Cleaning Advice (1 Viewer)

A quick trawl of the internet reveals many opinions on the subject of lens cleaning. There are lots of products too...

I wonder what recommendations people have for keeping bins in tip-top condition?

Thanks in advance

Hi Blues,
First advice is don't touch! Imo, more binocs are wrecked by loving care than by neglect.
Binoculars have spectacularly complex coatings, some close to 100 layers, so they are sensitive and even the most dedicated manufacturer cannot create a miracle coating able to withstand assiduous polishing.
So easy does it, turn them upside down and use a photographer bulb and brush to help any loose bits to drop off.
Even if there are sufficient residues on the lenses to be a bother, careful washing with a bit of soap under cool running water works for waterproof glasses is my limit. Some swear by Residual Oil Remover for non waterproof optics, but in all cases use clean, not recycled, lens tissue or cloth to dry. Do not polish unless you want to leave swirls on the surfaces.
That said, there are many rugged birders who simply breathe on their lens surfaces and polish with their shirt tail without obvious distress. Other threads on this site showed some of the optics used by professional birders that looked to have been used to drive fence posts. So clearly a good glass will take a lot of abuse, but why not treat it with respect.

Hi Blues,

etudiant has a lot of good point and I can only agree with his statement "more binocs are wrecked by loving care than by neglect"

but on the other hand, dirty lenses can easily reduce the transmission by 20% and have a strong negative influence on image quality. We tend to suggest people remove the eyecups and hold the lenses under plentiful gently running water. After a few seconds, you can use your finger to gently sweep away residual dirt on the lenses. Wash the eyecups out under the faucet. Dry the lenses with a clean microfibre cloth.

Most of the top binocular manufaturers have external coatings that make cleaning your lenses much easier. Underneath this, Swaro bins have Swarodur - a very tough antireflexion coating highly resistant to scratching. While the Swarodur might hold up, rubbing sand in to your lenses is definitely not going to do good things to the Swaroclean (sorry for the brand-ness, but because of my affiliation if I am to talk of specifics then I can only say something useful about Swarovski).

The other cleaning trick I use in the field is to simply lick the dirt off the lenses. The enzymes in the saliva are really good at getting even the most stubbornly stuck stuff off the lenses. Dry off with a clean microfibre cloth. Sometimes the lenses taste like crisps. Bonus.

Kind regards,
Dale

if they are waterproof binos my first thing to do is apply distilled h20 -swirl by itself & then dry naturally.
If there is some deposit i want to get rid of i use cotton tips dipped in dis h20/alcohol 2-3:1 - i use the moisture sparingly.
I do not use lens tissue as I have found some scratchy & damages the coatings.(they must be used very carefully)
After the h20/alcohol mix i usually breath- on then use a good clean lens cloth (from optometrist) to wipe - i do this carefully and work out form middle to edge

As far as products go some are really expensiveover priced)- i have used windex & acetone with no problems - a lot will chastise for using these products. I f coatings have been baked on correctly - they should withstand these chemicals - its the wiping that is more risky - wipe very carefully / sparingly if you need to

Just don't clean any more than ya have to. I usta b a fanatic about that, and ruined the ep coatings on my beloved Celestron Nova. I carried a water/alky mix in a little squeeze bottle, q-tips, a little rag...I was ready. Now I have stuff available, but find if I'm careful never to touch glass at either end, all that's required is an occasional puff of air from a 40mm (1.5 in.) rubber bulb (the designed purpose of which is to suck snot out of baby's nose....eech!). I also carry a 1.5" nylon paint brush (bought new and never used for anything else) to lightly brush off anything the air doesn't get. If I get clumsy and get a fingerprint on glass, I have a small squirt bottle of Zeiss fluid to dampen a fresh q-tip for a few gingerly-applies strokes, then a quick stroke or 2 with the other end. (A water/alky mix will work too, but the InstaClear fluid from Zeiss is made specifically for this app.)

Always the key is being attentive to the glass, especially the ep's.

I clean eyelenses fairly frequently, objectives seldom. There is good information in the PDF "Cleaning Optics" by Thomas Baader here:

http://www.alpineastro.com/optics_care/optics_care.htm

I've found the Baader "Optical Wonder" fluid and micro-fiber cloth to be the best of their types. I apply the fluid with a cotton swab (after using a blower and soft brush), then remove it with surgical cotton balls. The fluid is recommended by Roland Christen of Astro-Physics and is much more effective than Zeiss, Kodak or any other fluid I've tried.

Wow Henry they are all out of the mico-fiber cloth and fluid already .

Dale Forbes said:

The other cleaning trick I use in the field is to simply lick the dirt off the lenses. The enzymes in the saliva are really good at getting even the most stubbornly stuck stuff off the lenses. Dry off with a clean microfibre cloth. Sometimes the lenses taste like crisps. Bonus.

Kind regards,
Dale

Click to expand...

Hi Dale,

:t:

I thought I was the only one doing that.
I usually take a bottle of water with me to keep the enzymes swimming.

If you're on a seawatch, you have to clean your lenses every 10 minutes or so; salt spray deteriorates the quality of the view. Licking the lenses and drying them with a clean cotton cloth is the quickest and most effective way to restore the best views you can get.
I can't say any of my lenses have suffered under this treatment.

Best regards,

Ronald

dannat said:

As far as products go some are really expensiveover priced)- i have used windex & acetone with no problems - a lot will chastise for using these products. I f coatings have been baked on correctly - they should withstand these chemicals - its the wiping that is more risky - wipe very carefully / sparingly if you need to

Click to expand...

The coatings will survive these with no problem. The lens seals (that keep the bin waterproof) may not. That's why they're not recommended.

I do it as little as possible. You need a lot of crud to spoil the view.

Use a blower regularly (each day) to blow off junk (especially pollen and other organic bits). That's the most that needs to be done.

Waterproof bins can be washed in water or under a very slow running tap.

I prefer "dish soap" (detergent in the UK) on a cleaned fingertip to lift more stubborn organic/fat deposits.

Wash off. Shake dry. Blot with tissue.

Final slicks remove with a breath of condensation and a clean microfiber cloth.

They look like new after this.

The licking for salt works if you are desperate but clean water is better.

I was an AAU swimmer for ten years. Licking the inside of our goggles helped to reduce fogging.

More cleaning info here at the Astro-Physics site:

http://www.astro-physics.com/

Go to accessories and scroll down to "Astro-Physics Optical Cleaning System". There is a link to "instructions" near the bottom of page. I agree with the view expressed there that it doesn't take much on eyelenses to compromise the view.