how to clean very dirty/sandy binoculars

[Runningwater]

Was on a canoe/kayak summer trip and a friend misplaced his dog. I gave him my zeiss conquests to help his search as he wandered back upstream. Good news is the dog was found the next day. Bad news is when he gave up the search and got into a kayak to catch up with us at camp he put them in the little storage area on the top/front that was not at all watertight. So the next morning when I got them they were in a pool of sandy water in the storage area. They have a lot of fine sand in/around the eyepeices and objectives. Is my best bet to gently slosh/rinse them in water to remove most/all of this? I'm concerned with how to get them clean without scratching the glass. Appreciate the help/advice.

 

[Jbehredt]

I clean mine in the sink every so often. I don’t submerge them but just run under the faucet and use the sprayer a lil.

 

[SomeJackassOnAForum]

Unless these are very poverty or very old binos, they're probably waterproof.

Remove the eyecups and submerge them in the sink.

 

[qotsa23]

Tap gently to remove as much as loose sand as possible. Then gently wash under tap water with a small drop of dishwashing liquid on the lenses.

 

[MtnW]

Sand can work it’s way into a lot of undesirable areas.
I send my optics back to the manufacture’s service department for a factory cleaning.
Sometime’s the manufacturer replaces worn parts at the same time .

 

[BigCountry49]

Remove eye cups, vacuum off lenses if possible, rinse with low flow cold water (distilled if possible). Repeat until sand is off. Do not wipe lenses if there is any remaining sand on them. After you can use a lens brush or clean make-up brush and then finally clean smudges with microfiber lens wipe/ optic cleaning solution. Also clean out the eye cups really well before reattaching them.

 

[BRTreedogs]

 

[Traindriver]

Keyboard cleaner (Compressed dry air), Leupold Lens pen, then a Zeiss Lens wipe. Works for me every time. Best of Luck

 

[wapitibob]

I use the kitchen faucet or I send them back if the cups are gritty.

 

[Wrench]

I spray mine off in the sink....soap and water after the grit is gone.

 

[Runningwater]

Thanks everyone! For some reason I wasn't being notified of folks replying to my thread. I gently rinsed several time removed eyepieces and rinsed again several times. Got everything in a lot better shape than I'd hoped. I think I'm in good shape. I don't have time to get them to zeis in time for hunting season so hopefully I got it cleaned well enough. Some 10x42 conquests fwiw.

 

[Kor]

To be safe I would send to Zeiss service center for factory clean.