Best Cleaning product for Binoculars (1 Viewer)

[Boro Birder]

Hi guys, was giving one by a bf member but accidentally deleted the msg, all advice, tips would be very appreciated.

Thanks

Damian

 

[Cluster]

Hi Damian,
I don't know of the "correct" way to clean the glass, when I need to do this, I use a soft brush to try to shift any particles that might scratch the glass and then use a window cleaner with clean cotton buddies.
But...the reason I wanted to reply to your question is that I recalled recently a thread that included the same question (I can't find it right now), where one contributor described how he licked the optics.........hmm, tasty! I wondered if Swaro has a "sharper" taste than Nikon.......

 

[typo]

Damian,

I normally use a isopropanol based spray for routine cleaning. The one I currently have is from Viking but I think it's essentially the same as the ones from opticians. It can to leave smears occasionally, then rather than persist, I use ROR (Residual Oil Remover) somewhat sparingly as the need arises. I don't know what's in it but it's very effective.
http://www.newprouk.co.uk/ROR-lens-cleaner.html

David

 

[Kammerdiner]

Hi Damian,
...

But...the reason I wanted to reply to your question is that I recalled recently a thread that included the same question (I can't find it right now), where one contributor described how he licked the optics.........hmm, tasty! I wondered if Swaro has a "sharper" taste than Nikon.......

That may have been me, lol. I do that rather often with my Swaros in the field because you can unscrew the eyecup, leaving a perfectly flat ocular surface. A quick lick, followed by microfiber and you're back in business.

Many other binos that don't have that flush ocular feature, so I fall back on alcohol wipes, followed again with microfiber.

At home it's often 4 steps: a serious bulb blower like a Giottos Rocket Blaster (honest, that's the name), followed by a brush, followed by an alcohol wipe, and finally microfiber.

Go easy, no matter what you do, and don't clean more than necessary. :t:

Mark

 

[Alexis Powell]

My practice is essentially the same as Kammerdiner/Mark's. I avoid over cleaning. The key is to remove any silicaceous or other hard dust/grit and to dissolve any salt crystals before doing any serious wiping. Make sure you don't clean using a dirty microfiber cloth or lens pen or other device that may have accumulated grit that can scratch your lens.

When it is required in the field, some water or a lick, followed by a gentle drying (rub only if necessary) with microfiber (or more often a clean corner of my fleece/synthetic (microfiber equivalent) shirt is all I do.

At home, it is strong blower bulb and clean brush, followed by thorough wetting with water or isopropanol+water or ethanol+water or water+ammonia on a clean natural cotton ball, followed by drying/wipe with clean cotton ball and a bit of breath condensation. Persistent gunk (rare) gets ROR treatment and removed with Kimwipe.

--AP

 

[johnmichael47]

I agree with everything said so far concerning the process and materials but I specifically use Zeiss wipes &/or a lens pen more often than not.

 

[jan van daalen]

My practice is essentially the same as Kammerdiner/Mark's. I avoid over cleaning. The key is to remove any silicaceous or other hard dust/grit and to dissolve any salt crystals before doing any serious wiping. Make sure you don't clean using a dirty microfiber cloth or lens pen or other device that may have accumulated grit that can scratch your lens.

When it is required in the field, some water or a lick, followed by a gentle drying (rub only if necessary) with microfiber (or more often a clean corner of my fleece/synthetic (microfiber equivalent) shirt is all I do.

At home, it is strong blower bulb and clean brush, followed by thorough wetting with water or isopropanol+water or ethanol+water or water+ammonia on a clean natural cotton ball, followed by drying/wipe with clean cotton ball and a bit of breath condensation. Persistent gunk (rare) gets ROR treatment and removed with Kimwipe.

--AP

A small remark on this one;
I don't know the English word for it but in Dutch it's Boterzuur. It absorps the coatings and it can be found on a human body. Put your fingerprint on a lens, keep it there and it will destroy the coating. It's a combination of fat/transpiration fluid and can also be found on clothing. So cleaning/wiping your optics with the first layer shirt is not to be recommended.

