eyewear that often uses comfortable silicone nose pads in their products. A preferred source for high quality low cost replacements for Ray-Ban nose pads will enable you to keep your eyewear feeling fresh and clean throughout its lifetime.
Periodically replacing worn out or deteriorated nose pads will keep your glasses comfortable and fresh. The use of replacement nose pads for Ray-Ban sunglasses and eyeglasses will help to maintain your glasses just as the routine cleaning of eyeglasses is an important part of vision care.
Colors: Silicone nose pads are generally available in a clear, crystal clear, transparent, or frosted formulation. Multicolored silicone nose pads are also manufactured but are less popular and hence lack widespread availability.
Mounting: Silicone nose pads may be mounted to eyeglasses by a variety of means including screw-on or screw-in mounting arms, push-on or push-in arm mounts, and slide-on or slide-in mounts.
Silicone nose pads may also be purchased in flat sheets which contain many removable adhesive backed nose pads. The wearer simply peels off a nose pad from the retaining waxed sheet and then applies it to an eyeglass frame by use of a slight finger pressure.
Adhesive nose pads are also commonly referred to as stick-on nose pads. Note that adhesive nose pads are not compatible with other types of nose pad mounting methods, such as the slide-on, push-on, and screw-on nose pad mounts mentioned earlier. Stick on silicone nose pads often mount into a recessed indentation found in the bridge area of an eyeglass frame. Adhesive nose pads are generally mounted to an eyeglass frame in seconds, and can just as easily be removed!
There's More! To learn more about the various available shapes and sizes of silicone nose pads, as well as the different methods of mounting a silicone nose pad to an eye glasses frame, check out the website www.NosePads.com. This site also includes a wonderful illustrated eye care tutorial on how to properly select replacement nose pads and nose pieces.
Epilogue: We hope you have enjoyed our treatise on the many virtues of nose pads made of the wonder material silicone. Yes …. you are indeed a lucky individual to be living at a time when this truly remarkable material has made its way to the mass market nose pad world. Not only has silicone become one of the greatest materials-science success stories, it has impacted eyeglass wearers across the globe by allowing the interface between man and optics to be a most comfortable relationship!
