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[K1United]

.

 

[Wedgie]

A small bellows for dust. That’s all I need for my Astro/ photography gear.
For the grime ( riflescope/ bino occular and objective etc) some lint free or low lint swabs liberally soaked with Zeiss cleaning fluid, working radially out from center, changing swabs V often.
Finally, less rubbing = much better!

 

[menhaden_man]

I use op drops, though feel there must be better option.

 

[flyinsquirel]

Steps in order. Stop after whichever step gets it clean. Always use very light pressure where you touch a lens.

-blower
-soft brush
-qtip with lens cleaner, from the center as mentioned above
-lens cloth

A small makeup brush in your pack that you pilfered from the ole lady aint a bad idea.


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[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Nothing makes me more nervous than cleaning optics! My method usually starts with some praying and occasionally ends with cursing.

 

[howl]

Dawn, warm water and a microfiber cloth. If in the field, just water. I'll leave it dirty rather than clean without plenty of fluid to flush abrasives away before wiping. A large part of the price you pay is for quality of coatings. Don't monkey with the coatings. They go bad from age soon enough.

 

[805Bowhunter]

also when you are blowing the dust out w/ compressed air...hold your binos/spotter upside down so that gravity removes the dust and you're not simply blowing it up in the air to just land back on the glass

 

[Jeff Martin]

Tip; Women’s makeup brush is by far the softest brush that is extremely affective. Also many of them come in a cylinder covers.


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[Wedgie]

Absolutely; don’t monkey with the coatings!
Ive seen coatings partially flaked away on camera, Astro and scope glass from the bad ole hot breath, “clean” rag thence crank down and rotate said rag on glass....
I take a x10 hand lens with me now when I buy used glass to thoroughly inspect the coatings. Saved me some grief once or twice.

 

[Steve O]

Those dry papers give me the heeby jeebies...I always keep the Zeiss single serve wet lens cleaning wipes in my cleaning kit. Bellows work great for helping the fire in the wood stove too.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

1) Blow dryer with gentle strokes using a lens brush to remove the larger particles.
2) Masking tape to pick up any loose particles that may have been missed on step #1. This step work great!
3) Cleaning solution for lenses if oil or residue visualized on direct light examination.
4) Soft lens cloth with a little moisture (hot breath of air) to remove any smudges.

 

[BluMtn]

My worst nightmare. I carry a cleaning kit with me when hunting and will only use it as a last resort. But when I do I spray/flood the lens with cleaning fluid with the lens upside down. Then I have found that the Zeiss cleaning cloth works the best with very light strokes on the lens, more of a dabbing and not grinding on the lens. I have tried the smooth cleaning cloth and it just seems to move the liquid around rather than sucking it up. After hunting season I have a non-alcohol cleaner that I flood the lens with while the lens is upside down and then I have some cleaning cloth that I gentle dab the lens with and let it dry. The days of using your shirt tail are gone, I have a pile of 50 year old scopes that you can barley see through because that was the standard back then or your handkerchief.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

camel hair brush (not to be confused with the camel toe brush) will do 90% of what i need in the field as far as getting dusty lenses clean. If i'm going to be wiping lenses I prefer to do it at home where i can make sure the lenses are absolutely clean of grit before wiping to remove any oils or spots.

 

[timberbuck]

If at home:

Bellows lens cleaning brush.

Q-tips with lens cleaning solution to clean lens.

Cotton balls immediately following to remove excess cleaning solution used in a circular motion and rotating to effect fast absorption of left over fluid. Works great and all you have to do is raid the old ladies supplies.

Hot breath with clean micro fiber cloth to remove any swirl marks.

In field:

Bellows brush and zeiss lens cleaning packets. No need to be super anal about having super clean lenses in the field. Better to error on the side of caution. A slightly dirty lens is not going to cause much performance loss.

I n extreme cases flush lenses with water and let dry before performing either technique mentioned above.