Friday, February 9, 2024

Review of Walmart Equate Multipurpose Solution - Contact Lenses

 

As this review site is primarily dedicated to food reviews, I thought I might take time aside to address a non-food item that I use daily…. contact lens solution. I have been wearing contacts for over forty years and while much has changed in the style and comforts of contacts; little has changed in the solutions used for cleaning, rinsing, storage, and disinfecting. Name brand solutions such as Opti-Free, Acuvue and Bausch and Lomb are the reputable brands that are usually carried and endorsed by Optometrists; my own being no exception. After my annual eye exam, I usually enjoy the benefit of the practitioner sending me home with several “sample sizes” of Opti-Free which usually gets me through a month of solution. The honeymoon is then over when I shop for contact lens solutions to replace the used-up samples. A standard bottle of multipurpose contact lens solution from these name brands can range anywhere between $10 and $20 per bottle. I usually go with the Opti-Free solution that is about $10. However, awhile back I decided to give the Walmart Equate brand multipurpose contact lens solution a try. I went with the twin pack (2 – 12-ounce bottles) for about measly eight dollars.


Packaging

The packaging consists of a white and green box with big “2 Pack” written on top across a yellow band. The bottles within the box contain a plastic safety seal that needs to be carefully removed to be able to open the bottle. There is no storage case included like I sometimes receive with the Opti-Free box.


Multi Purpose Function

Once upon a time, owning a pair of contacts usually meant having to keep several different solutions on hand. One bottle was for disinfecting, the other for storage, one for rinsing, etc. Thank goodness these companies decided to come up with a multi-purpose solution that did all these functions, a huge cost saver. The Equate brand covers all these functions. Once the contact lens is removed, I rinse each contact under a stream of the solution and place them in the storage container. I did not notice any different steps between using Equate vs Opti-Free solution.

 

Results

So, was the cost savings a game changer for using Equate and dumping Opti-Free? Not really. While going through the first phase of using the Walmart brand, I had used the solution freely as I would use a more generous amount to really rinse those contacts since I saved so much money up front. When using the Equate brand, aside from using a steady stream to clean the contacts, I also had to give the lenses a good rub between thumb and forefinger to remove any deposits that built up that were not naturally removed by the disinfectant (as the Opti-Free did a better job of really cleaning the contacts). The first two bottles did do a decent job of rinsing and storing the contacts, though cleaning and disinfecting were “fair” at best. When I used up the two bottles of the Walmart Equate brand, I decided to purchase another: big mistake! Upon first using the solution, I noticed that my eyes were slightly irritated with a slight stinging sensation and could not even keep the lenses in my eyes, so I had to wear glasses that day. I wasn’t sure if I was getting a false positive due to maybe something like soap or debris, so I tried again the next day and experienced the same irritation. Naturally I went back to Opti-Free. I may or may not give Equate another shot in the future as perhaps that bad experience was chalked up to a bad batch. I would rate this a do not buy to potentially a “fair” grade.

 


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