Eyepiece cleaning

[bosun21]

I just noticed that on several of my eyepieces i have what appears to be a greasy oily film forming on my eyepieces with a shorter eye relief. This is obviously from my eyelashes making contact with the glass. I have all the relevant cleaning equipment, soft brush, blower, microfiber cloths etc. What is the best cleaning fluid to use? I’ve got both Zeiss and ROR in my basket and just wanted to check that there’s not a better option. Thanks 

[Spile]

I use and can recommend the Baader fluid

[John]

I've used the Baader Fluid and their micro fibre cloth for a few years now. It has proved excellent.

 

 

[Louis D]

Check this post of mine that shows the various popular cleaners' ingredients.  ROR and Zeiss are actually more complex cleaners than BWF.  BWF might make for a good final pass since it's purely alcohols based.

 

[Jiggy 67]

Baader Wonder Fluid all day long

[tripleped]

ROR with microfiber cloth works amazing for me.  Restores that brand new look. 

[Spile]

16 hours ago, Louis D said:

ROR and Zeiss are actually more complex cleaners than BWF.  BWF might make for a good final pass since it's purely alcohols based.

I am struggling with the concept that complex  = more ingredients = better. The thread posted shared personal views so is opinion. Nothing wrong with that but opinion isn't a laboratory test is it?

[Don Pensack]

I worked in a shop where we had to clean the eye lenses on binoculars every other day on all our demo models.

We sold a lens cleaner that was basically alcohol, and it simply did not remove debris like mascara or fingerprints easily.

We started carrying ROR and it was a godsend--it cleaned the lenses to, in some cases, cleaner than new, with only one cleaning, where alcohol required multiple passes on some lenses.

We also had Nikon lens cleaner, which was pretty good, but ROR was the best cleaner we used.  It even beat acetone and was less caustic to use.

I figured out that it was primarily the tiny amount of soap and ammonia in the formulation that really did well to remove the stuff on the lens.

ROR has, in addition, water, isopropyl alcohol, and salt.  I'm not sure what the salt accomplishes, but the formulation really works.

I'm sure there are other cleaning fluids that work well, but ROR works very well, and I've used it now for 20 years and it still is my cleaner of choice.

 

There is one issue with ROR, and it deserves mentioning: you should not let it or any residue from it dry on the lens.  It leaves a haze on the lens (probably the soap).

It can be cleaned off easily enough, but it does mean that when you use it to clean a lens, you can't dawdle.  Once the lens is wet and wiped, it's important to clean it off completely

with a clean Q-Tip ASAP.  My work station has an ultra-bright lamp on the desk, and if I hold a lens up to the light and tip it just right, I can see anything still on the lens, whether a streak,

or haze, or dust particle.  When the lens is really clean, passing a Q-Tip across the surface feels like moving on a teflon surface--there is no drag whatsoever.

I've even cleaned brand new eyepieces (mostly from 2 Chinese factories whose names I won't mention) and made them noticeably cleaner.

[JeremyS]

16 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

I worked in a shop where we had to clean the eye lenses on binoculars every other day on all our demo models.

We sold a lens cleaner that was basically alcohol, and it simply did not remove debris like mascara or fingerprints easily.

We started carrying ROR and it was a godsend--it cleaned the lenses to, in some cases, cleaner than new, with only one cleaning, where alcohol required multiple passes on some lenses.

We also had Nikon lens cleaner, which was pretty good, but ROR was the best cleaner we used.  It even beat acetone and was less caustic to use.

I figured out that it was primarily the tiny amount of soap and ammonia in the formulation that really did well to remove the stuff on the lens.

ROR has, in addition, water, isopropyl alcohol, and salt.  I'm not sure what the salt accomplishes, but the formulation really works.

I'm sure there are other cleaning fluids that work well, but ROR works very well, and I've used it now for 20 years and it still is my cleaner of choice.

 

There is one issue with ROR, and it deserves mentioning: you should not let it or any residue from it dry on the lens.  It leaves a haze on the lens (probably the soap).

It can be cleaned off easily enough, but it does mean that when you use it to clean a lens, you can't dawdle.  Once the lens is wet and wiped, it's important to clean it off completely

with a clean Q-Tip ASAP.  My work station has an ultra-bright lamp on the desk, and if I hold a lens up to the light and tip it just right, I can see anything still on the lens, whether a streak,

or haze, or dust particle.  When the lens is really clean, passing a Q-Tip across the surface feels like moving on a teflon surface--there is no drag whatsoever.

I've even cleaned brand new eyepieces (mostly from 2 Chinese factories whose names I won't mention) and made them noticeably cleaner.

Excellent advice thanks Don.

