Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Cleaning scope glass ?

What is the best way to clean scope glass ?

I use a Leupold lens pen in the field, and at home the lens tissues and liquid spray sold by the optometrist.

I blow or gently get the specs off and use denatured alcohol, treated lens papers, and q-tips to clean the glass.

Lens pen. Keep one in every pack.

Scotchbrite pads for the really caked on deposits.

Toilet paper most of the time.

Blow on the glass and then use my glasses cleaner and little cloth the give me at the eye doctor for my prescription eye glasses...

Ouch....clay particles

distilled water in a little spritzer bottle I keep in my pack along with lens cloth or lens papers in their little zip-loc-type bag. The lens cleaners sold by/for optometrists are basically the same thing. You can also use wood/rubbing alcohol but it's not the best on some coatings.

Lens pens are great for the majority of the stuff. That and some Scope-Dope cleaner work well.

Blow or brush the particles off then moisture and lenses clothes. Almost all tissue can scratch and most lense fluids will remove the coatings over time.

Zeiss lens tissues that Wally World sells. They are like $5 for 100 and they work great.

There is no hope for anything so delicate as scope glass. If it has been callously subjected to such an environment as to become sullied in even the tiniest manner, it is best to quietly bury it in the garden at midnight in a dignified ceremony. (At least that is what I have taken away from reading about the topic in the past.)

+1

Check the manufacturers manual for cleaning solutions. Not all coatings stand up to the alcohol in some solvents. Use a lens pen brush to remove dust and particles.

Hold the rifle upside down, and dunk just the scope in a clear running creek. Swish it around to remove the really big clots of mud that got jammed in the objective when you fell on your azz crossing that same creek. BTDT.

Glass has to be clean to “work” just like a barrel has to be shot to have any fun. In both cases they age a little each time, just like us. The alternative is to not go outside, so, i keep lenses reasonably clean and beyond that don’t worry about it.

For light dust/field debris i use compressed air.

For mud splashes or an old used scope from a store rack somewhere with 1/32 inch caked dust, will swish some soapy water around on it, rinse, repeat as needed. Finish with lens spray and lens paper.

For general greasy prints or whatever, again lens cleaner and lens paper or clean microfiber. Don’t believe for a second that nikon cleaner is going to eat zeiss coatings. I don’t use much of lens brushes or cloths as often just because i can’t know they are clean, whereas lens paper always is.

I live in a dusty gritty place, so keep all this stuff in a lid container and ziplocks.

Most everything has scope covers.

Couple prepackaged zeiss wet wipes in pack, same thing i clean my glasses with. Don’t recall ever really needing them, but.

Most of us don't use Barska optics, ethanol, methanol based glass cleaners wont hurt lens coatings, not much of a fan of isopropyl alcohol though. just don't use windex, ammonia can damage lens coatings. if it can clean copper out of your barrel it can ruin lens coatings