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

cleaning lenses with distilled water? (1 Viewer)

J

Jeff51

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United States
the advice I got with my nikon premiers almost 20 years ago was to gently pour distilled water over the lenses, to get rid of dust and debris, then dry with lens paper, and then gently clean with lens paper and lens cleaner. no idea if that was good or bad advice but that's what I did. the same person said of course to clean the lenses as infrequently as possible.

the kowa recommendation for the genesis 8.5x44 glasses I got recently are blow and brush dust away, then gently clean with lens paper slightly moistened with lens cleaner.

I just wonder if anyone uses distilled water as a starting point for cleaning waterproof binoculars, and, if not, what the reasons against are.

much appreciate the advice, Jeff
 
Definitely blow off all that you can first. Then, breath some moisture from your breath on the lens and gently wipe with a dry microfiber cloth.

If that doesn't do the job, a clean microfiber cloth dampened with distilled water is a good way to go. Followed with a dry microfiber cloth.

If that doesn't do the job, I'd say a few gentle swipes with a Zeiss Lens Wet Wipe is likely to get the job done and not likely to cause damage - if only used sparingly.
 
Definitely in times of old - but we are pretty good now - even have a clean air zone! I think in the bad old days we exported most of our acid rain to Scandinavia!!
 
Maljunulo said:
I just wish to point out that rain is distilled water.

That is all.
Click to expand...
It definitely isn't.

Distilled water, by definition, has been boiled. Rain water has not.

Also, rain water may be pure at 20'000ft, but by the time it gets close to the ground, it's not.

Source: I'm a Proffesor of water at the University of Science.

All the best. ☺ 🍻
 
Stevenkelby said:
It definitely isn't.

Distilled water, by definition, has been boiled. Rain water has not.

Also, rain water may be pure at 20'000ft, but by the time it gets close to the ground, it's not.

Source: I'm a Proffesor of water at the University of Science.

All the best. ☺ 🍻
Click to expand...
There is nothing magical about boiling the water, that is just the fastest way to get enough to evaporate to produce a reasonable amount of condensate in a reasonable time.

As long as it is condensed from vapor, (the vapor having been produced by evaporation) I think that qualifies as "distilled".

As for purity, in heavily industrialized areas that can be a problem.
 
The pH of clean rainwater is around 5.6. This is due to the absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere. The pH of distilled water is 7. Since the pH scale is logarithmic, this makes rainwater 250 times more acidic than untainted distilled water. Although, distilled water will become more acidic when exposed to the atmosphere.
 
If boiling was the only source of atmospheric water vapor, earth would be a desert planet.

There would be no rain if no one was boiling water.

To claim that water needs to be boiled in order to evaporate and be condensed is absurd.
 
You are correct that it is not necessary to boil water to distill it. While rain may start out as distilled water, it quickly becomes contaminated.

If I drink distilled water, is my urine still distilled water? So, it's picked up a few impurities along the way, go ahead and clean the lens on that new Swarovski scope. Ironically, urine typically has a more neutral pH than rainwater does.
 
Maljunulo said:
To claim that water needs to be boiled in order to evaporate and be condensed is absurd.
Click to expand...
No one is claiming that you fruitcake! Nice strawman argument though.

If you truly believe that rain water is distilled water, maybe you should google the word "distilled".

All in good fun anyway, best of luck to you ☺ 🍻
 
The recommendation I got WRT camera lenses I think applies here as well: never pour a liquid directly on your lens. At the edge of the lens there can be adhesive and/or lubricant from the assembly of the lens. By allowing fluid to get to that junction you can bring things onto the lens you are better off not.

Apply any fluid to your microfiber or lens paper so that there is no excess.
 
Stevenkelby said:
It definitely isn't.

Distilled water, by definition, has been boiled. Rain water has not.

Also, rain water may be pure at 20'000ft, but by the time it gets close to the ground, it's not.

Source: I'm a Proffesor of water at the University of Science.

All the best. ☺ 🍻
Click to expand...
Are these not your words, or is someone else using your account?
 
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