One further question. Given its greater cleansing potential, and the inclusion of things like ammonia, is there any chance it will degrade rubber eyepiece parts like eye guards on even eyepiece carapaces such as on the Pentax range? And related to that, it is possible that it extracts chemicals like plasticisers from the rubber and deposits them on the glass? Probably worrying unnecessarily, but do you avoid contact with rubber.

I see you can get ROR in dropper or spray bottles. What do you recommend?

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

I've been using Zeiss lens wipes after picking them up on Amazon during a half price sale.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ZEISS-Lens-Wipes-Pack-200/dp/B00IKGH2TI

The 102 mak and eyepieces cleaned up nice for resale and I've had a go on my 10x50s with no ill effects.

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by ScouseSpaceCadet
Link

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, Spile said:

I am struggling with the concept that complex  = more ingredients = better. The thread posted shared personal views so is opinion. Nothing wrong with that but opinion isn't a laboratory test is it?

Like Don says, and in my experience as well, a purely alcohol solution doesn't work as well as an alcohol/soap/ammonia solution on things like tree sap spots and greasy stains.  A purely alcohol solution does work well as a final cleaning pass to remove all remaining cleaning residue from the more complex cleaners.  Like telescopes, there's no one best cleaning solution for all purposes.

For really gunked up old lenses, I disassemble the eyepieces, lay a folded towel in the bottom of the kitchen sink to safely catch a dropped lens, and then hand wash each lens with dish detergent with my fingertips.  It can take several passes to get it all off.  Then I followup with the lens cleaning solutions to get rid of any spotting or streaking.

[Astro_Dad]

Anyone have any experience with the Celestron lens pen? I’ve tried this on some eyepieces but prefer the BWF and microfibre combination. Feels like a more gentle approach and it is typically recommended - perhaps more mixed reports on the lens pen ?

 

[Alien 13]

I find saliva or a hot breath will shift most gunge..

Alan 

[JeremyS]

57 minutes ago, Astro_Dad said:

Anyone have any experience with the Celestron lens pen? I’ve tried this on some eyepieces but prefer the BWF and microfibre combination. Feels like a more gentle approach and it is typically recommended - perhaps more mixed reports on the lens pen ?

 

I don’t recommend these. They can accumulate crud and muck and spread it to other eyepieces. Worse if there is grit, it can damage multiple eyepieces.

Use virgin cleaning material each time.

Best advice I got: bin the lens pen.

[Captain Scarlet]

Thanks to Don's similar advice some months back, I made up some "home brew" ROR  to allow myself to be liberal in its application and not worry about the £xx per small bottle the branded stuff costs. I can attest that it is as amazingly effective as Don says. I tested it out on some Canon L lens front elements and they became truly as good as new for the first time ever (having bought them used). But, as he also mentions here, it does comprise stuff that will leave a residue if not diluted and rinsed away, so I avoid the "full fat" ROR for items where there's a chance liquid might, say, get round the back of a lens and leave residue. For those occasions I made up some "ROR-lite", leaving out the soap and the salt, leaving only the isopropyl alcohol, water and ammonia, all of which evaporates. I also added a bit of ethanol. The ammonia makes a big difference, I think.

M

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, Alien 13 said:

I find saliva or a hot breath will shift most gunge..

Alan 

IIRC, Roland Christensen of Astro-Physics espouses the virtues of saliva on a clean fingertip for its enzymatic action on organic crud like tree sap.

[Louis D]

As far as home brew cleaning solutions go, here is Arkansas Sky Observatories' cleaning solution and methodology.  They're the only ones recommending a tiny amount of Kodak Photo Flo as a wetting agent.  It's a combination of propylene glycol (25-30%) and octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol (5-10%).  Even without it, I'm sure their solution would work well.

[bosun21]

Thanks to all who replied to my query. I’ve decided to go for the ROR for any of the heavier soiling, and the Zeiss moistened lens wipes for any light marks or dirt. I have also ordered a healthy supply of organic Q tips and fine multi fiber cloths.

[Don Pensack]

On 31/12/2021 at 08:08, JeremyS said:

Excellent advice thanks Don.

One further question. Given its greater cleansing potential, and the inclusion of things like ammonia, is there any chance it will degrade rubber eyepiece parts like eye guards on even eyepiece carapaces such as on the Pentax range? And related to that, it is possible that it extracts chemicals like plasticisers from the rubber and deposits them on the glass? Probably worrying unnecessarily, but do you avoid contact with rubber.

I see you can get ROR in dropper or spray bottles. What do you recommend?

To clean the eye lens well on nearly any eyepiece, removal of the eyecup is desirable.  However, ROR is very gentle and will not damage rubber or plastics, or your skin if you get a drop on it.

I recommend the drip bottle.  The spray wastes a lot of fluid and you cannot spray it directly on the lens anyway.