Protecting your eyes is incredibly important. At best, getting something in your eyes is annoying, while at worst it can be life-threatening or alerting. The number of different particles that could potentially land in your eye while working on your vehicle may be far greater than you may imagine.
The best safety glasses are long-lasting, comfortable, and offer complete protection around your eyes. A good set of safety glasses will help you be proactive in protecting one of the most important senses. Invest in safety glasses so you can see everything life has to offer, without the concern about damaging your eyes.
In this article:
- 5 Best Safety Glasses
- #1 Best Overall Glasses: DeWalt DPG82-11C Safety Goggle
- #2 Runner-Up: 3M Virtua Safety Glasses
- #3 Most Comfortable: NoCry Professional Safety Glasses
- #4 Most Stylish: Stoggles Z87.1 Certified Safety Glasses
- #5 Also Consider: Magid ANSI Z87+ Performance Safety Glasses
- Safety Glasses Buyers Guide
- Our Review Standards
- Frequently Asked Questions
5 Best Safety Glasses
- DeWalt DPG82-11C Safety Goggle
- 3M Virtua Safety Glasses
- NoCry Professional Safety Glasses
- Stoggles Z87.1 Certified Safety Glasses
- Magid ANSI Z87+ Performance Safety Glasses
#1 Best Overall Glasses: DeWalt DPG82-11C Safety Goggle
The DeWalt DPG82-11C Safety Goggle is a feature-packed safety goggle that offers unparalleled protection and is comfortable to wear. The elastic headband featured on these anti-fog safety glasses is adjustable to allow fitting on various head sizes. Dual injected rubber conforms to the wearer’s face for a comfortable fit and for high-level eye protection.
A built-in ventilation channel diminishes the effect of fog and allows ventilation without permitting irritants into the goggles. A clip attachment makes for easy lens replacement, while the clear lens material is made from impact-resistant polycarbonate. It should also be noted that these safety goggles meet the Z87.1 standard from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for impact protection and offer 99 percent UV protection.
Key Features
- Elastic headband
- Polycarbonate lens
- Meets ANSI Z87.1 standard
Our Experience
In our experience with the DeWalt DPG82-11C Safety Goggle, this protective eyewear offered the fullest protection around our team member’s eyes compared to any other safety glasses we researched or tested.
| Overall Rating | 4.7 out of 5 |
|---|---|
| Protection | 5 out of 5 |
| Comfort | 4.5 out of 5 |
| Durability | 4.5 out of 5 |
Protection: Simply put, these safety goggles offer unparalleled protection. Yes, they aren’t technically safety glasses, however, if you’re looking for protective eyewear that offers the most complete eye protection – these goggles are hard to beat.
Comfort: The fact that these safety goggles are adjustable makes them comfortable to wear, however, we felt that the rubber around the nose pressed a little too strongly against our team member’s face regardless of how we adjusted the goggles.
Durability: These safety goggles are undoubtedly durable. However, the clips that attach the elastic headband to the goggles themselves are of notably less quality than the rest of the safety goggles.
What Customers Are Saying
Over 43,000 customers have left reviews on Amazon for the DeWalt DPG82-11C for an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Many reviewers speak to these goggles’ full eye protection. An individual reviewer claims she works in the ICU and that these safety goggles prevent anything from entering her eyes.
#2 Runner-Up: 3M Virtua Safety Glasses
Featuring polycarbonate lenses, the 3M Virtua Safety Glasses absorbs 99.9 percent of UVA, UVB, and UVC rays. These safety glasses’ polycarbonate lenses also make the glasses impact-resistant. They meet the high-impact requirements of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Z94.3-2007, as well as the requirements of ANSI Z87.1-2020.
This protective eyewear is gender-neutral. It is from 3M’s marquee line of Virtua safety glasses – the 3M Virtua CCS being the most notable model Virtua glasses – and features a removable foam gasket and cord control system, which the rest of the Virtua series does not. It should be noted that 3M Virtua Safety Glasses are for industrial or occupational use only.
Key Features
- Absorbs 99.9 percent of UV rays
- Polycarbonate lens
- Meets CSA Z94.3 and ANSI Z87.1 standards
Our Experience
The 3M Virtua Safety Glasses scored highly in all of our testing categories.
| Overall Rating | 4.5 out of 5 |
|---|---|
| Protection | 4.5 out of 5 |
| Comfort | 4.5 out of 5 |
| Durability | 4.5 out of 5 |
Protection: While top and bottom shields may add a little bit more protection around your eyes, there’s not much room for irritants to come in contact with your eyes while wearing these safety glasses. These glasses offer nearly complete eye protection.
Comfort: The safety glasses are incredibly comfortable to wear albeit not adjustable. As these glasses are unisex, there may be some slight discomfort for some people while wearing these safety glasses, however, none of our team members had any issues with fit or comfort.
Durability: Although there’s not much that meets the eye when you look at these safety glasses, they’re actually much more durable than you may imagine. We found that pictures don’t do these safety glasses justice as they’re much more rigid and well-made than they look.
