How do you all clean your mirrors?

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Hardwarezone
Posts: 350
Joined: Fri May 17, 2013 2:50 am
Favourite scope: maksutov

Re: How do you all clean your mirrors?

Post by Hardwarezone »

I don't have newtonian

tap water from hose is enough , $1 bottle of distilled water for final rinse if paranoid about mineral in water

don't wipe it with microfiber cloth or lens pen , it's not safe because of microscopic scratches

when water hose cannot solve , then use bottled distilled water to wet facial cotton and do 1 direction wipe on the mirror , let the weight of the wet cotton push down , don't use your finger to press
wipe and throw , repeat with another totally soaked wet cotton pad , may need 15-20+
cannot reuse the cotton or do circular wipe

when the scope is perfectly fine , you can look at the moon and use your 1-2 finger to cover the telescope front , there isn't any big difference to the image
that's why don't need to clean the scope excessively , it can tolerate even a big piece of dirt inside
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rlow
Posts: 2397
Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2003 7:36 pm
Location: Jurong

Re: How do you all clean your mirrors?

Post by rlow »

Which newtonian do you need to clean? 130mm? Try blow off dust with a blower on mirror tilted facing down. Then use lens solution on cotton pad or lint-free lens wipe pad to gently wipe on any stubborn dirt etc. I use a 6" long forcep to clean. Blow again and gently wipe to dry off.

With bigger mirror like my 15" or 22", we remove the mirror to clean it. Blow off dust with a blower and place in a big plastic basin with folded towel as base protection. Add tap water until it cover the mirror coating. Add 1-2 drops of dish-washing liquid, use a cotton pad gently to remove stubborn dust from mirror coating, doing it under the water. Wash off the mirror with tap water. I tried distilled water, but that does not seem necessary. Place the mirror securely on a padded surface (bed, sofa etc) and dry off any remaining water droplets with dry cotton pad and blower. Re-install the mirror.

Unless the mirror has fungus or really very very dirty, it would be better not to clean it often. Minimise cleaning where possible, say only 1-2 times per year only when needed.
Richard Low
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