Quality eyepiece cleaning fluid v LensPen

[Louis D]

58 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

That wonder fluidic stuff is pretty pricey, though. What about making your own?
 

Oh sorry, I think we’ve done this one before 🤐

Not difficult if you have access to a chemical supply house.  Just some combination of alcohols, ammonia, distilled water, and detergent.  There are a few exotics ingredients in some like Methylchoroisothiazolinon, Methylthiazolinon, and Ethylene glycol hexyl ether; but these can probably be left out.

[JeremyS]

Sorry Louis, I was being naughty. Slap me on the wrist.

It’s often at this point in a thread that discusses cleaning fluids that somebody asks about making their own, pointing out the Baader stuff is expensive which leads to a discussion on whether one really is saving money, Optical Wonder is worth its weight in gold, safety risks, risks to optics etc.

For the record I use the Baader stuff. It is very good.

Sorry.

[John]

Wire wool and Dettol - can't beat it

(from a very rude Billy Connolly joke )

 

 

[johninderby]

And if it’s really, really, really dirty there is always the final solution. 😁😁😁 

[Louis D]

I think pressure washing might get the job done as well:

 

[markse68]

I’ve been cleaning a lot of binocular lenses and prisms for a while now and have come up with a technique that seems to work quite well- I found it’s really hard to get an optical surface really perfectly clean. I got a pack of polyester lint free optical cleaning cloths which are kind of like dry versions of the zeiss wipes. I roll one of these up tightly into a  pencil like roll and apply a few drops of either isopropyl or acetone, shaking excess off and gently wipe once in one direction with almost just the weight of the cloth making the contact. Then I cut the tip off with scissors and carry on with fresh solvent. This reduces the possibility of picking up a hard particle and scratching the glass/coating, exposes smear free fresh cloth each wipe, and can be cut at an angle to get into the edges easier. 

I’ve always thought those lens pens sounded like a disaster waiting to happen so have never tried one

Mark

[Bruce Leeroy]

I think a common mistake is contaminating a cloth/wipe with skin grease, I use disposeable gloves.

[Pixies]

21 hours ago, markse68 said:

I’ve been cleaning a lot of binocular lenses and prisms for a while now and have come up with a technique that seems to work quite well- I found it’s really hard to get an optical surface really perfectly clean. I got a pack of polyester lint free optical cleaning cloths which are kind of like dry versions of the zeiss wipes. I roll one of these up tightly into a  pencil like roll and apply a few drops of either isopropyl or acetone, shaking excess off and gently wipe once in one direction with almost just the weight of the cloth making the contact. Then I cut the tip off with scissors and carry on with fresh solvent. This reduces the possibility of picking up a hard particle and scratching the glass/coating, exposes smear free fresh cloth each wipe, and can be cut at an angle to get into the edges easier. 

I’ve always thought those lens pens sounded like a disaster waiting to happen so have never tried one

Mark

This sounds like a smart idea. I always hate the fact that I'm chucking away so many of the Pec Pads

[Zermelo]

On 02/04/2021 at 16:13, Tiny Clanger said:

Why on earth anyone would use the stuff on towels etc defeats me

I've had this argument for years. I never use it on towels, and mine are scratchy but very absorbent. My mother used to use so much that the water would bead on her towels. Lovely and soft, though.

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, Zermelo said:

I've had this argument for years. I never use it on towels, and mine are scratchy but very absorbent. My mother used to use so much that the water would bead on her towels. Lovely and soft, though.

Try washing your towels with a scoop of OxiClean or its UK equivalent.  I've found it helps to remove that last bit of crud that was leaving my towels crunchy when coming out of the dryer.

[Don Pensack]

On 02/04/2021 at 14:10, Louis D said:

I think pressure washing might get the job done as well:

 

That was very satisfying.  Hard to explain why.  I watched the whole thing.  

Probably not applicable to eyepieces or telescopes, but my patio does need cleaning...........

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, Don Pensack said:

That was very satisfying.  Hard to explain why.  I watched the whole thing.  

Probably not applicable to eyepieces or telescopes, but my patio does need cleaning...........

There are two whole sub-reddits devoted to power/pressure washer porn if you need more fixes.

[Tyke 123]

Lens pen by a country mile.

If anybody is daft enough not to prep a lens before using a lenspen OR cloth then more fool them!

Blower-cleaning fluid-lenspen.

Then lenspen is superb at getting shut of the film that cloths sometimes cannot remove.

[bingevader]

On 02/04/2021 at 17:31, Carbon Brush said:

Second, the cost. I said to myself, stop moaning. A bottle of fluid, and a cloth, last a very long time.
If you have amassed a collection of nice eyepieces and other glassware, it is big money.
The fluid, when compared to the cost of the eyepieces they are cleaning, is peanuts.

I don't have a vast collection and only clean when absolutely necessary, so BWF has been a good investment as it does what it says on the bottle.

Unless you are desperate, and planning on mixing it in large quantities with tonic, ice and lemon, then you should be fine.

[Don Pensack]

9 hours ago, Tyke 123 said:

Lens pen by a country mile.

If anybody is daft enough not to prep a lens before using a lenspen OR cloth then more fool them!

Blower-cleaning fluid-lenspen.

Then lenspen is superb at getting shut of the film that cloths sometimes cannot remove.

Sorry, I strongly disagree:

Lens pens:

--are only clean on the first use (maybe).  After that they are merely smearing around whatever it picked up on the first use.

--are used dry. NOTHING should be used dry on a lens because grit will be dragged around on the dry surface, scratching the lens permanently.

--have a brush on one end that merely smears oils around.

 

So, in lieu of a lens pen, what can you use?

1) a wet Q-tip to mop up the dirt and oils by suspending the débris in fluid.