Jan

 

[Alexis Powell]

A small remark on this one;
I don't know the English word for it but in Dutch it's Boterzuur. It absorps the coatings and it can be found on a human body. Put your fingerprint on a lens, keep it there and it will destroy the coating. It's a combination of fat/transpiration fluid and can also be found on clothing. So cleaning/wiping your optics with the first layer shirt is not to be recommended.

Jan

Skin secretions are acidic, and skin oils attract grit, feed fungi and bacteria, and break down into fatty acids, all of which can damage lens coatings. But I'm not convinced one should be worried about contact with clean clothing, especially in limited field use. How much oil will be transferred from synthetic (and therefore oleophilic) clothing to the coatings (especially those that are oleophobic)? How concentrated will the acids be given that the cloth is regularly laundered and is being used to absorb a quantity of water (which will dilute those acids). That fingerprints or the microbes they feed can eventually etch optical surfaces is well known and at least informally documented. Is similar evidence available as to the danger of using one's clothes to remove rainwater or water used in cleaning in the field? I've detected no problems, even with (camera) lenses that I've been using for ~30 years.

--AP

 

[WJC]

From De-MYTH-tifying Binoculars

22 “I NEED TO HAVE THE OBJECTIVES PROFESSIONALLY CLEANED.”

The Fallacy: Thorough lens cleaning is an art beyond the capacity of most observers.

The Fact: In the immortal words of Aristotle: “Bull!”

A WARNING!: I have given step-by-step instructions on cleaning optics as simple as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, only to have it repeated back to me as 1, 3, 5, 4, 2. Thus, to save my bacon—of which there are copious amounts—I must say I don’t guarantee one word of what I am about to say. I verify only that I have used these methods successfully for decades.

A STORY: Caring too much causes stress; stress causes a lack of confidence and dexterity; a lack of dexterity can cause optics to be damaged.

A few years ago, a fellow brought in his 4.5-inch telescope mirror for a “professional” cleaning. He carefully unwrapped it and handed it to me with the warning: “Be careful.” As I held it up to inspect from different angles, “Be careful” sounded again, as it did two or three more times as I walked to my office—the customer glued to my heels.

He had a greatly exaggerated view of the intrinsic value of his “precision optic”—a ¾-inch chunk of plate glass.

I only mention this because more overly concerned personalities damage their optics by attaching unrealistic attributes and value to them, and creating over-the-top cleaning techniques, than they would by simply treating them with sensible care.

But then, just as there’s rarely a quantifier for “better or best,” each observer has his or her own view of what constitutes “sensible care.”

So, what is the “best” chemical ingredient for cleaning lenses?

This topic comes up frequently on binocular forums and usually runs on, page after page after page, as observers vie to see who can win the most converts to their way of thinking.

WHAT DID I USE?

The short answer to this question should be: Who bloody cares!?

Researching the Internet, you can come up with a million words on how to clean lenses and prisms. To me, these websites and posts conjure up two thoughts. First, most of them will work just fine. Secondly, why make the task seem as complex as brain surgery and frighten those who could most benefit from the information?

I subscribe to Theodore Roosevelt’s mantra of:

“Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.”
When I found it necessary—usually out of a customer-driven need for speed—I might clean a lens over a sink, washing it with a mild hand soap, and drying it off with soft toilet tissue or a scrap of clean used tee shirt, saved for just such a duty. Sacrilege? Sometimes—to those long on theories, but short on practical experience.

