Lens cleaning paper - thoughts?

Hi MZ!
Glad to know there is someone else here dealing with optics+science!

Igor

The sellers name is 'waxyclean' and can't spell lens correctly. Also claims to use them for car valeting. I wouldn't put one of those in the same room as my lenses, let alone clean them with one.

All I can say is they work fine, are large enough to wrap a lens in, and wont fall apart after a few days.

Davex.

Algi wrote:A few years ago I was seduced by the claims made for ROR (Residual Oil Remover) and went to the trouble of obtaining some from the U.S.A. (there was no distributor in the U.K. at the time. Luckily, I first tried it on an Hoya Pro-1 filter and not a lens, as it left a 'film' on the surface which, despite my best efforts, I was never able to remove.

That ROR is used by the 'Lens Doctor' (Eddie Houston) suggests that I was probably just unlucky, however, as the saying goes: once bitten, twice shy

Since then, when I absolutely have to clean a filter or lens, I use a small amount of Calocoat optical lens cleaning spray on a Calotherm Microfibre Cloth.

Manixzero wrote:This is what I used when I worked in a laboratory and had access to methanol of extremely high purity. Unfortunately, 'consumer grade' methanol has so many impurities I wouldn't put it near a lens.

Jon

Iso Propyl Alcohol?

Thanks for that info... maybe it's changed since.
Some filters do have strange stuff on them so it could
well be that.

Edit: This was in response to the prsjnb post.
John's slipped one in whilst I was typing

IPA isn't necessarily that clean either.

And not only that - IPA is carcinogenic, so you do not want that around you!

Not according to the MSDS sheet.

link

Best regards

Not according to the MSDS sheet.

link

Best regards[/quote]I've never heard of Isopropyl Alcohol being carcinogenic. I've used Isopropyl Alcohol for cleaning tape heads hundreds of times when we used real tape for recording in recording studios. An engineer/composer friend of mine, like an idiot, once drunk some. He was off his face for hours and felt very grim indeed. That was nearly 30 years ago. He's still alive and kicking.

Your friend was very lucky.

iso-propanol (IPA) is not anything like as bad as Methylated spirits (methanol).
Methanol is classed as Toxic and EH40 lists an exposure limit 5 times lower than that for IPA. (With it's lower volatility its actualyy considerable better than that suggests)

In addition IPA works much better! methanol is not miscible with most hydrocarbons, whilst IPA is miscible with all common solvents, and will disolve any traces of oils nicely.

I rather suspect that most 'lens cleaning fluid' sold is just IPA.

The mirrors on our spectroscopy instruments are typically cleaned with just a stream of distilled water, followed by a stream of IPA, being top silvered no contact with tissues etc can be accepted.

(Yes I'm also involved in optics & Science)

Mike

One more! Nice!

And thanks for the advice of cleaning silver mirrors! Once I damaged an old silver-coated mirror with a lens tissue, was not careful enough.

Igor

Methylated spirit has additives (pyridine?) to stop people drinking it though as Petrochemist says methanol is toxic in it's own right.

IPA comes in differing purities/cleanliness depending on the application and price. I suspect his is ultra clean and/or filtered by the equipment that spray the equipment.

I agree that it is a more effective solvent, but this has two sides. On the one, it will clean better, on the other it is more likely do damage things.

For Methanol I did mean Methanol rather than Methylated spirit.

We use laboratory graded at less than 0.05% impurities.

IPA or Isopropyl alcohol is also a useful substitute. (The other type of IPA is a useful substitute for ESB!!)

As for silvered mirrors - the best advice is no contact at all. The mirrored surface of turning mirrors and beam shaping masks cannot be touched even with gloved hands - unless a replacement is available.

Compressed N2 or filtered/dry/clean air is all I have used on 1st surface mirrors.

I will add that the first thing I when cleaning an optic - camera lenses too, is to try to remove as much as possible by blowing and then very gently wipe and blow. the last thing the you want to do is trap a dirt or grit particle under the tissue and then scrub away at the glass surface.

Cheerz

MZ