How to clean thick mud off the lens? (1 Viewer)

I'd be grateful for some advice please. My scope fell over in a field leaving one side of the front lens rather muddy, a couple of thick bits and smeared elsewhere. Since when I've not touched it at all and now it's all dried out I don't know how to proceed.

I guess loose bits will blow off with an aerosol air duster, but then should I try to wash the rest off with water or maybe peel it off with sellotape, or something else? I've no idea what's best.

I'm guessing I'm not the first to do this, and really need some do/don't guidelines from those with experience. Can anyone help please.

palpable said:

I'd be grateful for some advice please. My scope fell over in a field leaving one side of the front lens rather muddy, a couple of thick bits and smeared elsewhere. Since when I've not touched it at all and now it's all dried out I don't know how to proceed.

I guess loose bits will blow off with an aerosol air duster, but then should I try to wash the rest off with water or maybe peel it off with sellotape, or something else? I've no idea what's best.

I'm guessing I'm not the first to do this, and really need some do/don't guidelines from those with experience. Can anyone help please.

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Can't say i'm an expert, but i've had experience of all sorts of muck on optics. Firstly - it is waterproof isn't it? I would be tempted to work procedurally, wetting it and dabbing off with a soft cloth. This might take several goes, and definitely no rubbing. Wet-dab-wet-dab for as long as it takes.
Then - when everything visible is off - let it dry, brush with a lens brush (and a blower if you've got one).
Should then be able to revert to a 'normal' clean.
You might get better suggestions than this though - see who else pitches in!

i would fill a container with water and inmerse the lens until the mud gets soft...dont rub it..i think this would be safer than running it under the faucet...

well it says it's waterproof (Nikon ED50). I hope it means it!

palpable said:

well it says it's waterproof (Nikon ED50). I hope it means it!

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Hold it upside down and spray some water on the mud. Patience is the required virtue. Spray some more until the stuff starts to fall away. Patience. Let the water do the work for you. You may need to add a bit of soap to the water as a surfactant. Patience. Eventually most of the crud should dissolve and flow away. A soft brush may help but...the best way to scratch a lens is to either wipe it when it's dry or rub the daylights out of it when it's dirty (dry or wet won't make much of a difference). Dirt acts as an abrasive so get 99.9% of it off with water before you start wiping. Patience is required.

Good choice on the scope! It really is waterproof so you're much better off. Soaking and slow rinsing are your ticket. Suspend objective down (just the objective, not the whole scope) in a nice warm bath of distilled water. No weight touching lens, just warm water. Let it sit till gravity and water have left as much dirt and mud on the bucket bottom as is going to soak off on its own.

Then, pint of warm water with 2 drops dish detergent (Dawn in USA). Spray bottle as for ironing - gentle spray and repeat till everything looks gone, then extended spray rinse with warm distilled water. Finish with isopropyl alcohol if you absolutely must but, no, not ever, never rub or apply pressure to the lens in this situation.

Just take enough time and care and all will be right as rain!

Best,
Jerry

That all seems to have worked, I was really quite concerned beforehand but it was actually quite easy. My sprayer has had woodworm treatment in it, so I didn't use that but a mixture of dipping into clean water with gentle agitation and lots of dabbing with cotton buds worked really well. It's taken a while to dry but I've just done a final clean and can't see any image problems.

Many thanks.