How to clean finishes on high-end flashlights?

[Icebreak]

I remember Shelby saying that one important thing to do while photographing nice flashlights was to make the subject clean and dust free.

I recently received an exotic light that has a little shop dust and debris on it. The finish is Titanium Carbon. This is really nice stuff. It looks black with other colors subtley present. The tube finish is sharp lateral diamond or parallelagram shapes.

How can I safely clean this?

What about your Alephs, Vips, Mcluxes (four finishes) HDSs, Surefires and other high end lights in preparation for a photo?

 

[Former_Mag_User]

How about a good spit shine?.....I guess not. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

 

[McGizmo]

Dish soap works well if the light can get wet?!

 

[TORCH_BOY]

Dishwashing detergent diluted in Warm water, then use a lint free cloth to dry, works fine for me.

 

[ACMarina]

Wrap it in a sock and toss it in the washer?? That's how my knives usually get cleaned, except they're in my pockets. .

 

[greenLED]

cleaning a light! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif sacrilege! You should be /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banned2.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Now, seriously, a dunk in warm soapy water is what I use for outdoor equipment/tools. Not familiar at all with Ti-C, so I don't know if it requires special treatment, though. Could the shop you got the light from suggest a cleaning method?

 

[Icebreak]

[ QUOTE ]
ACMarina said:
Wrap it in a sock and toss it in the washer?? That's how my knives usually get cleaned, except they're in my pockets. .

[/ QUOTE ]
That sound great. So efficient. Could you test this out on a Lion Heart or an Aleph 3 and post a photo of the results? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ QUOTE ]
TORCH_BOY said:
Dishwashing detergent diluted in Warm water, then use a lint free cloth to dry, works fine for me.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's what I thought and it does work well. The challenge on this Black Bird is detailed knurling. All the dust doesn't leave the grooves. Also, you can pat it down with a lint free or even silk cloth as I used but wiping it will snag tight weave. Jeans, khakies, cotton shirts no problem.

I'm thinking I might try an Ox hair paint brush with diluted dish liquid.

[ QUOTE ]
McGizmo said:
Dish soap works well if the light can get wet?!

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a good start but doesn't quite get it finished out like I see in those Keisling photos.

What about the bead blasted EN parts on the TK McLux? They don't have that champagne silver color they did originally but I'm sure it's under the patina.

 

[dougmccoy]

I cant comment on soaps used in the states but over here in the UK most of the commonly used dishwasher detergent contains salt! Not particularly good on alloy or other metals?

Doug

 

[Icebreak]

greenLED -

Thanks.

dougmccoy -

I think they mean dish liquid for hand washing dishes like Dawn or Joy.

I know that machine dish washer liquid can strip HA III. Bad MOJO for sure.

 

[Unicorn]

A mild soap and a soft toothbrush to clean the grooves.