Packing for a trip, even a short overnight one, can sometimes bring unexpected little stresses. For contact lens wearers, one of these minor anxieties can revolve around contact lens solution, especially when using the Clear Care system, known for its hydrogen peroxide disinfection. The worry? Will that Clear Care Travel Size bottle last for the entire trip? This used to be a common packing dilemma, but a simple solution ensures peace of mind on every journey.
The Mystery of the Opaque Travel Bottle
Clear Care travel bottles are conveniently sized at 3 ounces, perfectly meeting TSA guidelines for carry-on liquids. However, the opacity of the bottle creates a guessing game. After a few uses, it becomes difficult to judge how much solution is actually remaining. Shaking the bottle offers a vague estimate – more or less than half – but precise amounts are impossible to discern. This uncertainty often leads to pre-trip bathroom deliberations: “Is there enough clear care travel size solution left for five nights? Maybe I should pack a fresh bottle just to be safe.” While a new bottle guarantees you won’t run out, it can feel wasteful to open a new one when the current one might suffice. This overpacking, though ensuring you’re covered, adds unnecessary bulk and thought to a process that should be simple. The real waste isn’t the solution itself, as the travel bottle would eventually be used at home, but the mental energy spent on this tiny, solvable problem.
A Simple Hack for Stress-Free Travel with Contact Lenses
The solution to this packing puzzle is surprisingly straightforward and rooted in a bit of home science. Realizing the absurdity of the repeated guesswork, a simple measurement and tracking system was devised. Using a graduated cylinder from a friendly chemist’s lab, it was quickly determined that the Clear Care contact lens cup, filled to the embossed line, holds precisely 9.6 ml of solution. Knowing that the clear care travel size bottle contains 90 ml (3 ounces), simple math reveals that theoretically, one bottle should last for 9 nights of contact lens disinfection.
To build in a safety margin, accounting for slightly overfilling the cup and the crucial need to never run out of solution while traveling, the usable nights per clear care travel size bottle were conservatively set at 8. The tracking system? Low-tech but highly effective. Upon opening a new travel bottle, write a large “8” on its side with a permanent marker (a blue Sharpie from a shaving kit works perfectly). Each night the solution is used, make a tally mark next to the “8”. Subtract the tallies as you go. As long as basic subtraction skills are maintained, peace of mind is guaranteed. No more pre-trip bottle shaking or packing anxieties – just simple, clear insight into your clear care travel size solution supply, ensuring smooth and stress-free travels.
