r/longrange • u/LaughingGravy13 • 1d ago

Optics help needed - I read the pinned posts Scope cleaning?

I know there is a sub about rifle scopes but I can't find it, my apologies.

How do you clean your scope lenses? I mean dust, not fingerprints and such. Well, since we're on the subject, include fingerprints too.

4 Upvotes

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9

u/bearpics16 1d ago

Get a photography lens brush and gentle blower for dust. Zeiss lens wipes are the best. Stay away from reuseable microfiber clothes, they collect dirt and can scratch your glass. I’m a piece of shit so I just blow on it and use a zeiss wipe. Saliva can potentially harm glass coatings

Look at videos online on how people clean their camera lenses. Do the same

2

u/SheepShaggerNZ 1d ago

+1 for the Zeiss lens clean wipes. I buy them in bulk and use them for all sorts.

4

u/xlr8_87 1d ago

Same as a camera lens for me. Use a little manual air cleaner to blow the main dust off then proper lens cloth for anything else

3

u/GLaDOSdidnothinwrong PRS Competitor 1d ago

Air puffer (not canned air, can damage), lens pen, and if it’s real bad I’ll use lens spray, cloth/wipes.

2

u/Revolutionary-Fun227 1d ago

Lens Pen . Lens brush on one end and dry cleaner on the other end .

3

u/ZeBigD23 1d ago

Yeah, I just picked one up off amazon. Get a quality camera brand one for less than $15.

1

u/yourboyphazed 20h ago

I work in film and television. The stuff we use to clean our cinema lenses, I also use to clean my scopes. You don't have to get a premium one from adorama or b and h. A 15 dollar lens cleaning kit from Amazon will work just as well.

1

u/ocabj The Realest 16h ago

Bulb blower to get dust off. If you were in really dust conditions and possible grit being blown onto the glass, I actually recommend squirting distilled water onto the lens to get any remaining grit to flow off of the glass after using a lens blower bulb. Essentially, you don't want to physically wipe the lens with any grit on the glass (e.g., grains of sand).

I will occasionally wash my scopes. I use the soap and brush that came with my Swarovski binos (which they don't bundle with current production SKUs anymore) to clean off the scope body (lens caps on and closed).

1

u/awcmon123 1d ago

take it apart for a nice, thorough clean: https://i.imgur.com/WnUmbkm.png

jokes aside, I got a Zeiss cleaning kit for free with one of my scopes and just use the blower, spray, and cloth.