Out of contact solution at 10 PM? I’ve been there more than once. As someone who’s worn contacts for years—and had a few nurses in the family to consult—I’ve had to get creative in a pinch. You can’t sleep in your lenses, and you don’t want to ruin them either. Fortunately, there are a few emergency substitutes that can help you store your lenses safely overnight (and a couple you should only use as a last resort).
Emergency Substitute Comparison Chart
| Substitute | Safe for Overnight? | Cleans Lenses? | Best Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrogen Peroxide | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | Full overnight cleaning |
| Saline Nasal Spray | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | Temporary storage only |
| Distilled Water | ⚠ Emergency Only | ❌ No | 1-night storage, clean thoroughly after |
| Eye Refreshing Drops | ⚠ Emergency Only | ❌ No | Short-term comfort, not for lens storage |
| Homemade Saline | ⚠ Last Resort | ❌ No | Use only if absolutely nothing else works |
1. Hydrogen Peroxide
If there’s one outstanding replacement for having to buy lens solutions that disinfect and clean your lenses, it’s hydrogen peroxide. This is the same stuff you use for cleaning cuts and scratches on your skin.
This is part of a lens cleaning kit that has very different storage for your lenses. It contains a catalytic platinum disc that’s inserted into the contact lens case. What you do is just fill up each lens case with ordinary hydrogen peroxide.
What the hydrogen peroxide does is help to clean your contact lenses overnight. The little bubbles that form on the lens are washed away, but there is one more critical point to this method.
The catalytic platinum disc helps to neutralize the hydrogen peroxide within 5 hours. It helps turn the hydrogen peroxide into a neutralized liquid. In the morning, the contact lens is safe to put back into your eye again.
This is a one-step process that is easier to manage than buying several cleaning and wetting solutions. If you find yourself in a situation where you have run out of hydrogen peroxide, it’s not hard to find. You most likely have it under your bathroom sink or inside a first-aid kit.
In a pinch, every restaurant or bar will have this liquid readily on hand. This way, you can take out your contacts before you get home.
2. Saline Solution (Saline Nasal Spray)
This is a great solution that can be used for overnight contact lens storage.
Often, you can find this solution in two forms:
- The first comes from an aerosol nasal spray intended for babies with stuffed-up noses. If you have friends with small children, they’ll know exactly what you are talking about. This can then be sprayed into your contact lens case or a small cup, and your contact lenses can be stored overnight.
- The second version of this comes in an applicator bottle with a squeeze drop-top. It’s the same exact saline solution in pure liquid form instead of being in a pressurized spray form.
Both of these are good alternatives since they are pH-balanced enough for your eyes. The salt content is nearly the same as your own tears would be. The next day, you’ll need to go to the store to buy the regular lens solution to clean your lenses properly.
Related How To Tell if Contacts Are in the Wrong Eye.
3. Distilled water
If you have a critical situation and you’ve totally run out of contact lens solution, then you can use distilled water. Just click the link to see popular Amazon brands. This should only be used for one night. Make sure you can get the right supplies by the next day.
The little case that your contacts go into is perfect for holding distilled water instead of cleaning solution. After that, you’ll need to disinfect and clean your lenses as usual.
Important: You can’t use regular tap water since this can contain bacteria. Because you don’t know what’s in tap water, it can lead to Acanthamoeba keratitis.
This is a severe infection of the cornea and will need immediate eye treatment. These come in the form of medicated eye drops to kill the amoeba living on your cornea. In the worst cases, it can lead to corneal surgery or possible blindness if not treated in time.
So, for all intents and purposes, don’t use tap water, bottled water, spring water, or mineral water!
Distilled water is the purest of all types of bottled water since it uses steam distillation to filter ordinary water. It has no minerals or bacteria within it, making it an excellent temporary solution to store your contact lenses overnight. This water is found at any supermarket or pharmacy, but finding it after regular closing hours will be challenging.
If You Can’t Find Distilled Water
If you cannot find distilled water, there is still hope. At many late-night gas stations or 24-hour stores, you can find simple products that will work.
One alternative product is a spray mist that is used for refreshing the skin. Oddly enough, the product names include Evian mist spray or moisturizing spray. You would be surprised by what they sell at the check-out counter or these places.
The point is that this spray is bacteria-free and can be a decent substitute if they don’t sell distilled water. One can is enough to fill your contact lens case with enough mist water to store them overnight.
Be advised, this spray mist is not cheap, but in a pinch will be better than nothing.
4. Eye Refreshing Drops
If the store you are visiting doesn’t have any kind of lens solution, you can always find eye drops of some sort.
If they have Visine eye drops, meant to soothe your eyes, this is better than nothing at all. You can find these eye drops at most convenience stores.
Usually, these eye drops are at the check-out counter somewhere on the various shelves for pain relief or cough medicine. While most of these are saline-based, don’t expect they will also clean the lenses.
You’ll have to find these cleansing solutions at the larger pharmacy-based stores in the morning.
Related Does Visine Expire or Go Bad? | What You Need to Know.
5. Home-Made Saline Solution
If you have a situation where there is no distilled water, you can make sterilized water by using tap water. Into a small boiling pot, just add 1 cup of tap water and bring it to a boil on the stovetop.
To be sure you’ll kill all the germs:
- Boil the water for 15 minutes before turning off the heat.
- Add a teaspoon of regular table salt (or Kosher sea salt) to the water.
- Let the salt dissolve completely into the water.
Mix the water using a clean spoon and then pour it into a small jar when it’s cool enough. Having sterile water like this ensures that no microscopic germs have a chance to survive.
It’s different than simply boiled water for drinking since your stomach produces acids. Your eyes, however, don’t have the ability to fight off tap water bacteria.
This video shows a method of making a homemade lens solution:
Final Thoughts
If you run out of contact lens solution, you can temporarily store lenses in hydrogen peroxide (with a neutralizing case), saline nasal spray, or distilled water. These are emergency options only—clean lenses properly before reuse.
Keep in mind that these substitutes are only meant to get you through one night until you can go buy the real thing. Actual contact lens solution contains well-balanced ingredients perfectly designed to preserve and clean lenses while they are being stored. Please do not use these substitutes long-term!
Be sure to get a quality solution specifically designed for contacts. Here is my favorite brand on Amazon. Highly recommended!
I hope this article has been helpful. Thanks for stoppin’ by!
Disclaimer: I am not a medically trained eye doctor. This article was written using research and my own personal experience. Be sure to contact your eye doctor directly if you have any eye issues. Improper cleaning or storage can potentially cause eye issues, so use the options on this list at your own risk.
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Anne James—lovingly known as Jelly Grandma—is a professional canner, seasoned home cook, and lifelong preserver of traditional Southern skills. With over 55 years of hands-on experience in canning, gardening, cooking, and quilting, Anne brings generations of wisdom to every guide she writes.
Featured in both local media and by national brands like Hershey, Anne now shares her knowledge through PreservingSweetness.com and her YouTube channel, helping others rediscover the “old ways” of living well and making things from scratch.