I've had a smear of grease on the lens for a while now. I keep wiping it but all I'm doing is moving the smear around.
So what's the best way to get rid of it?
Would it be safe to be use a small dab (and I do mean a small dab) of meths on a tissue and wipe it?
I have a box of those computer screen wipes in my desk at work - would they be better?
I dare say that someone sells a 'proper' lens wipe (at a premium price, no doubt), but experience has shown me that many things like that are exactly the same as a cheaper product (i.e. computer screen wipe) with a different name to fleece you of money (Specialised Binocular Lens Wipes).
But I don't want to be wrong and balls up the lenses!
Any advice?
Solution # 1
The first is a light ammonium hydroxide mixture known to the more scientific among us as NH4OH. To make this chemical at home, start with 4 ounces of household ammonia, add 16 ounces of rubbing alcohol, and 1 tsp of dish washing liquid. After this, add enough water to finish filling a 1-gallon container.
I’m sure there are those who will point out the need to use distilled water. Sadly, even pure water will etch glass. And those with a recording microscope and a few thousand years to spare might be able to quantify just how much; I’ll wait.
Note: If you have a little more than 4 ounces of ammonia, a little less than 16 ounces of alcohol, don’t know your tsps from your tbsps, or take a drink of the water before mixing, it’s not the end of the world; your formula will still work quite well.
To those lacking in spare time or not caring to best their neighbor’s time-honored secret formula, I would recommend buying it off the shelf. It’s commonly called Windex®. Windex, formulated by Harry R. Drackett, has been around since 1933 and since 1993 has been part of the S. C. Johnson family of products. Over the years the formula has been modified several times, has grown to entail more than twice the original ingredients, and is now advertised for many household cleaning jobs. Perhaps better still would be the simple formula cited above as a number of people have reported the all-purpose cleaner sold in grocery stores today may not be as effective for cleaning optics as originally conceived.
Having a high alcohol content, the original formula is flammable and should be used with caution. I’ve found other things around the house to be more dangerous but the litigious times in which we live dictate I make this known.
Have the Blues?
The chemical giving Windex its blue color is called “Aqua Tint.” It’s unnecessary but originally filled an important marketing role; it showed homemakers they were buying something more than water. If you must have a blue liquid, and Aqua Tint isn’t readily available—and it won’t be—you may use a few drops of blue … food coloring. Please note the trade names Aqua Tint (or Liquatint) mentioned above shouldn’t be confused with the tinting process, ink, or wood stain of the same name.
According to some accounts noted eyepiece designer, former NASA engineer, and telescope maker, Al Nagler has been using Windex® and unoiled tissue for cleaning optics since the 1960s. :cat:
Bill