MY PROCESS

1. Blow off loose particulates with a rubber-based, manually operated, spheroidal, atmospheric pressurizer . . . a (new) ear syringe. Or …

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Photo of Air Bulb
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2. Use a camel hair brush to gently wipe away dust. By the way, camel hair brushes may consist of squirrel, horse, ox, goat, or even bear hair. However, these days they’re never made of … camel hair. Or …

3. Use a shot or two of canned air! (I know the thought will make some of the A-type personalities squirm, but that’s more entertaining than TV.) Hold the can upright—8 inches or so from the workpiece, and gently move it over the surface. If you shake it, move it too quickly, or don’t hold the can erect, you run the risk of spraying propellant on the element. That’s not the kiss of death as some believe. Still, unless you’re confident, leave canned air out of the equation.

Optical cleaning solutions and techniques come with all sorts of formulae and recommendations. You’ve seen them: Mix 1% this with 3% that, and then add …. These can take 300 words to describe and be confusing to some. Such formulas may be useful for medical applications, or in some aerospace environs, but are incredible wastes of time for even the most critical binocular observer.

I found three cleaning solutions to be the most practical.

1. The first is a light ammonium hydroxide mixture, known to the more scientific among us as NH4OH. To make this chemical at home, you start with 4 ounces of household ammonia, to which you add 16 ounces of rubbing alcohol, and add 1 tsp of dishwashing liquid. After this, add enough water to finish filling a 1-gallon container.

To those lacking in spare time, or don’t care about besting their neighbor’s secret formula, I would recommend buying it off the shelf; it’s commonly called Windex®. Windex has been around since 1933 and has part of the S. C. Johnson family of products since 1993. The chemical giving Windex its blue color is called “Aqua Tint.” It’s not necessary, but originally filled an important marketing role; it showed homemakers they were buying something more than water. If you have to have blue liquid and Aqua Tint is not readily available—and it won’t be—you may use a few drops of blue … food dye.

2. The second product I found indispensable was De-Solv-It® by Orange-Sol. Sold in about 60 retail chains in the U.S., it can be found in most leading grocery stores. But why, if you’re already using Windex, do you need anything else? Because different stains require different cleaners. De-Solv-it (also around since the ‘30s, although originally sold under a different name) will remove sap, gum, and tar based stains that would resist acetone. Conversely, acetone will remove things De-Solv-it won’t touch. Sometimes you need a 3-iron; sometimes you need a pitching wedge.

THE PLOT THICKENS

The final product I used was acetone—(CH3)2CO. As pointed out earlier, acetone is NOT the culprit in the removing of lens coatings, nor is it, despite the urban legends, a carcinogen! In fact, this simplest of ketones is organic and is produced in our own bodies.

Even so, there are some important cautions that should accompany its use.

1. Acetone will dry your hands quickly. Thus, you should apply skin cream or baby oil if you get as much as a teaspoon of it on your hands.

2. You should also use caution around plastics, as it will melt some types, instantly. A former co-worker once dropped a touch of paint on my new HP printer. Thinking he would wipe it off before it had time to set, he used a rag doused in acetone. In less than three seconds, he had the tiny drop of black paint spread over the side of my new printer, with fibers from the dirty red cleaning rag imbedded in the plastic as well. Further cleaning was forever out of the question; I could only learn to appreciate the printer’s new artistic look.

3. Acetone was my most useful solvent. However, it evaporates very quickly, which can lead to other problems. Acetone is hydroscopic and will quickly draw moisture from the air. Special reagent acetone is not called for; the hardware store (read: “cheap”) chemical will work fine.

To use on optical surfaces, however, it should be “dry”—moisture free. A cotton swab holding a drop of acetone, that would perform its job wonderfully, would be worse than useless should you wait even 15 seconds to use it. Why useless? Because, being hydroscopic, it would just move a sheen around. You would grow old trying to clean the workpiece, and only succeed in making a bigger mess.

So, to use this godsend chemical, you should touch the swab to the acetone, flick off the excess, wipe the surface in swirling motions—starting at the center—and discard the swab by the 8th second—the 5th would be even better.

In referencing cotton swabs, I mean surgical swabs (~$10.00 per 1,000, 2014 price) with a wooden applicator. If you use a “Q-tip®,” with its soft plastic applicator, you will melt the plastic and make a mess on the workpiece. Urban legends notwithstanding, acetone is safe and efficient to use, as long as it’s mixed in equal portions with common sense.

