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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

cleaning binocular lenses (1 Viewer)

Surveyor said:
Hi Dialyt;

My advice about cleaning is “DON’T”. If you feel you must, avoid any rubbing motion and, in a very good light, check to be sure there are no particles on the lens. I am at work right now and do not have time to get into this discussion. I, personally, will not use solutions made for eyeglasses since most are uncoated.

Just this weekend I had a chance to check a set of Swaro 8x30 SLC WB that were down on transmission. After doing some checking I found the oculars coatings damaged by cleaning. The pictures attached look a lot worse than the binos do in real life because of the trouble I had lighting them for photos. Visually all you saw was what looked like a light fingerprint on the right ocular, the bright area in the photo. This individual cleans lenses with isopropyl alcohol and a napkin or paper towel.

Shown for comparison is an 8x20 curve that I had professionally measured as one of my reference set to compare to. This Swaro may be Swarobright, but I did not think so.

My main thought about this is whether you would rather be down in transmission due to dirty lenses or damaged coatings.

I will check back later today.

Ron
Click to expand...


the best way to clean bino's when they get that dusty and dirty is to wash them under a sink in warm water, then use a soft hand towel to dry them... I've done this for months and my bino's look new as the day I bought them.
 
MD11 said:
the best way to clean bino's when they get that dusty and dirty is to wash them under a sink in warm water, then use a soft hand towel to dry them... I've done this for months and my bino's look new as the day I bought them.
Click to expand...
I don't think this is a good idea. Most, if not all, towels and teatowels are quite abrasive. I've seen what a teatowel can do to a plastic flask cup, and I wouldn't use any towel on my lenses.
 
Last edited:
Since long time I have been using a clean terry towel after breathed on the lens to get condensation. I have also used a micro fiber towel. Swarovski advices to use a microfiber towel and breathe on the lens to get condensation, so I think I have did it right way. I am quite convinced that a clean terry towel works as well as a micro fiber towel.
Of course I have been very careful to remove dust from the lens before to avoid scratches because of hard particles.
The advantage with a fully waterproof binocular is that it's easy to safely clean it under a watertap to remove dust and particles.

Regards, Patric
 
that hits the nail on the head. I've become convinced that the only way to remove dust and dirt is to wash it. I even heard of one person who washed his binoculars in a dishwasher - now that would be a test of waterproofness.

What is a terry towel?

I have several microfiber cloths, one from Zeiss and one from Swarovski. The latter is one is softer but the former one appears to gather less dust.
 
eeek

etc said:
that hits the nail on the head. I've become convinced that the only way to remove dust and dirt is to wash it. I even heard of one person who washed his binoculars in a dishwasher - now that would be a test of waterproofness.

What is a terry towel?

I have several microfiber cloths, one from Zeiss and one from Swarovski. The latter is one is softer but the former one appears to gather less dust.
Click to expand...

I hope that's a joke! A dishwasher would destroy the very best of binoculars, with the combination of hot water, detergent, and the abrasive particles used in many dishwashing tablets.
 
Dialyt said:
I hope that's a joke! A dishwasher would destroy the very best of binoculars, with the combination of hot water, detergent, and the abrasive particles used in many dishwashing tablets.
Click to expand...

I don't think you're supposed to use the usual dishwashing ingredients. Do you?
Apart from that you can always keep the lens hoods in place.
 
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