Hey guys im a chemist and use solvents all day at work. I can tell you from my experience isopropanol is great for cleaning glass. Dont waste your money buying the expensive stuff from your pharmacy, goto bunnings and get the Diggers brand, it will be in the paint section with all the other solvents. It has no other additives and its purity is fine for use as a cleaning agent.
Isopropanol is flammable like all other solvents, just dont smoke or be near an open flame while using it and you will be fine. Theres no harm in being over cautious but it is really not dangerous.
I dont use acetone as a cleaning product so I cant give you an accurate answer. All solvents will do pretty much the same job so i think its a bit useless trying to compare them when the end result is the same. If you are worried acetone is going to do anything to your coatings just stick to isopropanol.
Also that Badder 'Optical Wonder' is just a mixture of isopropanol and ethanol, so dont waste your money on that either there is nothing special in it.
Hey guys, I think all this cleaning of lens stuff is well over the top , I clean my Tak and the other accessories Taks with a OPSM glasses cloth, with a very small spray of normal Windex, been doing this for years.
Crystal clean every time, and no smears, and no damage,save your dollars.
Did you know that when one takes out the filter in front of the sensor of a 5D, that they are nearly indestructable.
I tested mine that I took out because I did not need it any more as I replaced it with the IV/UR replacement.
I took it to the shed dropped it in acetone, metho, petrol and kero, rubbed it clean, with an old cloth, took it inside washed it under the hottest of water with dish washing detergent and dried it with a tea towel.
Not a mark was visible, but I'm sure there were some small marks that I could not see.
The point is you can handle filters and the like and clean them with ordinary stuff, they are much tougher than led to believe.
Below is an image of the filter I removed and abused with a bright light shining through the rear
Hi guys,
just in case anyone is looking for Isopropyl Alcohol and can't get it from a chemist, sign writing suppliers sell it for cleaning cars etc prior to applying vinyl to them. I used chemist supplied isopropyl alcohol for cleaning my naglers etc for years. When I finally ran out, I just started using the isopropyl from my local sign writing supply shop. I paid about $10 for 1L.
As far as I can tell, this isopropyl leaves no residue at all (first tested on an old eyepiece). Any residue in a cleaning product like this sold by an automotive vinyl distributor would no doubt stop their vinyl from sticking to cars properly. I do sign writing from time to time and also use this isopropyl for cleaning vehicles as the final stage before vinyl application. It leaves them squeekey clean with zero polish etc left on the surface.
I too have used isopropyl alcohol for years, but I have used Windex also (I think you've posted this somewhere before Leon?? I'm sure I came across your Windex advice somewhere on IIS before ). I have used Windex successfully on previously owned GSO instruments without any issue whatsoever.
I have been thinking about this for a while and after a number of scientific experiments I can highly recommend .......... SMIRNOFF . Yes after many exhaustive tests vodka cleans your lens like nothing else and if it all goes pear shaped you have the answer in a bottle right next to you . Try it and see for yourself, you will be amazed at the results.
I have been thinking about this for a while and after a number of scientific experiments I can highly recommend .......... SMIRNOFF . Yes after many exhaustive tests vodka cleans your lens like nothing else and if it all goes pear shaped you have the answer in a bottle right next to you . Try it and see for yourself, you will be amazed at the results.
Mark
Yep - totally agree. Smirnoff is not good for anything else. I wouldn't drink it. Zubrowka is the only way to go when it comes to Vodka.
I used to use Isocol, which is found in the supermarket, but recently (in the last 4 years) i have been using mild warm soapy water.....
Isocol is rubbing alchol, I use it for certain cleaning, but i wouldn't recommend for lenses as it contains other chemicals other than Isopropyl. Usually best pure Isopropyl.
I would think soapy water on a lense would leave a residue on it. Mirrors are a different matter though.
Marki, what "mild detergent" do you recommend and what strength solution?
Cheers
Mick
Any dish washing detergent will do but your mirror would have to be filthy before I would go beyond deionised water. Wouldn't try vodka on your mirror though as the ethanol will react with the aluminum coating.
I always used just one or two drops of liquid detergent in distilled water when I cleaned my newt mirrors in the past, nothing more. Just enough to break the surface tension of the water.
One thing that I have not seen mentioned in this thread is that why Isopropyl Alcohol is so good as a solvent cleaner is it's rate of evaporation. Ethanol or Acetone will condense any contaminants in the local atmosphere onto your optic surface due to their high rate of evaporation at normal room temperature.
Isopropyl Alcohol evaporates at a rate where it forms a 'protective' cloud of solvent vapour so no contaminants can condense or settle on your optic surface.
All antireflection coatings are porous at the molecular level so will incorporate contaminants. Some are better than others. It depends on the vacuum deposition method.
A plain Al coating will form oxide within seconds of exposing to air (oxygen). A 100nm Aluminium Oxide layer will form after a couple of days. The reflectivity will drop from 90%+ to about 84% or less over time. As an over coating for Al, SiO2 is deposited as SiO and this converts to SiO2 over time.
So NEVER clean a freshly coated mirror until many weeks after coating.
Pinholes in coatings are the main reason for deterioration as contamination eats away at the glass coating interface.
I spent many happy years producing vacuum coatings at Kodak in the Reseach Lab so I most probably have forgotten more than I know now.
If you use Isopropyl alcohol on a refractor do you have to worry about the alcohol near the edge of the lens seeping into the holding groves???? and if using cotton wool makeup circular pads is there a particular pattern you should follow first?
Isocol is rubbing alchol, I use it for certain cleaning, but i wouldn't recommend for lenses as it contains other chemicals other than Isopropyl. Usually best pure Isopropyl.
I would think soapy water on a lense would leave a residue on it. Mirrors are a different matter though.
Hi Mal,
I use the warm soapy water on my 10" dob, and it works fine on the 8" SCT, i haven't had any problems, i rinse with distilled water which is a must. I stopped using Isocol about 4 years ago before i bought my 8" SCT, i never used it on my 10" dob, i used to use it on my 60mm refractor though....
I'll just keep using soapy water.
Sometimes acetone (nail polish remover) is a stronger solvent - (we used to use it to remove urine from our microscopes)
the mind boggles what were the punters DOING ?
I recall years ago doing a St John's First Aid course. We got to the bit about spider and snake bites, where the accepted wisdom (then) was to wash off the bite.
The instructor said "use anything available, even urine", at which some wag at the back called out "Step 1 - piss on the patient !!"
Ethanol or Acetone will condense any contaminants in the local atmosphere onto your optic surface due to their high rate of evaporation at normal room temperature.
Bert
Hi Bert,
How does that work? I'm not doing a leg pull honestly, because I see you have that experience, but.........?
Hey guys, I think all this cleaning of lens stuff is well over the top , I clean my Tak and the other accessories Taks with a OPSM glasses cloth, with a very small spray of normal Windex, been doing this for years.
Hi Leon,
I think yes, dead right
I was steered that way by other sites as well, like Cloudynights etc, when I took my C8 to bits.
Greasy fingerprints everywhere, delicate surfaces, ooohhhh what have I done ?
That formula worked fine. A bit of dilute acetone with distilled water was need at one point for a smear of Nulon grease but all was well.
. Yes after many exhaustive tests vodka cleans your lens like nothing else and if it all goes pear shaped you have the answer in a bottle right next to you 
. Try it and see for yourself, you will be amazed at the results.
what were the punters DOING ?
but all was well.
