How to best clean glass?

[SkedAddled]

And I'm talking about the glass itself: Outer, rear and inner.

I've dismantled a couple of cheap lenses for interior cleaning, and found myself very disappointed with the results. There may be soap residue on my old cotton t-shirts, fingerprint oils on my chamois. I simply don't know. But my glass elements were left with fine smears after using what I thought were clean cotton cloths or an unused chamois. I also used a commercially-available glass cleaner, the blue stuff, but it didn't help. I noticed, under very bright light, that these elements had a very slight haze on them, presumably due to age. The haze was only on the surface, but my cleaning efforts seemed to only smear it around.

So, how do you clean your glass?

I'd like to learn about which fluids and cloths are good for the task, how readily available they are, and how expensive they are.
Also, what should I avoid? Are there common cleaning fluids that will damage coatings?
And what haven't I thought of?

Please, oh great gurus of lenses, educate us newbies.

[rawhead]

I'm using a some kind of alcohol based solution that came as part of a "lens cleaning kit" that I bought on Amazon.com.

My general workflow goes something like this (I do this to the outer surfaces of both the front and rear elements of pretty much every single used lens I purchase):

1. Use compressed air to blow off any grit that can be on the lens, so that I dont' end up scratching the lens as I clean it
2. Take a cotton swab (Q-tips), dowse it in the lens cleaning alcohol thingy, and apply gently but firmly on the entire surface
3. Take microfiber cloth (the really good kind) and gently wipe the alcohol off as it dries.
4. Use compressed air to blow off any specks of dust that may have gotten on the len in the mean time


If the gunk can indeed come off, this will make it pretty much spick and span.

[F16SUNSHINE]

[nemesis101]

I use the same basic procedure... but use Zeiss dry wipes that resemble tissue paper, sometimes in place of microfiber as they are 'one shot' and thus unlikely to harbour dust from a previous job...

The microfiber I use I get from a friendly optician who has quite a few lens cases that go unclaimed when new glasses are prescribed. This is NOT the awful 'calotherm' yellow, silicone-impregnated horror of yesteryear, just very soft, supple lint-free microfiber

I am very careful with alcohol based cleaners as some can get inside and dissolve lens cement or thin the oil/grease inside the lens body...

Doug

[SkedAddled]

Many thanks for the tips, folks.
Anything in particular I should look for in microfiber cloths, such as brand or type?

[FD101]

The first thing to do is blow off any dust or obvious grit from the lens surface.

In my early days I used Kodak lens tissue, its OK, but soft facial tissue is just as good. Make sure it hasn't been impregnated with anything.

1. Wash your hands.

2. Roll a small sheet of facial tissue into a loose cylinder and pull apart so that you have a cylinder shape 1 to 2 inches long with a ragged end.

3. Apply a couple of drops of lighter fluid and a drop of deionised water to the ragged end.

4. Wipe the lens in a circular motion starting at the centre and working out to the edges. Be gentle, NO direct pressure.

5. Repeat as necessary using a fresh piece each time. The lighter fluid and deionised water work together well. The lighter fluid goes for the grease while the water lifts off anything water soluble. Finish off just with lighter fluid. No streaking should be visible.

[visualopsins]

[Farside]

[Orio]

[F16SUNSHINE]

Hello FD101
Welcome to the group. It is nice to have you here!

I use this "roll a tube and rip it" method with Kodak papers if a cotton swab is not available.
Lighter fluid does concern me with some older coating types (russian lenses in particular) that are very thin and fragile.
Lighter fluid is an excellent cleaner for leaf shutters and aperture blades from my experience.
I'm just shy to use it on glass.

Cheers
Andy

[FD101]

The best place for deionised water are shops that sell anything for cars. Some DIY and convenience stores also sell deionised or 'distilled' water.

[horvlas]

[visualopsins]

according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deionized_water and http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem00/chem00223.htm

"So far as quality goes, distilled is better than deionized."

and

"deionization does not significantly remove uncharged organic molecules, viruses or bacteria"

[kds315*]

I use a similar but different procedure which I was told by a Zeiss service technician:
- I use a Zeiss lens cleaner formula which contains Isopropyl alcool and a tiny bit of Xylene
- after blowing off loose dust I use a very fine brush to wipe away the reminders which did now flew away
- I moisten a micro fiber cloth with that liquid and wipe from the center to the outside star-like (I learned NEVER in circles!!), use a different spot of that cloth next time until done
- should there be remains of that liquid I use my breath and wipe away the rest with a different part of the microfiber cloth.

I could remove / clean with that procedure about all lenses I have, never saw any new scratch I could have caused (aside of the ones already there - and the circular wipe marks!!)

Btw. and without any warranty: I could repair some coating marks using some watered down (!!) white vinegar ("Essigessenz") - no clue why and how that works, but in some cases (!!) it worked and some wipe marks were gone. But I would NOT use that with rare or precious lenses!!!

[visualopsins]

interestingly, zeiss recommends cigarette ash for polishing marks after removing fungus!

[kds315*]

[naplam]

[SkedAddled]

[horvlas]

[baldeagle21b]