Homemade Camera Lens Cleaner

Keep your lenses as clean as possible to avoid introducing harsh chemicals to the surface.

Dust, fingerprints and oils can damage not only your lens, but also a photo shoot. Lenses are sensitive and cleaning them with any household chemical will scratch them. This damage cannot be fixed and will force you to buy a new lens. However, there are chemicals available that are pure enough not to have any particles that will harm your lens. Before you grab any glass cleaner, consider following these steps to safely clean your lenses at home.

Things You'll Need

• 100 percent methyl alcohol
• Distilled water
• Microfiber cloths

Instructions

1. Pour the methyl alcohol onto the microfiber cloth. The microfiber cloth will not leave particles on your lens.

2. Wipe the lens with the cloth.

3. Pour the distilled water onto another microfiber cloth.

4. Clean the lens with the distilled water. This will remove anything that the alcohol might have missed. Distilled water doesn't have the impurities found in plain tap water. These impurities will scratch your lens.

5. Allow your lens to dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not use rubbing alcohol on your lens. It is not pure and can leave a film on your lens.

• Do not add the alcohol or the distilled water directly to the lens because they will go inside of the camera, which will damage it.

References

• Ken Rockwell: How to Clean CCDs, Lenses and Filters