It is pointless using abinocular.com to locate the finest optic in the world, and then to ruin them cleaning binoculars too frequently, or alternatively neglecting their care altogether.. It is satirical that you can really damage your favorite binoculars by extra care on them!
The first and foremost rule is to do your best to keep your binoculars clean. So binoculars get used for a great variety of different situations and interests. The easy-chair ornithologist gazing through the living room window is well set up to keep the Nikon Monarch binoculars in tip top condition. Your man wading through estuaries in pursuit of wildfowl is going to have a tougher set of challenges. But the number one rule, never ever to be broken, is that you do not put your binoculars ‘face down’ so that the objective lens can be ground into sand, mud or rubbish .
As you are interested enough in caring for your binoculars to read this article, you may be tempted to buy a kit which you can carry with you in the field for on the spot cleaning. My advice would be to forget that. The time for cleaning a top class optical instrument is not when you are outside. Don’t take a cleaning kit with you, and you won’t be tempted to use it when you shouldn’t. Less is more, and you should get used to that idea. Feel free to grind your reading glasses down with a Kleenex (wood pulp), hanky, window cleaner, corner of your shirt, or wire wool, but leave your bins alone!
Now if we have covered that sufficiently, let’s just go over it one more time before we get into specifics. The biggest danger to your lenses is you. A smattering of sand on your lens will do no harm. What will do the damage is some ape getting a piece of rag, and energetically grinding those grains of sand through any coating and into the lens. To keep this simple I’ve written it out in the format of a set of rules for taking care of your optics –
The Fourteen Rules of Cleaning Binoculars
- Keep it clean – avoid all dirt if at all possible
- Do NOT clean the lens for the sake of it – keep your mitts off
- Do not clean your binoculars in the field – ever, no never.
- Do not clean binoculars except in very good lighting
- Use distilled water – unless your bins are covered in swamp, in which case rinse them gently under the tap first
- Allow to dry
- Blow dust from the lens
- IF you are convinced that further cleaning is necessary, go and take a walk
- If you are still convinced that further cleaning is necessary use washing up liquid diluted in distilled water.
- Rub lightly, in a spiral pattern which starts at the center of the lens and works outward, using a cotton bud (which has not been touched by your oily finger) A home made cotton bud using surgical grade cotton wool would be preferable
- Rinse off with a succession of clean moist (distilled water) cotton buds
- Allow to air dry, avoiding the temptation to grind dirt and dust into the clean lens by the application of a cloth.
- Avoid using solvents which can damage or remove the coating of the lens, damage rubber, damage the environment, and damage you.
- If it seems absolutely necessary, fog the lens by breathing on it, and very gently wipe with a microfiber cloth.
So if you want to follow this advice, what should you use to clean your binoculars?
Buy a cheap weird looking but effective blower which you can get here from Amazon. And then, if you think you are going to use a microfiber cloth, whilst you’re on Amazon you can buy this Nikon Microfiber Cleaning Cloth which is good quality and won’t get mixed up with other cloths in the house.
A Few FAQs
Q. Are you sure I should not take a cleaning kit into the woods?
A. Yes
Q. How about a blower?
A. It won’t work if the lens is at all damp, and you will be tempted to start poking around. Safest left at home
Q. Are there any particular solvents I can use, because I really do want to use a solvent?
A. Zeiss recommend analytical grade n-hexane. Try your local pharmacist (for hexane for cleaning binoculars)
Q. My pop used fuel out of the motor. Is that ok?
A. Shame on him. Fuel has additives that can leave a deposit. And products without additives can still be holding impurities
Q. What time is it?
A. My word, is it that late? But what’s that got to do with cleaning binoculars?
Binocular repair
Binocular repair service has become little bit costly considering to the prices of the low-cost-binoculars. If you have a binocular that costs 50$ then costing of 30$ should be expensive for you. Let’s have a look on the video how to repair binocular at your own hand.
Optics cleaning and repair services near you
We found some of the following repair services after little researching over the internet. You can get repair and cleaning services by contacting the following addresses based on your location. You should get cleaning and repair services near you. Some of the service providing companies are as follows:
- Mountain optics
Contact the Mountain Optics:
1-877-756-2466 , (406)-857-2354
Addr: 105 CopperWood Way Unit/Suit G, Oceanside, CA.
email: info@mountainoptics.com
Web: www.MountainOptics.com - Company Seven USA,
14300 Cherry Lane Court,
Addr: Repairs Suite 117
Laurel, MD 20707
Phn: 301-953-2000
Mail: info@company7.com
Website:http://www.company7.com/repair&rehabbino.html - Baker Marine USA,
2425 Shelter Island Dr,
San Diego, CA 92106, USA.
Repair related queries? Contact here: https://www.bakermarineusa.com/general-binocular-repair - Optical Repairs, UK.
16, Wheatfield Road, Selsey
West Sussex, PO20 0NY, United Kingdom,
Telephone/Fax: 01243 601 365
email: info@opticalrepairs.com
Web: opticalrepairs.com
N.B: Those addresses are not recorded from any authenticated source. We have just provided information from another article. We recommend you to try to take the service from the company of that product.