Ciba Vision Clear Care Contact Solution Review

In 2006, I was addicted to Renu Multipurpose and it was the only product I would buy for my contact lens care. Then in February 2006 I heard there was a recall and this product had been linked to eye diseases that were making people blind! I had heard that certain bottles were still safe, but I wasn't willing to risk it. My next try was Complete. That worked out great for about a year. Then earlier in 2007 there were news stories out that Complete was being recalled! Once again, certain types were safe but I couldn't risk it. I'm not willing to risk my sight.

When I found Clear Careon the shelf I did some research first. I set up an alert for "clear care recall" on google news and have yet to receive any bad news about this product. After my search came out clean, I bought it. I've been using this product since May 2007 and I now am sure it is the only product I will use for my lens care (unless it gets recalled!)

The Usage and How it Differs
Products like Renu are used in your hand. You put the lens in your hand, pour the solution on it, rub it a bit to get any dust or dirt off of it, then put it in a container with more solution to soak until next use. When you are ready to wear them, you usually want to do another rinse and rub before putting them in your eyes.

With Clear Care, you put your lenses into a lens holder. You rinse the lenses for a few minutes through the holes. Then you fill the Clear Care container and place the lens holder into the solution. You must not take your lenses out for 6 hours. After 6 hours, you can take the contacts out and put them on with no rinsing needed.

You'll see a chemical reaction when you put the holder into the container. I see the bubbling action through the clear case and the bubbles float up through my contacts cleaning them all over.

So... Does it actually work better?
Yes! When I put my contacts in they feel so clean that I definitely feel the difference. With Renu I often had to rub and rub in order to get all the particles off my lenses. I have an eye problem where I produce more protein then usual, so I really have to clean my lenses thoroughly.  I could never get them 100% clean so I often tossed my disposable lenses early for the next pair. Now that I'm using Clear Care, my lenses come out so clean that I often wear them longer than the 1 month they were meant for.

In addition, since I never have to rub my lenses, I don't rip them.... ever! When I used Renu, I was rubbing them so much that they would rip, tear, and need to be. This was frustrating, but if I didn't rub, they wouldn't get clean. Now that I have Clear Care, my lenses rarely rip because I'm never touching them other then to put them in and take them out.

And By the way, that container is better too!
When I used Renu, they had flat containers where you have two sides and two lids. The lids were often hard to take off and I wasn't confident it wouldn't leak. I would never shake the case because the lenses would get stuck in a weird spot and not be in the liquid anymore. Since the case was white, I couldn't tell if my lenses were covered in the solution so I just had to hope for the best. The lenses would fall to the bottom of the container so I always felt like only one side was getting cleaned.

Please see the case in the picture so you can understand. The Clear Care case is much better. Both lenses fit in to one case in flip open spots for the contacts. These flip open spots are full of holes so that when you put the holder into the Clear Care container, the bubbles can come up and massage the lenses on both sides. There is only one lid to tighten and it's very easy to open and close. I've turned this container all around and upside down but it doesn't matter, the lenses stay in place and the container doesn't leak.

There's gotta be a Downside
Well actually there is one downside. With Renu I could spot clean my contacts as needed. If my contacts were bugging me, I could take them out, rinse them, and put them back in. However, Clear Care is made different than these other solutions. Since the product is not actually Saline until it reacts with the container, you cannot just rinse your contacts and put them in your eyes. In fact, when using Clear Care, you can't put the contacts in for 6 hours. That isn't just a recommendation, that's a warning. To make up for this, I buy Visine for Contacts. This way I can clean and refresh my eyes on the spot whenever I need.

Conclusion
I don't care if all the recalls for Renu go away, I still am afraid to use them. Since I've found Clear Care, I have no reason to switch back anyway! Clear Care is convenient and leaves me with the best clean feeling I've ever gotten from a contact solution. I plan to use this product for years to come and pray for no more recalls! Enjoy!!