Then there is ether, ethanol, propanol (isopropyl alcohol), colloidal, and on and on. I rarely address cleaning optics without someone piping up and intimating that I may not have the best solutions or techniques. That’s fair; I think most of them should get a life, go use their binoculars, and stop reinventing the wheel. No, I’m not set in my ways—yet. It’s just that I like to keep things simple and inexpensive.

Finally, those hoping never to run out of things to worry about should note that even distilled water will etch glass! Those with a few thousand years to spare can prove this to themselves.

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Photo, Illustration, or Comment Photo of Micro-Ripple on a GREAT mirror
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THE TISSUE ISSUE

As a student at the Navy’s Opticalman “A” School, I had several cases of fresh lens tissue at my disposal.

Joining my shop aboard USS Grand Canyon, the first thing I noticed was the workbench and the rolls of toilet paper (White Cloud or Charmin) that sat in front of each toolbox. I had now joined the REAL world.

One thing concerning lens cleaning that I do find important relates to the type of lens tissue most often used.

Starting with its use in ophthalmic dispensing, many people believe you must have “lent-free” lens tissue to do a proper cleaning job. That’s not so. It may be lint-free, but it’s not very absorbent and, that lack of absorbency, is prone to cause scratching.

The lint-bearing tissue is thicker and softer. Therefore, you can often feel embedded particulars and remove the pressure before any damage is done. Of course, it will leave lint. Even so, the more adventuresome of observers, can return to the air bulb, a ¼-second shot of canned air or, heaven forbid, a puff of human breath. Technical? No. Efficient? Yes.

Do what you can, where you are, with what you have!

 

[jan van daalen]

Skin secretions are acidic, and skin oils attract grit, feed fungi and bacteria, and break down into fatty acids, all of which can damage lens coatings. But I'm not convinced one should be worried about contact with clean clothing, especially in limited field use. How much oil will be transferred from synthetic (and therefore oleophilic) clothing to the coatings (especially those that are oleophobic)? How concentrated will the acids be given that the cloth is regularly laundered and is being used to absorb a quantity of water (which will dilute those acids). That fingerprints or the microbes they feed can eventually etch optical surfaces is well known and at least informally documented. Is similar evidence available as to the danger of using one's clothes to remove rainwater or water used in cleaning in the field? I've detected no problems, even with (camera) lenses that I've been using for ~30 years.

--AP

I just had a deja vu reading this "cleaning method", because some time ago, during a visit, the rep told us that (while pooring his shirt out of his trouser and holding a bin in his hand) the surest way to destroy coatings was to wipe them "clean"with worn underwear.

In fact, after that, I've seen many people clean their spectacle and/or binocular that way. To be honest, I have done it myself!:C:C

 

[WJC]

I just had a deja vu reading this "cleaning method", because some time ago, during a visit, the rep told us that (while pooring his shirt out of his trouser and holding a bin in his hand) the surest way to destroy coatings was to wipe them "clean"with worn underwear.

In fact, after that, I've seen many people clean their spectacle and/or binocular that way. To be honest, I have done it myself!:C:C

Sometimes, I wonder if so many "reps" shouldn't just get a life. But, maybe those who offered up so many "thank yous" to me were just kidding.

One day while I was doing ophthalmic work, I filled up the lens cleaning bottles from the large Windex bottle in the back of the shop. I was quickly corrected by my "superiors," and I had to replace the solution with the clear stuff we sold for $5.39 a bottle. This, of course, was the same thing but lacked the "aqua tint." They didn't want their customers to realize that $5.39 would buy them a lifetime supply--when properly watered down--of lens cleaner because the profits would then go to the grocery store and not the Navy Exchange Optical Department. But then, these were the same people who told their customers that poly carbonate was better than plastic "because light traveled through it faster"! Don't you wish "reps" really KNEW what they were talking about?

