What are some good cleaning tools for a scope?

[Studsy]

Hi guys,

I was just wondering what everyone uses for cleaning their telescopes?

I have an 8" SCT and i have noticed that the glass gets dusty and can very easily get fingerprints on it when people are playing around with it :( So i'm looking for what people think are the best ways of cleaning a scope?

Thanks,

Jordan

[astro_nutt]

Hi Jordan.
Having an SCT with a glass corrector plate on the front, it is best not to have anyone touch this.
Generally just use an air blower to blow any excess dust.
Contact Bintel as they have an optical cleaning solution, which I believe good for removing fingerprint from optical surfaces.
Cheers!

[casstony]

Hi Jordan, being in Perth it might be easiest to get some pure isopropyl alcohol, some distilled water and a pack of pure cotton cotton balls from your chemist.

Use a puffer or air mattress pump to blow particles off the corrector, then gently brush with a soft brush and blow particles off again. Then try cleaning small areas at a time with water/cotton ball, rolling the cotton ball backwards as you move it gently across the corrector (rolling backwards is to rotate dirt away from the corrector as you drag the cotton ball across) - use a lot of cotton balls throwing away used ones after cleaning a small part of the surface. Repeat the procedure with isopropyl if needed, and again with water if needed.

You might find the corrector is clean enough after just one cleaning with distilled water - there's no need to get every little mark off since it just gets dirty again (IMO).

Various mixtures isopropyl/distilled water/dish washing liquid can also be used as the solvent or you can buy name brand lens cleaning fluids. The critical part is to avoid dragging particles across the glass.

If you've just got a single finger print to clean on an otherwise clean corrector, only clean that spot with a cotton ball and isopropyl.