My control variables are

1.  water hardness level, as I live in the state of Florida, and I lodged at a Ritz Carlton in Florida. I'm not, in any way, affiliated with any corporation herein.

2. my eyeglasses with $700 USD Nikon SeeMax Ultimate lenses.

3. my cleaning method.

4. and my Nikon micro-fiber lens cleaning cloth.

When I lodged at the Ritz Carlton hotel, I used their liquid hand wash to dab my eyeglasses.

But even when I used different bottles of this hand wash, after rinsing with the hotel's tap water, my eyeglasses remain smudged. I didn't take the images below, but they resemble my smudges.

When I got home, I daubed some of my Method Gel Hand Soap Refill, Sweet Water on my Nikon lenses as usual. Then rinsing with my home's tap water cleansed the smudges. 

 

Therefore Ritz Carlton's liquid hand wash appears to be the culprit for my smudges. But I never knew that some liquid hand washes can cause smudges?!!!?! What do you chemists think?

Edited August 1, 20214 yr by scherz0

2 hours ago, scherz0 said:

My control variables are

1.  water hardness level, as I live in the state of Florida, and I lodged at a Ritz Carlton in Florida. I'm not, in any way, affiliated with any corporation herein.

2. my eyeglasses with $700 USD Nikon SeeMax Ultimate lenses.

3. my cleaning method.

4. and my Nikon micro-fiber lens cleaning cloth.

When I lodged at the Ritz Carlton hotel, I used their liquid hand wash to dab my eyeglasses.

But even when I used different bottles of this hand wash, after rinsing with the hotel's tap water, my eyeglasses remain smudged. I didn't take the images below, but they resemble my smudges.

When I got home, I daubed some of my Method Gel Hand Soap Refill, Sweet Water on my Nikon lenses as usual. Then rinsing with my home's tap water cleansed the smudges. 

 

Therefore Ritz Carlton's liquid hand wash appears to be the culprit for my smudges. But I never knew that some liquid hand washes can cause smudges?!!!?! What do you chemists think?

I've had similar experiences. I haven't researched this but my suspicion is that some hand soaps contain lanolin or other agents to condition the skin (to prevent the soap from depleting the oils in the skin unduly, which can make it dry, crack and cause irritation). I think you are better off using detergent for washing dishes. Shower gel may be OK as well, though I haven't tried it. 

Edited August 1, 20214 yr by exchemist

9 hours ago, scherz0 said:

Therefore Ritz Carlton's liquid hand wash appears to be the culprit for my smudges. But I never knew that some liquid hand washes can cause smudges?!!!?! What do you chemists think?

Or the tap water has gunk in it (that’s not common to both data sets). But I’d bet on moisturizer additives in the soap.

Most ( if not all ) eyeglass lenses have anti-glare, or anti-reflection, coatings.
I'm fairly certain some household cleaning chemcals will attack those coatings ( IIRC ammonia might )
Do be careful what you use.

I used to be strongly myopic ( till I had my cataracts removed ), and to get relatively thin edges on the lenses, I would get 1.8 index glass. Very thin in the center ( 2 mm ) but glass can be heavy. I never had to worry about scratches, and would clean them with dry tissue paper.
I now use plastic ( polycarbonate ) lenses, but even with the 'hardness'coating, or treatment, they will scratch relatively easy.

3 minutes ago, MigL said:

I used to be strongly myopic ( till I had my cataracts removed ),

Recovering after second cataract removal from right eye, and already am driving without glasses!!