Bill

 

[etudiant]

I defer to Bill Cook's expertise when cleaning binocs at home.
In the field, when mist or sweat falls on the eyepieces, I swab them with my tongue. Saliva has near neutral pH, dissolves grease, scratches nothing, works great. It does have limitations, below 15 F it freezes on the eyepieces, which impairs the view.

 

[perterra]

I just had a deja vu reading this "cleaning method", because some time ago, during a visit, the rep told us that (while pooring his shirt out of his trouser and holding a bin in his hand) the surest way to destroy coatings was to wipe them "clean"with worn underwear.

In fact, after that, I've seen many people clean their spectacle and/or binocular that way. To be honest, I have done it myself!:C:C

Around here dust is my biggest worry from worn clothing.

 

[WJC]

I defer to Bill Cook's expertise when cleaning binocs at home.
In the field, when mist or sweat falls on the eyepieces, I swab them with my tongue. Saliva has near neutral pH, dissolves grease, scratches nothing, works great. It does have limitations, below 15 F it freezes on the eyepieces, which impairs the view.

". . . at home"? I'm hurt. Although, your method of REAL world cleanery is not much different from mine. Besides, when the A-types (Who haven't spent an hour cleaning optics, professionally) start squirming and protesting, it can make for a fun afternoon.

Bill

 

[perterra]

". . . at home"? I'm hurt. Although, your method of REAL world cleanery is not much different from mine. Besides, when the A-types (Who haven't spent an hour cleaning optics, professionally) start squirming and protesting, it can make for a fun afternoon.

Bill

LOL

 

[Dennis Mau]

Hi guys, was giving one by a bf member but accidentally deleted the msg, all advice, tips would be very appreciated.

Thanks

Damian

If you just have a few smudges use these in this order.

1)http://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA190...F8&qid=1422507839&sr=8-2&keywords=lens+blower
2)http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-7072-Le...UTF8&qid=1422507792&sr=8-3&keywords=lens+pens

If your lenses are pretty greasy and dirty use these in this order.

1)http://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA190...F8&qid=1422507839&sr=8-2&keywords=lens+blower
2)http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003O5FCZ6/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1422507870&sr=1&keywords=zeiss+lens

Also, as others have said if you have sand or silica on your lenses say from the beach. Watch out. Rinse them off if waterproof first before cleaning. Sand will scratch your lenses.

 

[Boro Birder]

Damian,

I normally use a isopropanol based spray for routine cleaning. The one I currently have is from Viking but I think it's essentially the same as the ones from opticians. It can to leave smears occasionally, then rather than persist, I use ROR (Residual Oil Remover) somewhat sparingly as the need arises. I don't know what's in it but it's very effective.
http://www.newprouk.co.uk/ROR-lens-cleaner.html

David

Hi David it was you who sent me the first msg what was deleted by accident, so thanks again, hope alls good mate

Damian

 

[Boro Birder]

If you just have a few smudges use these in this order.

1)http://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA190...F8&qid=1422507839&sr=8-2&keywords=lens+blower
2)http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-7072-Le...UTF8&qid=1422507792&sr=8-3&keywords=lens+pens

If your lenses are pretty greasy and dirty use these in this order.

1)http://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA190...F8&qid=1422507839&sr=8-2&keywords=lens+blower
2)http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003O5FCZ6/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1422507870&sr=1&keywords=zeiss+lens

Also, as others have said if you have sand or silica on your lenses say from the beach. Watch out. Rinse them off if waterproof first before cleaning. Sand will scratch your lenses.

All the problem is a crescent shaped smear what van only be seen in certain times of the day. Thanks for the reply.

Damian

 

[Boro Birder]

Thanks for all the replys, really appreciate it.

Damian.

 

[Grando]

I fin Baader Optical Wonder Fluid very good for an occasional more thorough clean. Otherwise I swill them under the tap and finish off with a microfibre cloth.