Rubbing alcohol as lens cleaner?

[ghostrider25]

Thanks to the terrorists, Eclipse fluid can no longer be shipped by air which is really unfortunate for me because I live on an island. Of course, no one ships such a small item via boat.

So I'm trying to think of an alternative. Would it be safe to use rubbing alcohol as a lens cleaner? Maybe thinned out a little with some water, perhaps? I'm open to any other ideas or alternatives. Thanks!

--
-Mike
http://www.pbase.com/ghostrider25

'You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, and move on.'

 

[SeanU]

Why not a small bottle of... lens cleaner... the regular in-store kind? I wouldn't use it to clean a sensor, but they work fine on a lens or filter.
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[Fuse Tdot]

I use eyeglasses lens cleaner, too. The bottle I have says it's safe for multicoated lenses and it was cheap, $2! I've been using it for 10 years without any problems.

 

[MIKatz]

What about the foil packets the Bausch and Lomb sells for eyeclass cleaning? Costco sells them in large quantities. I think they show cameras and binoculars on the packaging, B & L should know what they're doing. Anyone have experience?

 

[Gary J Jensen]

[snip]
So I'm trying to think of an alternative. Would it be safe to use
rubbing alcohol as a lens cleaner? Maybe thinned out a little with
some water, perhaps? I'm open to any other ideas or alternatives.

You can use "rubbing alcohol" [a.k.a. "isopropanol" and "isopropyl alcohol"] as long as you get the "pure" alcohol; any of the "scented" rubbing alcohol products have oils in them that will leave residue on the lens.

I wouldn't "thin" it with water. Isopropanol usually is available as 70%; the rest is water. [If you DO add water, use only DISTILLED water; tap water contains minerals that will leave spots on your lens.]

Personally, I prefer ethanol [a.k.a. "ethyl alcohol" and "grain alcohol"] which can be obtained as 95% [=190 proof]. You can get "denatured" alcohol [unsuitable for drinking] at a low cost [and without restrictions]. Or, you can get the "drinkable" equivalent under the brand name "Everclear".
Hope this helps.

 

[Roy Kikuta]

Mike,

I use a lens cleaning solution called Optyl-7 that I pick up from Kaimuki Camera with microfiber cloth.

I agree that obtaining sensor cleaning solution (Eclipse 2, for instance) is a pain, here. Luckily, I had a friend who was visiting B&H in NY pick up a bottle for me.
Roy

 

[BoyOhBoy]

Eclipse = electronic grade methanol at 2-3x the price. You should be able to get that from a school chemistry lab. The advantage of methanol is that it evaporates very fast and tends to streak the least.

IPA (isopropanol, not the beer) is fine for lens cleaning. I second an earlier advice to get the pure stuff. However, IMO 70% is not pure enough, I would not touch anything less than 90% pure. Walrgreens sells the 99% stuff, as well as the diluted cr*p. Buy the purest you can and use it full strength.

Finally, have you considered your own breath? It is very pure, and evaporates pretty fast. 99% of the time breathing on the glass you want to clean and wiping it with a lint-free cloth does the trick.

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[ghostrider25]

Hi Roy,

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm on the Big Island and I doubt that they'll ship from Honolulu to here because it will have to go by air :-(

--
-Mike
http://www.pbase.com/ghostrider25

'You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, and move on.'

 

[ghostrider25]

--
-Mike
http://www.pbase.com/ghostrider25

'You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, and move on.'

 

[Anastigmat]

Finally, have you considered your own breath? It is very pure, and
evaporates pretty fast. 99% of the time breathing on the glass you
want to clean and wiping it with a lint-free cloth does the trick.

Yes, as a matter of fact I use this technique quite often. The lens cannot complain because it cannot smell or talk. LOL.

 

[Roy Kikuta]

Oops, Big Island! Have you tried Lighthaus Camera? Don's been very helpful getting small hard-to-find stuff for me.