Can I get away with using Propanol/IPA or Acetone for cleaning lenses? I have an old Helios and a couple of newer EF/S canon lenses that are slightly grubby on the surface of the glass. I know you can get 'proper' stuff but I have Propanol and Acetone (and probably CFC/Amberklenze) by the bucket load at work. If I can use either without stripping off coatings it would be nice.
lens cleaning
- Thread starter puggie
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- Chris
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Do not use Acetone, you will strip any paint finish and freeze anything plastic permanently.
Amberclens is 1.1.1 Trichloroethylene and you'd probably do the same.
IPA is just pure alchohol and shouldn't do any harm.
Better still go to Boots and get one of their tiny pump bottles of spectacle cleaner and a couple of microfibre cloths, probably £4 and they will do no harm.
Amberclens is 1.1.1 Trichloroethylene and you'd probably do the same.
IPA is just pure alchohol and shouldn't do any harm.
Better still go to Boots and get one of their tiny pump bottles of spectacle cleaner and a couple of microfibre cloths, probably £4 and they will do no harm.
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- Mike
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Isopropanol is fine for most plastics. Ethanol evaporates more quickly and even better is Methanol (though it's toxic). Acetone will actually dissolve polystyrene (have some fun with styrofoam boxes).
The solubility of some of the residues on your front element won't be great in alcohol. A good moist breath and a lens cloth will get rid of the remainder though. Unless you want to sell your lenses, or the dirt is getting really overhand, I wouldn't clean the front element though.
Shouldn't that be either 1,1,2 Trichlorethene or 1,1,1 Trichlorethane?
The solubility of some of the residues on your front element won't be great in alcohol. A good moist breath and a lens cloth will get rid of the remainder though. Unless you want to sell your lenses, or the dirt is getting really overhand, I wouldn't clean the front element though.
