Q-Tips OK for microscope optics cleaning?

[brettpim]

When I bought my Reichert Zetopan, it came with "The Unique Microscope Cleaning Kit" from Scogil Scientific Inc. of Raleigh North Carolina. It has "optics cleaning swabs" which I have been using to clean the optical pathway of my microscope with Foxwest Optical Lens Cleaner Cat. No 1100. I have used up more than half of the ones that were in my kit. When they run out do I have to find a new source of "optics cleaning swabs" or are Q-tips OK? Do Q-tips have impurities that might scratch my optics?

[Wes]

Do Q-tips have impurities that might scratch my optics?

Yes, silica particles. Use ophthalmological-grade cotton and bamboo sticks.

[Scarodactyl]

I use fresh, name brand q tips on my own optics and have never had an issue. I have heard the same from others, but as with all things your mileage may vary. With any cleaning be sure to blow the area first to remove any loose, potentially scratchy particles, and change swabs frequently.

[brettpim]

Do Q-tips have impurities that might scratch my optics?

Yes, silica particles. Use ophthalmological-grade cotton and bamboo sticks.

Are these ophthalmological-grade:

CleanTips® Cotton Wrapped Mid-Size Swab, Texwipe

[75RR]

.
Perhaps others have had better results from a web search, but I have yet to find cotton that states it is ophthalmological grade.

I suppose one could pop into an ophthalmologist and ask but I would not be surprised to get a blank look from them.

So where is this cotton?

[Chas]

I have been wanting to post a similar question for a while.
This article mentions 'Synthetic Q-tips' :
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... clean.html

Might the author be talking about the sort of things that come with the Covid test kits???

[patta]

There is a nice book about manteinance of binoculars written by William Cook, who did this job for the US navy.

He tells the story: training at school, they had special optic-grade paper and cleaning was a religious procedure.
Then he embarked on a ship as optic repairman; for cleaning the exxxpensive optics, they had a big supply of toilet paper.

[Wes]

.
Perhaps others have had better results from a web search, but I have yet to find cotton that states it is ophthalmological grade.

I suppose one could pop into an ophthalmologist and ask but I would not be surprised to get a blank look from them.

So where is this cotton?

Ask in the pharmacy I suppose (you can check the contemporary cleaning manual from Zeiss). Either way I can also recommend using the softest painting brush you can get together with a bulb air-blower to get rid of the tiny particles stuck to the optics. I always use water as the first solvent of choice (unless the nature of the contaminant is obvious like oil etc.)

[MicroBob]

Hi together,
enclosed you can find a photo of what we mean when we talk about "Augenwatte". It is pure and sterile cotton, used for medical bandages, not only for the eyes.

Myself I use q-tips and replace them after each little wipe. It also helps to turn them slowly against the direction of the movement to bring fresh cotton in contact and lift of the cotton that has already done a little work.
When used right (after pre-clean, minimal pressure, wet, not shovinf dirt back and forth) the quality of the cotton is not as important. The dust on the lens and on places where one could rest the Q-tip on in pauses is much more of a problem.

Originally Q-Tips are too hard and offer too little contact area. I use a piece of tissue to avoid dirt and grease transfer, grip the Q-tip with my fingers and pull the tip a little longer, and often a little sideways. This way the work much better.

Bob

[75RR]

.
This is what I am using, bought at a local pharmacy. Perhaps I should look for 'sterile'
.

[deBult]

Sterile is not important , 100% cotton is.

[Chris Dee]

I've switched to foam tipped swabs for both microscope and camera optics. Not so much from concern over abrasive inclusions, just sick of cotton strands getting left behind on surface.

[Dubious]

I agree cotton strands are irritating, but what about Zeiss Lens Wipes? Some on this board have recommended them, and out of curiosity I ordered some. They work surprisingly well and leave no residue. Hopefully, a product with "Zeiss" on the label will not scratch lenses...

