A collector in Ohio made me rethink how I clean old lenses

Last month I posted a pic of my 1970s Pentax lens with haze and said I was using alcohol prep pads. A guy named Dale from Columbus replied that those pads strip the coating and leave micro scratches. He told me to use a dry microfiber first, then a drop of lens cleaner on a Q-tip only if needed. I tried it on a scratched Praktica lens I'd nearly given up on and the difference was wild. You guys got any cheap cleaning tricks that saved a lens from the junk drawer?

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valgibson1d ago

Alcohol pads are the worst thing you can put on an old coating, they eat right through it and you never get that back. I keep a bulb blower and a soft brush handy for dust first, then breath and a clean microfiber for anything stuck on there. Rubbing alcohol only touches metal or glass with no coating, never the front element.

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