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RuralAnomaly
Sporadic


Registered: 10/05/13
Posts: 2,153
Loc: Spitzenkörper Ohio
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lens paper vs microfiber
#19110582 - 11/09/13 02:12 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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ok, so i posted this in the other forum, but nobody is very active over there at the moment, and i am running out to the store soon. i apologize for the double post.
can someone tell me if its NOT ok to use microfiber pads to clean oil off immersion lenses?
thanks
-------------------- bite my basidiocarp
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Ganzig
It's for the street cred


Registered: 11/29/06
Posts: 8,206
Loc: Oregon
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I always use Kimwipes.
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RuralAnomaly
Sporadic


Registered: 10/05/13
Posts: 2,153
Loc: Spitzenkörper Ohio
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Re: lens paper vs microfiber [Re: Ganzig]
#19111334 - 11/09/13 05:48 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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thx
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Tas75
Taswegian



Registered: 04/12/12
Posts: 1,418
Loc: Tasmania
Last seen: 2 months, 23 days
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Ear buds, aka q-tips are also good.
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canid
irregular meat sprocket



Registered: 02/26/02
Posts: 11,912
Loc: looking for zeebras, n. c...
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Re: lens paper vs microfiber [Re: Tas75]
#19111474 - 11/09/13 06:25 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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I thought ear buds were headphones which seem like a comfortable solution for twelve and a half minutes until your ears abruptly decide they want to bleed for a bit instead.
I seriously do need to clean my objective optics though.
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Attn PWN hunters: If you should come across a bluing Psilocybe matching P. pellicolusa please smell it. If you detect a scent reminiscent of Anethole (anise) please preserve a specimen or two for study and please PM me.
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Ganzig
It's for the street cred


Registered: 11/29/06
Posts: 8,206
Loc: Oregon
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Re: lens paper vs microfiber [Re: Tas75]
#19111964 - 11/09/13 08:26 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
Tas75 said: Ear buds, aka q-tips are also good.
This will scratch the lens. I would not recommend it.
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I must keep reminding myself of this. I must keep reminding myself of this. I must keep reminding myself of this. I must keep reminding myself of this.
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,276
Last seen: 19 minutes, 5 seconds
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Re: lens paper vs microfiber [Re: Ganzig]
#19112064 - 11/09/13 08:52 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Cotton is much softer than glass so it would not scratch the lens if you use a clean, new q-tip. I keep my lens cleaning stuff in a new ziplock bag so it can not get any silicon dioxide dirt that would scratch the lens.
There are two problems with q-tips
1) The glue that they use to glue the cotton to the stick can be dissolved with a solvent and make the lens foggy 2) They leave little bits of cotton around
I like to wrap q-tips in lens paper, which takes care of problem 2, and use condensation from my breath as a solvent, taking care of problem one.
You can also get special optical cleaning q-tips which do not use glue.
Lens paper is a good choice, for cleaning 100x oil objectives I usually use lens paper + ethanol or isopropanol.
The user manual for olympus scopes says to clean the oil off with cotton only, no solvent.
Peter Werner uses lens paper and a mix of super pure hexane and isopropanol, to avoid leaving any kind of residue. Its kind of expensive for the super pure grade though.
Personally I usually forget to clean the oil off, and that seems to be ok if you use your 100x objective pretty often. It only gets bad if you leave it for a long time and it hardens.
When I clean the 100x I also like to clean the 40x and perhaps the others as well, why the hell not.
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Ganzig
It's for the street cred


Registered: 11/29/06
Posts: 8,206
Loc: Oregon
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I had a bio teacher that pounded "nothing but kimwipes on the lenses" into my head. I still even carry my scope in the prescribed fashion. And, I always move to the 40x and lift the stage to the top after I am finished. It's a bit of a ritual for me. 
I personally will stick to the kimwipes. I have em so, you know, why not use em?
Good to know though.
Edit- I have to move my scope every time I use it as I live in a tiny place and my GF won't let me keep it on the desk.
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I must keep reminding myself of this. I must keep reminding myself of this. I must keep reminding myself of this. I must keep reminding myself of this.
Edited by Ganzig (11/09/13 09:13 PM)
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,276
Last seen: 19 minutes, 5 seconds
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Re: lens paper vs microfiber [Re: Ganzig]
#19112178 - 11/09/13 09:19 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
Ganzig said: And, I always move to the 40x and lift the stage to the top after I am finished.
Why?
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Ganzig
It's for the street cred


Registered: 11/29/06
Posts: 8,206
Loc: Oregon
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I think it is because when using the scope that is where you always start.
Stage up, on the lowest power. That was protocol for my labs in college.
My teacher was stringent on following lab procedure. He said it was not only because we just should but also that we were coming from a community college and at the 4 year school they would expect us to be sloppy in the lab. Even if they themselves were sloppy in the lab it would not be as likely to be noticed or be as likely to be brought up.
He was is a great teacher. In text this may read as though he had a chip on his shoulder but it was not like that.
I carry the ritual. It actually makes me feel good. Those were good times.
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I must keep reminding myself of this. I must keep reminding myself of this. I must keep reminding myself of this. I must keep reminding myself of this.
Edited by Ganzig (11/09/13 09:33 PM)
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Tas75
Taswegian



Registered: 04/12/12
Posts: 1,418
Loc: Tasmania
Last seen: 2 months, 23 days
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Re: lens paper vs microfiber [Re: Ganzig]
#19113258 - 11/10/13 04:04 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Whenever I've seen a professional servicing microscope objectives, q-tips seem to have been the tool of choice. I also remember getting told that 1/2 strength Windex was good to get rid of accidental oil contamination on longer-distance objectives.
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TimmiT


Registered: 03/23/10
Posts: 5,303
Loc: Victoria
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I use alcohol wipes on my work microscope. Those individually wrapped ones used to wipe skin before getting a needle. They're cheaper than lens paper and clean the oil off better.
-------------------- "Reality leaves a lot to the imagination" ~ John Lennon
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RuralAnomaly
Sporadic


Registered: 10/05/13
Posts: 2,153
Loc: Spitzenkörper Ohio
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Re: lens paper vs microfiber [Re: TimmiT]
#19113853 - 11/10/13 09:10 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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thanks everyone for the thoughtful discussion. its a large part of what makes this board the best.
i did get some lens paper at a regular eyeglass store. i'll keep an eye out for the pre-wrapped q-tips - they're all good ideas
just goes to show that with a little creativity, there's a lot of ways to skin a cat
-------------------- bite my basidiocarp
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,276
Last seen: 19 minutes, 5 seconds
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Camera stores should have some good lens cleaning stuff.
One more tip is that sometimes you can clean microscope optics while looking through the scope. This allows you to see when it is clean, and if there are any nearly-invisible fibers that will show up on your images as black lines, you can remove them in real time instead of having to go back for them when you are done cleaning.
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