[apochronaut]

I clean and have cleaned a lot of lenses; so far thousands, right down to the back curvature of the front lens of 100X or even greater objectives. Tiny, high N.A. lenses where an occlusion like a left cotton fiber could really impact performance. Yet, I still use cotton swabs.

What I like about cotton swabs. 1)they are cheap 2) they are available 10 minutes away, always. 3) They are clean. 4) They are fairly absorptive 5) They have built in handles.6) The shaft can be manipulated in different fashions to clean in different ways. Very flexible. 7)They are easy to deform, so they fit into pockets or unnusually shaped places. 8) There are many, so I can keep using new ones. ( I have gone through over 1/2 box to clean a microscope but that is just over 2.00) 9) They are biodegradeable 10) Ones used to clean lenses can be used to clean microscope bodies later. 11) They will hold any solvent I need them to.....even muriatic acid. 12) They can be made to hold a variable amount of solvent, from slight to dripping and they can be wrung out without suffering physical damage.13) The sharpened shaft of one can be used as a pliable lint pickup.

What I do not like about cotton swabs. 1) Not all brands are the same. I have to be choosey about the brands I buy. 2) They don't clean perfectly with just one solvent, tending to leave a film. It usually takes 3 to 6 swabs and several solvents and rinses to clean a surface. 3) It is easy to contaminate the rear swab in use with skin oil. Wearing gloves would alleviate this problem but I don't. 4) They leave cotton fiber behind.

This deposition of cotton fiber is or paper or cellulose fiber is not unique to cotton swabs. Everything I have used leaves something behind, including Zeiss lens paper. I usually end up using several sharpened swab sticks to pickup debris leftover from cleaning under a stereo microscope. They become electrostatic so do not blow off easily. I also use a bulb or small compressor sometimes but they do not remove elrctrostatic particles.

Basically, cotton swabs win the day for me but cleaning microscope lens requires more than a one stop shop.

[Roldorf]

I use these:-

lenscleaning_lens-wipes.jpg (28.59 KiB) Viewed 6533 times

[Chas]

Apochronaut, so if "Not all brands are the same. I have to be choosey about the brands I buy." -- which brands do you know to be good?

( I often seem to 'gain' particles on a surface and wonder if these are from the buds..it is perhaps more likely that they small particles of corrosion from the lenses mounting or even gathered-together crud , but I am never too sure.)

[LouiseScot]

Thorlabs do some 'optical' grade cotton swabs: https://www.thorlabs.com/thorproduct.cf ... mber=CTA10
I've not tried them - but I might!

Louise

[patta]

Q-tips contain scratchy silica particles... truth or hoax?
let's put them under polarized light to do some forensic analysis
.

No sand grains on sight - this one is safe to use

Qtip_pol_10x.jpg (51.14 KiB) Viewed 6444 times

.

Scary stuff picked up rubbing the floor - not safe to use

Qtip_pol_10x_2.jpg (39.05 KiB) Viewed 6438 times

.

[brettpim]

Through VWR, the company that sells CleanTips® Cotton Wrapped Mid-Size Swab, Texwipe in my area, I contacted the manufacturer with the question

Are VWR Catalog Number TWTX705, CleanTips® Cotton Wrapped Mid-Size Swab, Texwipe®, suitable for cleaning microscope optical elements like objectives, condensers and oculars?

The company replied in the affirmative:

TWTX705 swabs are suitable for cleaning microscope optical elements like objectives, condensers and oculars. The swab heads are cotton and the handle is wood and they are used extensively in the optics industry. Depending on the critical level of the environment, some customers will use swabs that have a foam or polyester head and a polypropylene handle. Both can be used based on the customer’s preference.

[LouiseScot]

I clean and have cleaned a lot of lenses; so far thousands, right down to the back curvature of the front lens of 100X or even greater objectives. Tiny, high N.A. lenses where an occlusion like a left cotton fiber could really impact performance. Yet, I still use cotton swabs.

