squeaky clean

[MatthewMarkWray]

what would you suggest to clean the mirrors ? iv seen on the net that you can buy sum stuff but then sum reviews say dont use it ??

matty

clear sky's

sky watcher 200p

[Astro Imp]

Is your mirror really dirty? If not think very carefully about cleaning it and then think some more and then leave as is.

If you really, really must clean your mirror there are a number of guides on the web and on this forum look at post #32 in this thread:- http://stargazerslou...rs#entry1917833

[LukeSkywatcher]

This is the condition of i think a 20" mirror at the Keilder obsy and it is still being used: basically if your scope has a bit of dirt on it there is no need to clean it.

Please will someone clean that mirror. It makes my teeth ache its so dirty.

[umadog]

What "stuff" and what "reviews"? How can we help you if you don't tell us what you're thinking of doing, with what cleaning products, and what concerns you have? Be more expansive in your phrasing of the question and you will get better feedback.

How dirty is your mirror? How have you evaluated this?

[ronin]

Cleaning a mirror is always a difficult decision. Much of it depends on you and what you think is the state of the mirror, and then what it is that you want and/or expect.

The surface of a mirror is delicate. If you clean it you could scratch it, if you don't clean it then chemicals can build on it and eat in and there is more muck on it so that when you do clean it there is more stuff there to scratch it even more.

A mirror realistically has a life after which it needs a fairly major overhaul, this life seems to be around 8-10 years and may be less or may be more. If yours is say 6 years old then a clean could be in order, and it may also start to show where the miror is starting to degrade. I cannot locate it but someone on CN cleaned their mirror, the before picture had you thinking what is wrong, the after picture showed a pristine reflective surface.

The problem with a mirror is you are not cleaning glass - that is easy, rubber wipers do it to cars all the time with grit off the road and any old stuff squirted over it - you are cleaning a very thin quartz layer over an even thinner highly reactive aluminium layer. Get through the quartz to the aluminium and chemical reaactions are going on before you have even dried and examined the cleaning result.

If you do decide to clean then read up and make sure you have everything you need and take 4 or 5 times longer and do it very carefully.

[wxsatuser]

Steve did a video for cleaning mirrors.