BlazeBall
Harmless
Posts: 30
Registered: 1-9-2010
Location: UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Best chemical for cleaning glasses?
These new glasses I have seem to be impossible to clean, I have been led to believe this is because of the anti-reflective coating on them. Detergent
sprays sold at the opticians are useless, I've also tried methylated spirits, this solvent works better but is still not perfect, the only way I can
get a perfect clean to them is cleaning them with a dry tissue for about 15 minutes to get rid of every bit of grease, but this is not a long term
solution because it damages the glasses, does anyone have any ideas?
|
|
|
UnintentionalChaos
International Hazard
Posts: 1454
Registered: 9-12-2006
Location: Mars
Member Is Offline
Mood: Nucleophilic
|
|
soap.
Department of Redundancy Department - Now with paperwork!
'In organic synthesis, we call decomposition products "crap", however this is not a IUPAC approved nomenclature.' -Nicodem
|
|
|
IrC
International Hazard
Posts: 2710
Registered: 7-3-2005
Location: Eureka
Member Is Offline
Mood: Discovering
|
|
Soap such as Ivory liquid rinsed with lots of water, or Bausch & Lomb Sight Savers. Both work well.
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard Feynman
|
|
|
CHRIS25
National Hazard
Posts: 951
Registered: 6-4-2012
Location: Ireland
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Have you tried a gentle boiling in sodium carbonate solution, a very gentle boiling that is. Then scrub with scotchbrite gently in and out of boiling
water?
‘Calcination… is such a Separation of Bodies by Fire, as makes ‘em easily reducible into Powder; and for that reason ‘tis call’d by some
Chymical Pulverization.’ (John Friend, Chymical Lectures London, 1712)
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. (William Penn 1644-1718)
The very nature of Random, Chance development precludes the existence of Order - strange that our organic and inorganic world is so well defined by
precision and law. (me)
|
|
|
DerAlte
National Hazard
Posts: 779
Registered: 14-5-2007
Location: Erehwon
Member Is Offline
Mood: Disgusted
|
|
For goodness sakes do not try the idiotic suggestion of the last poster! I assume your lenses are plastic, but the same applies if glass. One problem
with a low reflection coating is that one tends to be a bit more critical for that very reason – everything shows up more. I’d agree with mild
detergent liquid soap in about 70% isopropyl alcohol, a mixture I’ve used for years. Soap, water and the IPA do a great job on grease and oil, and
a bit of water helps with inorganics such as NaCl from sweat etc. Use tissue or a lens cloth gently to finalize, and if still smears are seen, use
distilled water. I always used mild detergent in distilled water on astronomic mirrors with enhanced Al with a special coating, followed by distilled
water then alcohol wash.
|
|
|
Pyro
International Hazard
Posts: 1305
Registered: 6-4-2012
Location: Gent, Belgium
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
give them to your local optician to clean. they should do it for free or very cheaply
all above information is intellectual property of Pyro.  |
|
|
Hexavalent
International Hazard
Posts: 1564
Registered: 29-12-2011
Location: Wales, UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pericyclic
|
|
It seems that a few of us have glasses. A trait, caused by looking too much at books?
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Winston Churchill
|
|
|
SM2
Hazard to Others
Posts: 359
Registered: 8-5-2012
Location: the Irish Springs
Member Is Offline
Mood: Affect
|
|
The standard for many years in organic labs was a bath of H2SO4/picric acid, or H2SO4/*dichromate. Then OSHA got involved. I'm almost certain many
seasoned professionals who worked at big pharmaceutical company labs can attest to these baths.
|
|
|
kristofvagyok
National Hazard
Posts: 659
Registered: 6-4-2012
Location: Europe
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
The best for cleaning optical glass is soap + water. The second best is a buckskin or deerskin. And the third is any type of small mol weight alcohol
like MeOH, EtOH, PrOH.
The important is that NEVER clean coated optical glass with tissue, because it with remove the coating layer. Old T and UV coated optics were
sometimes cleaned by kids that way to remove the reflective coating to use the optics for near UV photography.
I have a blog where I post my pictures from my work: http://labphoto.tumblr.com/
-Pictures from chemistry, check it out(:
"You can’t become a chemist and expect to live forever." |
|
|
Dr.Bob
International Hazard
Posts: 2656
Registered: 26-1-2011
Location: USA - NC
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
I had ONE pair of glasses coated with an anti-reflective layer. The layer is very easy to scratch, remove (peel off) with chemicals, and hard to
clean. Thus I never got another pair. I would be very careful in cleaning, as mine were very easy to scratch, and once the coating was scratched,
it got weaker and weaker, until it peeled off like an onion skin in places.
|
|
|
ElectroWin
Hazard to Others
Posts: 224
Registered: 5-3-2011
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
i also have a pair of glasses with the anti-reflective coating. it appears that using liquid hand soap causes them to fog up, terribly; but using bar
soap is much better.
my washing procedure is specific:
first, wash my hands with the soap and rinse;
with wet fingertips, take up some of the soap until they're slippery;
moisten the glasses with water;
gently brush the surfaces with the slippery fingertips;
rinse the glasses in water;
pad dry (do not rub), with lint-free cloth.
|
|
|
Nitrovolt
Harmless
Posts: 7
Registered: 26-10-2012
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
isopropyl alcohol + diethyl ether
That is a good mix for cleaning lenses
I know that because i use that solution for cleaning microscopes lenses.
