Brush your teeth, wash your face and don't forget behind your ears. These are the mini-lectures many of us were subjected to as children. It was all a part of ensuring we developed good personal hygiene. But what of regularly washing out our eyes?

In my house there was always Optrex (a British-manufactured eyewash) with the neat eye bath cover that you had to learn to put over your eye, swing your head back and blink into. It took me years to perfect, but once I did I never forgot and as an adult I always kept a bottle in the medicine cabinet.

But according to opthalmologist Leonard Teye Botchway of Bermuda International Eye Institute, you are often causing more harm than good when you use eyewashes in this manner.

At Age Concern's Health Seminar last month Dr. Teye Botchway was asked if it's good to use an eyewash. This was his response:

"The thing to remember with eyewashes is that once you open the bottle, it gets contaminated after about a month. Some of us keep these on the shelf for years or months. This is not a very good thing because two things happen: 1) once you open it, air gets inside and it starts getting oxidised so it loses its potency and 2) bacteria get in and just keep growing and growing in the solution.

This can be very dangerous if you wear contact lenses. Over-the-counter products are good but a simple thing to do is to use baby shampoo or baking soda."

Baby shampoo method

l use Johnson's baby shampoo

l put a few drops into your palm or a small disposable cup (the little Dixie cups you use in the dentist office are ideal)

l pour a few drops of water on top

l stir with a clean Q-tip

l take the Q-tip and rub it along the lashes

l work on the lashes from your ear towards the nose

l use separate Q-tips for each eye

Baking soda method

l Arm & Hammer baking soda is fine

l get a clean bottle and fill it with a pint of water

l add one teaspoon baking soda

l dissolve baking soda in the water

l pour some of the solution into a clean disposable cup

l wash the eyes with the solution or dip a clean wash cloth into the cup and clean the eyelids

Dr. Teye Botchway's advice is to make a fresh solution every third day.

"That's the best. It's very clean and you can ensure it's not contaminated," he said. "It's also very economical. It is especially good for crusty eyes or if you have a lot of mucus in the eyes in the morning. Use every day or every other day."