2) a wet alcohol pad to do the same

 

You can use Kleenex AFTER the eyepiece lens has been mopped.  Kleenex, however, leaves a bit of dust on the lens that requires being blown off.

 

Which brings to mind that you need some form of device to blow dust and particles off the lens, like:

--rubber squeeze bulb with a directed nozzle

--electric blower (no heat) with a directed nozzle

What should not be used is canned air because these have a tendency to blow liquid on the glass.  Not to mention the temperature of the gas can cause thermal shock to 

the lens because it often comes out at a very cold temperature.

 

What does TeleVue recommend for cleaning their eyepieces?

https://www.televue....page.asp?id=103

[johninderby]

And the AP optics cleaning system. Not a lens pen to be seen.

[Alien 13]

11 hours ago, Tyke 123 said:

Lens pen by a country mile.

If anybody is daft enough not to prep a lens before using a lenspen OR cloth then more fool them!

Blower-cleaning fluid-lenspen.

Then lenspen is superb at getting shut of the film that cloths sometimes cannot remove.

 

2 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

Sorry, I strongly disagree:

Lens pens:

--are only clean on the first use (maybe).  After that they are merely smearing around whatever it picked up on the first use.

--are used dry. NOTHING should be used dry on a lens because grit will be dragged around on the dry surface, scratching the lens permanently.

--have a brush on one end that merely smears oils around.

 

So, in lieu of a lens pen, what can you use?

1) a wet Q-tip to mop up the dirt and oils by suspending the débris in fluid.

2) a wet alcohol pad to do the same

 

You can use Kleenex AFTER the eyepiece lens has been mopped.  Kleenex, however, leaves a bit of dust on the lens that requires being blown off.

 

Which brings to mind that you need some form of device to blow dust and particles off the lens, like:

--rubber squeeze bulb with a directed nozzle

--electric blower (no heat) with a directed nozzle

What should not be used is canned air because these have a tendency to blow liquid on the glass.  Not to mention the temperature of the gas can cause thermal shock to 

the lens because it often comes out at a very cold temperature.

 

What does TeleVue recommend for cleaning their eyepieces?

https://www.televue....page.asp?id=103

I do agree that a dirty lens pen does not good but its the same with a microfiber cloth, the trouble with fluids is that the dont "magic" the grime away but dissolve it only so spread it everywhere when the solvent evaporates, this requires 10 mins of vigorous rubbing with a cloth to get rid of. The lens pen is a single swipe.

Need to buy a decent lens pen though, not one of the e-bay cheapies.

Alan

Alan

[Carbon Brush]

Ref @markse68 using isopropanol or acetone.
A few years back two of us at work had problems with specs lenses losing their coating after repeated cleaning using isopropanol.
This showed as small sections crazing followed by sections of coating dropping off.
This was electronics grade IPA from a known source. Not something dodgy.
I have never tried acetone.

I realise the specs coating process is probably different to scope eyepieces, etc. Also specs get cleaned a lot more often than eyepieces.
On the other side, specs tend to get replaced after a couple of years. We hang on to scopes and eyepieces for many years.

I used to own a pair of big Hilkinson binos. 70mm from memory. Some the coating was coming off the objectives. Though the view was still OK.
It was as if the coating had been gradually worn off, it was in curved patterns, rather than the chipped appearance of the specs lenses.
I have no idea how often or what technique the previous owner used to clean them. But I certainly didn't use a grit blaster, or pressure washer, or paint stripper, etc.

When diving with a new mask, fogging was always an issue. I was told it was down to some coating from the safety glass manufacture.
There used to be two recommended fixes.
The first was to clean the glass using toothpaste. Though I found this could take several sessions.
The second (more frightening but effective) method was to hold a cigarette lighter flame under the glass for what seemed to be a very long time.
Then clean the extremely sooty glass using toothpaste.
In both cases I think the abrasive action was used to remove the chemical. Though it was probably degraded by the flame.
Rather like charcoal toothpaste to whiten teeth. That my dentist waned noticeably abrades enamel if used repeatedly.

Lens coatings are thin. When we clean them there is risk of chemical degradation and abrasion.
Using an air blower, followed by a known trusted chemical (recommended by a lens/filter manufacturer) and minimal rubbing will give best life.

HTH, David.
 

[Don Pensack]

17 hours ago, Alien 13 said:

 

I do agree that a dirty lens pen does not good but its the same with a microfiber cloth, the trouble with fluids is that they don't "magic" the grime away but dissolve it only so spread it everywhere when the solvent evaporates, this requires 10 mins of vigorous rubbing with a cloth to get rid of. The lens pen is a single swipe.

Need to buy a decent lens pen though, not one of the e-bay cheapies.

Alan

Alan

When a fluid is used to clean an eyepiece, you don't let it dry on the surface of the lens--you mop the lens surface while it is still wet, picking up the suspended or emulsified debris.

Done that way, no additional rubbing is necessary.  The world's best lens pen is only clean on its first use and since it is not used with a fluid, merely scoots the grit around.

Perhaps this video will show what I mean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz2O1ly2W3k

 

[Ricochet]

54 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

The world's best lens pen is only clean on its first use and since it is not used with a fluid, merely scoots the grit around.

There should not be any grit on the lens by the time you use the "pen" end. The pad is for removal of oils after any solids have been removed. 

[reezeh]

I just call in the cleanup crew 

But I try very hard to not get dirty lens elements. I favour the blower bulb and Baader route if I can't get the cleanup crew around in time. I have to agree that lenspens are fine for a first use only. 

Another option is that liquid that turns to a jelly that peels off, but that's not much good for tiny lenses. But then I don't particularly go in for lenses with short eye relief, or excessive either.