What Customers Are Saying
The 3M Virtua Safety Glasses have received around 20,000 reviews on Amazon for an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars. The majority of customers speak to using these safety glasses during the height of the pandemic and the peace of mind it provided them. An individual reviewer noted how helpful these glasses were after Lasik and cataract surgery to protect her eyes against UV rays.
#3 Most Comfortable: NoCry Professional Safety Glasses
The NoCry Professional Safety Glasses are designed to protect your eye from direct and peripheral irritation due to its durable polycarbonate construction. These safety glasses also protect against 90 to 100 percent of UV radiation. The lenses on these glasses are double-coated and untinted, meaning the safety glasses won’t fog up, optical distortion won’t be a factor, and the lenses will be scratch-resistant.
Side and nose pads are adjustable to allow the perfect fit regardless of head size or shape. Furthermore, anti-slip rubber arms mean the safety glasses won’t slip off your face while you’re working. The rubber arms on these safety glasses are also adjustable, so you’ll have ultimate control over the fit and feel of these glasses on your face. It should be noted that this product comes with a limited lifetime warranty backed by NoCry.
Key Features
- Double coated and untinted lens
- Polycarbonate lens and frame
- Adjustable anti-slip rubber arms
Our Experience
During the testing process, we found the NoCry Professional Safety Glasses to be much more comfortable to wear than any other safety glasses that we tested.
| Overall Rating | 4.3 out of 5 |
|---|---|
| Protection | 4 out of 5 |
| Comfort | 5 out of 5 |
| Durability | 4 out of 5 |
Protection: These safety glasses will certainly protect you against most irritants, but won’t offer complete eye protection. Our review team thinks that side shields could make a huge difference in the level of protection these safety glasses offer.
Comfort: These safety glasses are comfortable, so comfortable in fact that our team members forgot they were on their faces more than once. As these glasses are so lightweight, there’s little to no pressure on the bridge of your nose, and they also fit our tester perfectly.
Durability: These safety glasses offer above average durability. They were no more and no less than the typical build quality of the other safety glasses we researched and tested.
What Customers Are Saying
Around 47,000 customers have left reviews on Amazon for the NoCry safety glasses. Customers are quick to mention how comfortable these safety glasses are, and one customer also mentioned forgetting they were on her face at times. Consumers leaving poor feedback claim that they’ve scratched these glasses.
#4 Most Stylish: Stoggles Z87.1 Certified Safety Glasses
The Stoggles Z87.1 Certified Safety Glasses are true to their name, as they are indeed ANSI Z87.1 certified. These protective glasses have a dual-sided anti-fog lens that will keep your vision unimpaired while wearing a mask. If properly cared for, the coating can last for up to two years. Although these safety glasses look like they simply have glass lenses, this isn’t the case. The standard lenses featured on Stoggles have a blue light blocking tint.
This safety gear protects against 100 percent of UV radiation and much more due to its wraparound design. Transparent side and top shields mean your view won’t be obstructed while you have full and complete coverage around your eyes. Both the lenses and the frame itself on these safety sunglasses are constructed from polycarbonate.
Key Features
- Dual-sided anti-fog lens
- Transparent top and side shields
- Meets ANSI Z87.1 standards
Our Experience
The Stoggles Z87.1 Certified Safety Glasses are a more fashionable and stylish way to protect your eyes than the average set of safety glasses.
| Overall Rating | 4.3 out of 5 |
|---|---|
| Protection | 4.5 out of 5 |
| Comfort | 4.5 out of 5 |
| Durability | 4 out of 5 |
Protection: These safety glasses offer nice and full eye protection. Our only qualm is that we think these safety glasses could benefit from a larger top shield, but that truly is nitpicking as our team member’s eyes were nearly fully protected from irritants and foreign objects.
Comfort: Comfort wasn’t an issue with these safety glasses. The only reason that they didn’t receive a perfect score in our comfort testing category is due to the fact that we found another pair of safety glasses more comfortable to wear, but only minimally so.
Durability: Our team members did have some small durability concerns when testing these safety glasses. The glasses are relatively pliant and bendable, which suggests that they’d be relatively easy to break.
What Customers Are Saying
The Stoggles Z87.1 Certified Safety Glasses have garnered more than 800 customer reviews on Amazon. Reviewers laud the fact that these safety glasses don’t fog up, even when wearing a mask in conjunction with the glasses. Several reviewers also mention how much more visually appealing these safety glasses are compared to competitors. One negative review complains that a hinge on the glasses broke after just 12 hours of use.
#5 Also Consider: Magid ANSI Z87+ Performance Safety Glasses
With a stylish and classic design, the Magid ANSI Z87+ Performance Safety Glasses somewhat resemble Clark Kent’s eyeglasses from the Superman movies. These anti-scratch safety glasses have hard coat polycarbonate lenses that come in various colors of tinted lenses. A padded nose bridge helps to provide a better fit. It should be noted that Magid is America’s leading manufacturer, importer, and distributor of personal protective equipment (PPE).