Good luck 
|
|
|
niertap
Hazard to Self
Posts: 76
Registered: 5-8-2011
Member Is Offline
Mood: hyper-conjucated
|
|
piranha H2SO4+30%H2O2 4:1 or so
bases dissolve glass, so they slightly destroy things with high surface area.
piranha will destroy and remove most organics and also make the glass more hydrophilic.
Ignorance is bliss
Outliers in life are modeled by chemical kinetics
|
|
|
Random
International Hazard
Posts: 1018
Registered: 7-5-2010
Location: In ur closet
Member Is Offline
Mood: Energetic
|
|
Quote: Originally posted by niertap  | piranha H2SO4+30%H2O2 4:1 or so
bases dissolve glass, so they slightly destroy things with high surface area.
piranha will destroy and remove most organics and also make the glass more hydrophilic.
|
isnt it going to damage the plastic around the glasses?
|
|
|
Eddygp
National Hazard
Posts: 858
Registered: 31-3-2012
Location: University of York, UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: Organometallic
|
|
EtOH+H2O+acetone
there may be bugs in gfind
[ˌɛdidʒiˈpiː] IPA pronunciation for my Username |
|
|
Conrad
Harmless
Posts: 9
Registered: 14-11-2012
Location: New Zealand
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
| Quote: Originally posted by niertap | piranha H2SO4+30%H2O2 4:1 or so
bases dissolve glass, so they slightly destroy things with high surface area.
piranha will destroy and remove most organics and also make the glass more hydrophilic.
|
This is going to destroy your ar-coating, which you may one day be happy to have. We have a piranha bath here (also called caroic acid) and it is kept
under temperature (80°C if I remeber correctly..too lazy to check)
As eddygp says, alcohol (no matter if its ipa or etOH),water,acetone is a fine mixture to clean anything.
Do you happen to have an ultrasonic cleaner?
[Edited on 14-11-2012 by Conrad]
|
|
|
bfesser
Resident Wikipedian
Posts: 2114
Registered: 29-1-2008
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
ARE YOU ALL FUCKING INSANE‽
The answer is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water" target="_blank">oxidane</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png"
/>. Yes, simply hot water.
Go to the sink. Turn the hot tap on. Wait for it to get as hot as it will. Hold lenses under tap for about 30 seconds per side per lens with the
water hitting the lens perpendicularly. Blot dry (do not wipe) with softest lint-free cloth you can find. Water hardness is irrelevant, as long as
you blot dry.
I have coated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycarbonate" target="_blank">polycarbonate</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png"
/> lenses. I think I'm on my third pair of the coated ones–so I actually know what I'm talking about, unlike most of these twats. I've
also worn glasses since I was little. I tend to break the frames by getting hit in the face with heavy or stationary objects (don't ask), but I've
never had an issue with the lens coating.
I see that you're from the UK, and I'm not sure how it is there, but in the US (or at least Minnesota) you can't get actual glass lenses if you're
under 21 years of age. Over 21, polycarbonate is standard anyway. Apparently the government thinks 18 is <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_majority" target="_blank">old enough</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" /> to vote, be <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription" target="_blank">drafted</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" /> to die for my country,
etc., but not to choose glass lenses on the remote chance that they shatter into cornea-piercing glass shrapnel.
And, of course, I'll leave you with the obligatory educational Wikipedia article on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-reflective_coating"
target="_blank">anti-reflective coatings</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png"> for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optics"
target="_blank">optics</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />.
[Edited on 7/9/13 by bfesser]
|
|
|
tetrahedron
Hazard to Others
Posts: 210
Registered: 28-9-2012
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
hmm how do you make sure the glasses have been cleaned well, while you're holding and therefore not wearing them?
|
|
|
bfesser
Resident Wikipedian
Posts: 2114
Registered: 29-1-2008
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
I'm <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia" target="_blank">nearsighted</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />.
[Edited on 7/9/13 by bfesser]
|
|
|
DetaDude
Harmless
Posts: 38
Registered: 21-3-2009
Location: Upper left hand U.S., Portland area
Member Is Offline
Mood: Alert
|
|
I've worn glasses since I was 9 months old and I'm now 71 and the best cleaner I've ever used is a 50/50 mix of Etoh & NH4OH.
Genius creates many a great works............Labor alone finishes them!
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xpblue/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
