Cleaning my Swaros (1 Viewer)

[LIL’Wren57]

I recently purchased some Swarovski SLC 10x42 HD and they have lots of dust on the objective and ocular lenses. Obviously wiping them down now would create swirl marks and damage the glass. What do you all recommend for cleaning and what steps would you take ? Thanks

 

[dalat]

They are waterproof, so rinse them under the tap. If there is a lot of grease, use a little detergent. Then dry with a paper towel or similar and clean with a microfibre cloth.

 

[Mike Crawley]

Brush/blow the worst off.
Your binoculars are fully waterproof, so why not give them a wash ?

 

[Gdavis248]

When I have wash my EL's I removed the eye cups and ran the lenses under warm water. Took a dab of dish soap on my finger and very gently rubbed in a circular motion on the lenses, basically just enough to spread it around. Rinse again thoroughly. Dabbed a paper towel on them and used a "Rocket Blaster" dust-removal tool ($17 on Amazon or B&H). That helps blow the water off the lens. Also useful for blowing off dust particles before or in between washes. Basically just remember that any wiping that is done is to be done very gently with little to no pressure on the glass.

 

[seawatcher]

When I have wash my EL's I removed the eye cups and ran the lenses under warm water. Took a dab of dish soap on my finger and very gently rubbed in a circular motion on the lenses, basically just enough to spread it around. Rinse again thoroughly. Dabbed a paper towel on them and used a "Rocket Blaster" dust-removal tool ($17 on Amazon or B&H). That helps blow the water off the lens. Also useful for blowing off dust particles before or in between washes. Basically just remember that any wiping that is done is to be done very gently with little to no pressure on the glass.

Dishwater soap! No way! Its either pure water or pure alcohol for me (and I am talking about the fluids I use to clean my optics, and not my drinking habits). Paper towels are full of abrasives, just DON'T do this, you will ruin your binoculars.
SW

 

[Gdavis248]

Dishwater soap! No way! Its either pure water or pure alcohol for me (and I am talking about the fluids I use to clean my optics, and not my drinking habits). Paper towels are full of abrasives, just DON'T do this, you will ruin your binoculars.
SW

If dawn dish soap is safe enough to clean oil off of baby penguins after an oil spill then it's safe enough for me to use on my binoculars. I've had zero issues cleaning like this and I got the information from here in other threads on cleaning binoculars. I'll agree paper towels may not be the softest thing in the world to use but notice I said that I very gently just dab the paper towel. I really don't even wipe it.

But anyway, this yet another binocular topic that can be discussed to death here with a million different opinions. I think there's more than one way to skin a cat here but there's definitely certain pitfalls one should avoid (i.e. rolling your finger up in your shirt and wiping hard on the lens or something).

 

[dalat]

Dishwater soap! No way! Its either pure water or pure alcohol for me (and I am talking about the fluids I use to clean my optics, and not my drinking habits). Paper towels are full of abrasives, just DON'T do this, you will ruin your binoculars.
SW

If you want the coatings to come off, using pure alcohol is probably not a bad idea

 

[dalat]

rolling your finger up in your shirt and wiping hard on the lens or something

That's exactly what I do quite often when out birding, eventhough of course I recommend doing as I wrote in post 2.

 

[Gdavis248]

That's exactly what I do quite often when out birding, eventhough of course I recommend doing as I wrote in post 2.

It's a free country and assuming you bought those bins with your own hard earned money, I say do whatever makes you happy!

 

[Owlbarred]

At home, I use a lens blower, clean lens brush, Zeiss Lens Cleaner and Zeiss Microfiber cloths which I keep in sealed plastic bags until used. I buy the big 12x16 inch (30.5x40.5 cm) Zeiss Microfiber Cloths and cut them into 4 sections and place each into separate sealed plastic bags so that I always have a clean cloth to use.

In the field, I never clean a lens unless absolutely necessary. Just in case, I carry a tiny sealed lens brush and 2 Zeiss Lens Wipes in the field.

 

[seawatcher]

If you want the coatings to come off, using pure alcohol is probably not a bad idea

Well, I meant alcohol in a cleaning solution - doh.... After first using a blower to remove dust, and sometimes also rinsing under running water. I apply the cleaning solution to a clean microfibre cloth and wipe carefully.

I am now keeping a list of who uses dishwasher soap / kitchen paper on their binoculars, in case any of the members admitting to using these methods should ever decide to sell them later in the classified section. 🔭
SW

 

[jmepler]

Discussions about lens cleaning solutions on here are ALWAYS contentious. Someone suggests alcohol or acetone, and someone else says alcohol is a "universal solvent" and will destroy the coatings on your binoculars. This, despite the fact that most binocular manufacture's cleaning solutions contain isopropyl alcohol. I have learned from past threads to offer no further opinion.

 

[Gdavis248]

Discussions about lens cleaning solutions on here are ALWAYS contentious. Someone suggests alcohol or acetone, and someone else says alcohol is a "universal solvent" and will destroy the coatings on your binoculars. This, despite the fact that most binocular manufacture's cleaning solutions contain isopropyl alcohol. I have learned from past threads to offer no further opinion.

Agree. I regret commenting at this point…

 

[CharleyBird]

From 2005, see post #5:

Cleaning binoculars.

Best way to clean binoculars? What is the best way to clean your binoculars? What are the best products to use. How often should you do it? :h?:

www.birdforum.net

I'm in the 'clean very carefully cos they cost a helluva lot of money' group.

Air (a blower with filter, or can of compressed) to remove particles, then cotton wool balls (with water and used gently in a circular motion), is usually all that's needed.