Hi fellow mummy,
My children have this problem constantly because:
1) they constantly use their hands to rub their eyes
2) they have long eye lashes which cause dirt to gather
Warm compress works all the time for us. The other thing you could try is to use a water-based eye cleaning gel called Blephagel if this is really chronic.
Otherwise, using a clean cotton ball - one for each eye - dipped in cooled boiled water and cleaning the eyes twice a day would help I believe.
If it keeps persisting, the PD may give you a an ointment to help keep it at bay.
Hope this helps mama.