What I like about cotton swabs. 1)they are cheap 2) they are available 10 minutes away, always. 3) They are clean. 4) They are fairly absorptive 5) They have built in handles.6) The shaft can be manipulated in different fashions to clean in different ways. Very flexible. 7)They are easy to deform, so they fit into pockets or unnusually shaped places. 8) There are many, so I can keep using new ones. ( I have gone through over 1/2 box to clean a microscope but that is just over 2.00) 9) They are biodegradeable 10) Ones used to clean lenses can be used to clean microscope bodies later. 11) They will hold any solvent I need them to.....even muriatic acid. 12) They can be made to hold a variable amount of solvent, from slight to dripping and they can be wrung out without suffering physical damage.13) The sharpened shaft of one can be used as a pliable lint pickup.

What I do not like about cotton swabs. 1) Not all brands are the same. I have to be choosey about the brands I buy. 2) They don't clean perfectly with just one solvent, tending to leave a film. It usually takes 3 to 6 swabs and several solvents and rinses to clean a surface. 3) It is easy to contaminate the rear swab in use with skin oil. Wearing gloves would alleviate this problem but I don't. 4) They leave cotton fiber behind.

This deposition of cotton fiber is or paper or cellulose fiber is not unique to cotton swabs. Everything I have used leaves something behind, including Zeiss lens paper. I usually end up using several sharpened swab sticks to pickup debris leftover from cleaning under a stereo microscope. They become electrostatic so do not blow off easily. I also use a bulb or small compressor sometimes but they do not remove elrctrostatic particles.

Basically, cotton swabs win the day for me but cleaning microscope lens requires more than a one stop shop.

Hi Apo

I was just wondering... Is it ok to remove the rear aperture/exit pupil from an objective in order to clean dust from the back lens surface? And are there special tools for doing that? Or should I leave well alone and try and clean through the aperture?

Thanks

Louise

[apochronaut]

There are many different methods of assembling objectives. If the back lens or lens cell comes out easily enough and you have reason to believe that the inside surface will benefit from cleaning, take it out and clean both surfaces as well as the back surface of the next cell but there should be no reason that you can't clean the back lens surface without removing it. Sometimes the rear diaphragm unscrews and gives easy access to the back surface. You have to be always aware of bits of machined casing and threads etc., which snag swabs easily and loosen fibers. Steer clear of them. I sometimes use a pair of immaculately cleaned tweezers to "point up" a swab: similar to the technique used on small artists brushes.
In fact, I use small less than 0 pointed up artists brushes to pick off cotten fibers sometimes, particularly around the circumference where the swap can scrape against the metal surround and become frazzled.

[deBult]

Example guide on dismantling Olympus LB objectives to get the spring load tip mechanism working again: requires removing the rear aperture / lens pupil:

http://alanwood.net/downloads/olympus-l ... ky-tip.pdf

[LouiseScot]

There are many different methods of assembling objectives. If the back lens or lens cell comes out easily enough and you have reason to believe that the inside surface will benefit from cleaning, take it out and clean both surfaces as well as the back surface of the next cell but there should be no reason that you can't clean the back lens surface without removing it. Sometimes the rear diaphragm unscrews and gives easy access to the back surface. You have to be always aware of bits of machined casing and threads etc., which snag swabs easily and loosen fibers. Steer clear of them. I sometimes use a pair of immaculately cleaned tweezers to "point up" a swab: similar to the technique used on small artists brushes.
In fact, I use small less than 0 pointed up artists brushes to pick off cotten fibers sometimes, particularly around the circumference where the swap can scrape against the metal surround and become frazzled.

It's just the rear aperture stop I was considering removing - for easy access to the back/top lens
Thanks

Louise

[LouiseScot]

Example guide on dismantling Olympus LB objectives to get the spring load tip mechanism working again: requires removing the rear aperture / lens pupil:

http://alanwood.net/downloads/olympus-l ... ky-tip.pdf

That's pretty comprehensive!

Thanks

Louise