10yo mirror

[fauxpas (Tony)]

Is this beyond help?

Even after removing the dust, is it expensive to polish this decade old mirror?

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

If the coating is still basically OK, best bet is to leave well enough alone.. Do NOT attempt to "polish" a mirror, the coating is quite delicate and you risk doing more harm than good.
Mike has an article here on how to WASH a mirror http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-345-0-0-1-0.html
and if it was me i would do the process as he describes but leave out the cotton wool bit, just soaking and rising will probably remove almost all the dust anyway.

If the coating is damaged, then it may need recoating which can be expensive.

Malcolm

[fauxpas (Tony)]

Kool... Thanks for the link...

I didn't realise you could soak the mirror... I thought it would make the mirror look like an old bathroom mirror...

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Yea a good soaking will do wonders , about 72 hours or so then rinse under the tap ,and then a rinse with distelled water .
You should have seen the state of a Tasco 114mm mirror I got from Cash converters for a young man starting out in astronomy , with no money .
Look under Eq descussions here on page 2 , look for " Tasco model 11T 450 power scope " this mirror made yours look like new before we cleaned it up a lot . It gives excellent views now abit still only 75% clean .
Columination is the key to great views . .
Yours will still give great views as it is . .Well columinated .
Brian