This protective eyewear doesn’t just protect against chemical splashes or the remnants of a DIY day of woodworking and sanding, but it also protects against 99.9 percent of UV rays. Anti-fog coating on the lens of these glasses will keep your vision clear. Wraparound lenses with side shields further protect against irritants.
These glasses may not be prescription safety glasses, but they can act as such, as your bifocals or prescription lenses can fit under these glasses. The safety glasses act as over-glasses by the fact that you can simply wear your prescription glasses as you would normally, while later adding the safety glasses over the top of your day-to-day glasses.
Key Features
- Protects against 99.9 percent of UV rays
- Polycarbonate lens
- OSHA approved
Our Experience
In our experience, the Magid ANSI Z87+ Performance Safety Glasses are a quality piece of PPE, but there may be better options on the market depending on what you’re looking for.
| Overall Rating | 3.7 out of 5 |
|---|---|
| Protection | 4 out of 5 |
| Comfort | 3.5 out of 5 |
| Durability | 3.5 out of 5 |
Protection: Our team found that our eyes felt relatively open and exposed compared to other safety glasses we tested, but it would not be possible to fit prescription lenses underneath the safety glasses without the extra space.
Comfort: As touched upon earlier, these safety glasses were ill-fitting on all of our team members’ heads. This resulted in these glasses being the most uncomfortable of the safety glasses we tested. These glasses are also heavier than most other sets of glasses.
Durability: In terms of durability, our team members had concerns about these safety glasses. After pulling these glasses out of their original packaging, we tried preliminary bend and stress tests in which the glasses emitted a creaking noise unlike anything we heard on any of the other glasses we tested. That said, the glasses held up throughout testing.
What Customers Are Saying
More than 17,000 customers have left reviews on Amazon for the Magid ANSI Z87+ Performance Safety Glasses. A surprising number of customers mention having a large head and how much better these safety glasses fit them compared to any others they’ve tried. An individual reviewer claims she works in a dialysis clinic and that she loves these glasses. Negative reviews complain that the glasses aren’t anti-fog as advertised.
Safety Glasses Buyers Guide
Every day, approximately 2,000 people in the United States sustain job-related eye injuries that require medical attention. Safety experts and eye doctors believe proper eye protection can lessen the severity or even prevent 90 percent of these eye injuries, according to the North Carolina Optometric Society.
If your day-to-day work involves putting yourself at risk of an eye injury, we strongly recommend that you review options for safety glasses. Occupations with a high risk of eye injuries include:
- Auto repair
- Carpentry
- Construction
- Electrical work
- Maintenance
- Manufacturing
- Mining
- Plumbing
- Welding
Potential Eye Hazards At Work
There are an innumerable number of hazards that pose a risk of injury to your eyes. Below is a list of potential eye hazards that warrant eye protection in the workplace:
- Projectiles: Dust, concrete, wood, metal, and other particles
- Chemicals: Splashes and fumes
- Radiation: Visible light, UV radiation, heat or infrared radiation, and lasers
- Bloodborne pathogens: Hepatitis and HIV from blood or bodily fluids
Our Review Standards
The safety glasses in this article went through two rounds of reviews. We started by searching Amazon for top products, looking at factors like Prime shipping eligibility, customer ratings, Amazon superlatives, and prices.
Our product testing team ordered the five safety glasses that best met these standards.
Safety Glasses Testing Process
A team member tested each product, taking note of how well the safety glasses protected our team members’ eyes from eye injuries and flying debris, how comfortable the safety glasses were to wear, and how durable the safety glasses are. Each pair of safety glasses was given a rating out of 5 stars based on this criteria.
- Protection: Arguably the most important characteristic of safety glasses is how fully the glasses protect your eyes. We tested for this by observing any gaps in eye coverage and whether the glasses had top, bottom, or side shields.
- Comfort: Simple to test, our team members wore each set of safety glasses for an extended period of time, noting how comfortable they were and if they bothered the team member while they were on their face.
- Durability: We submitted each set of safety glasses to a stress test for durability. We bent, poked, prodded, and dropped each set of glasses from waist height to determine how well-made and long-lasting each set of glasses is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which safety glasses are best?
The safety glasses that our team of experts found to be the best are actually a pair of safety goggles, the DeWalt DPG82-11C Safety Goggle. Excluding safety goggles, the best safety glasses are the 3M Virtua Safety Glasses.
Which safety glasses are the most scratch-resistant?
The safety glasses that our review team found to be the most scratch-resistant are the DeWalt DPG82-11C and the 3M Virtua Safety Glasses. Both are incredibly scratch-resistant and performed well in our durability test.
What is the difference between safety glasses and safety goggles?
The key difference between safety glasses and safety goggles is the level of protection each set of safety eyewear offers. Safety glasses simply protect around the front and side of your eyes, while safety goggles offer complete protection around your eyes.
*Data accurate at time of publication.
