Cleaning pink eye involves gently removing the crusty discharge that builds up on your eyelids, keeping the area free of bacteria, and preventing the infection from spreading to your other eye or to people around you. The process is simple, but doing it correctly matters. Using the wrong materials or wiping carelessly can reinfect the eye or pass conjunctivitis to someone else.
Removing Crust and Discharge
The sticky, dried mucus that glues your eyelids shut, especially in the morning, needs to be softened before you try to open your eyes. Pulling your lids apart while the crust is dry can irritate the already-inflamed tissue. Here’s the process:
- Soak a clean washcloth in warm water and wring it out so it’s damp but not dripping.
- Lay the cloth over your closed eyes and leave it in place until it cools.
- Repeat until the crust softens enough to wipe away gently.
- Use a fresh washcloth each time. If both eyes are infected, use a separate cloth for each eye.
Wipe from the inner corner of the eye outward, moving away from the nose. This follows the natural drainage path and avoids pushing discharge toward the tear duct. Once you’ve cleaned the area, wash your hands immediately with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
Warm Compresses vs. Cool Compresses
Which type of compress you should use depends on what’s causing your pink eye. For viral or bacterial conjunctivitis, warm compresses soothe the discomfort and help loosen discharge. For allergic conjunctivitis, cool compresses work better because they reduce the itching and swelling driven by the allergic response. A warm compress on allergy-related pink eye can actually make the inflammation feel worse.
There’s no strict time limit for how long to hold a compress on your eye. Leave it until it loses its temperature, then re-soak and reapply as many times as feels comfortable throughout the day.
What to Use for Rinsing
If you need to flush debris or discharge from your eye, use a sterile saline eyewash purchased from a store. Do not use homemade saline solutions, no matter how carefully you prepare them. Tap water contains low levels of bacteria that are harmless when swallowed but can cause serious infections when introduced directly into the eye. Store-bought sterile saline is inexpensive and specifically formulated to be safe for eye contact.
Preventing Spread Around Your Home
Viral and bacterial pink eye are highly contagious, and most household transmission happens through contaminated hands and shared linens. The CDC recommends several specific precautions:
- Wash your hands with soap and water before and after touching your eyes, applying drops, or handling anything that’s contacted the infected eye.
- If soap isn’t available, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
- Wash pillowcases, sheets, washcloths, and towels in hot water and detergent. Don’t share these items with anyone in your household.
- After putting contaminated linens in the washing machine, wash your hands again.
Avoid touching or rubbing your eyes, even when they itch. If only one eye is infected, touching it and then touching the other eye is the most common way pink eye spreads to both sides.
Contact Lenses and Eye Makeup
Stop wearing contact lenses as soon as pink eye symptoms appear. If you wear disposable lenses, throw away the pair you were using when the infection started. Non-disposable lenses need to be disinfected overnight, though your eye care provider may still recommend replacing them. You can start wearing contacts again once any prescribed treatment is complete, the redness has cleared, and you’ve had a follow-up confirming the infection is gone.
Any eye makeup and applicators you used before or during the infection should be discarded and replaced. Mascara wands, eyeliner pencils, and eyeshadow brushes can harbor bacteria and viruses, and reusing them risks reinfecting yourself after you’ve healed.
Cleaning a Baby’s Eyes
For newborns and infants with eye discharge, gently wipe the area with a clean, soft washcloth dampened with warm water. If the discharge is clear, this is usually sufficient. If it has any color, particularly yellow or green, or if you notice redness or swelling, that suggests a possible infection that needs medical evaluation. Babies’ eyes are more vulnerable to complications, so colored discharge in an infant warrants a call to the pediatrician rather than continued home cleaning.
Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most pink eye clears on its own within one to two weeks, but certain symptoms signal something more serious than routine conjunctivitis. Seek prompt care if you experience sensitivity to light, any change in your vision, pain when moving your eyes, or if your symptoms aren’t improving after several days of home care. These can indicate deeper inflammation or a condition that mimics pink eye but requires different treatment.