# Best way to clean a reflector?



## fyrstormer (Nov 13, 2009)

I just bought an older light that has some haze on the reflector. I figure CAIG DeOxIt should pull that right off, but every time I've wiped down a reflector in the past it's left hairline scratches in the reflective coating -- not bad enough to affect the beam, just noticeable when looking at the reflector from the side while the light is on. What's the best way to go about this?


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## Sgt. LED (Nov 13, 2009)

I have found that the best way is to not clean it al all.

Anything I ever tried made it worse.


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## kramer5150 (Nov 13, 2009)

The only thing I have found that cleans it without further damaging is one of those dust blow brushes for camera lenses. And even then its only to remove dust and loose debris. You definitely do not want to use solvents, degreasers or excessive force.

Its vapor deposited Aluminum... very fragile and delicate surface.


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## fyrstormer (Nov 13, 2009)

Maybe MAF sensor cleaner from the auto parts store, then. It's designed to dissolve contaminants from sensitive metal surfaces without requiring any contact from a solid cleaning instrument.


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## coloradogps (Nov 13, 2009)

I have cleaned them by breathing on the reflector and using a microfiber cloth to remove the condensation.

You may have to repeat this process a few times.

:twothumbs


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## Anglepoise (Nov 13, 2009)

I have had to clean many reflectors when using WA potted bulbs. They seem to emit some junk that coats the lens and reflector.

I have been quite successful using the following.

Clean hands
Adjust water stream from single outlet tap to high warm.
Spray reflector with Fantastic, Windex and hold it under the water stream. 
While the reflector is under the stream, I spray my fingers with Fantastic,Windex etc, and I very ,very gently touch the surface of the reflector and wipe. 

My fingers , although touching the reflector, do not actually touch, as its separated by a liquid film.

Shake dry and use hair dryer. I do not know if this works where water is hard. Might have to use jet dry as a rinse to avoid hard water spots.



Anyway , works for me.


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## Crenshaw (Nov 13, 2009)

After some bad experinces cleaning reflectors, i find however annoying the spot is, you only make it worse by trying to clean it.

I NEVER touch my Tiablo reflector.....

Crenshaw


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## ElectronGuru (Nov 13, 2009)

I too have had success with running water. After reaming a few aluminum reflectors, they were covered in shavings. Just ran them under the tap and let air dry over night.


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## OfficerCamp (Nov 13, 2009)

For debris, compressed air, and I don't mean the stuff in a can. For tougher duty, most people have stated a high concentration of alcohol solution works great, as it evaporates quickly and will not leave spots or streaks. Whatever you do, GO GENTLE, and good luck.


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## kosPap (Nov 13, 2009)

OfficerCamp said:


> For debris, compressed air, and I don't mean the stuff in a can. For tougher duty, most people have stated a high concentration of alcohol solution works great, as it evaporates quickly and will not leave spots or streaks. Whatever you do, GO GENTLE, and good luck.


 
I had better luck with acetone (not the oiled kind women use for removing nail polish)...and pure cotton...NOTHING else like tissur epaper etc(made fro scrtching wood fibers)..and gentle touch


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## Hacken (Nov 13, 2009)

Sgt. LED said:


> I have found that the best way is to not clean it al all.
> 
> Anything I ever tried made it worse.



I second that..


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## Saint_Dogbert (Nov 14, 2009)

Use a blower bulb, then distilled water if that doesn't completely clean it, or an alcohol solution if there are smudges (shouldn't be any




). Air dry or pat with a microfiber cloth, but be careful not to scratch the surface, e.g. don't rub it. Don't use those compressed air canisters as this can damage the aluminum coating.


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## leukos (Nov 14, 2009)

SF suggests 100% isopropyl alcohol for cleaning reflectors. Pour it on the reflector and let it evaporate, no wiping.


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## lrp (Nov 14, 2009)

In my experiences it is best left alone!


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## Mjolnir (Nov 14, 2009)

Sgt. LED said:


> I have found that the best way is to not clean it al all.
> 
> Anything I ever tried made it worse.





Hacken said:


> I second that..



I third that. Most of the time a little bit of dust or a fingerprint on the reflector will do nothing to the beam pattern or output of the light. If your OCD requires that the reflector looks perfect, then keep in mind that scratches and small bare spots will be less bearable than fingerprints. However, fine scratches often don't affect the beam much either.
I have made reflectors worse by trying to clean them to get them perfect. It is better to leave them alone.


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## D-Dog (Nov 14, 2009)

After a blown bulb I used water running over the reflector for a few minutes and that got rid of most of the loose stuff. Then I used cotton to dry it and scratched it up 

I agree with the best advise being just don't clean it / save up for a new one. The surface is so fragile that almost anything will scratch it up if substantial (aka hardly any) force is applied.


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## rizky_p (Nov 14, 2009)

how about using a jewelry cleaner the one that uses ultrasonic would it work?


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## Yoda4561 (Nov 14, 2009)

You know what, for the sake of curiousity I'll see if I can find some flashlights I don't like (we have quite a few crappy lights around the house) and give them a whirl in my harbor freight ultrasonic.


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## fyrstormer (Nov 22, 2009)

I have confirmed that MAF sensor cleaner from the auto parts store, followed by gentle application of soapy water with a fingertip, followed by compressed air to blow the water off, will result in a perfectly clean reflector. The trick to washing it seems to be to use radial strokes instead of circumferential strokes.


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## Closet_Flashaholic (Nov 23, 2009)

In general I agree with the posts that say "don't clean/touch it". However, I have needed to clean a couple reflectors and for that, I follow the same process that I use for cleaning optics on (much more expensive) camera lenses, think $1000's of dollars in optics lens.

I use a cleaner specifically for optics called Eclipse(TM) (which is really just pure methanol, IIRC) and wipe them with lint free Pec-Pads (TM), (do a search). It leaves no residue and hasn't harmed any of the coatings, plastics or glue that I've encountered to date. Even using pure distilled water never worked for me - always seems to leave some type of residue.

I also use the same for cleaning any xenon or other high-pressure bulbs that I may have accidentally contaminated with skin oil or other such stuff when replacing them.


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## Justintoxicated (Nov 23, 2009)

I dropped a Maglite and the UCL lens shattered. It left particles all over my quad reflectors in my light. I have not found a proper way to clean them, I just blew out as much stuff as possible. It seems that any rubbing would likely damage the reflectors more than the small specs of glass dust would ever make.

Interested to hear a solution that would work for this situation.


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## kosPap (Nov 24, 2009)

hmmm you might try this.....get soft paper or cotton pretty moist and touch off the particles..straight up and down...

but you know this is risky too...

then you can leave the realy stubborn particles and sputter the reflector to hide the mess....


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## saabluster (Nov 24, 2009)

It was a bit buried but this has already been done before.


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## Saint_Dogbert (Nov 24, 2009)

If there are glass particles on the reflector, touching it directly in any way will prob'ly result in scratches. I own a few camera lenses as well as a 12-inch reflector telescope and believe me, the coating on that mirror is much more fragile than the coatings on a camera lens. Blow on the glass particles (not with your breath) then if that doesn't take care of things run some clean water over things - blow or air dry. Rinsing with alcohol as others have suggested might work as well and avoid leaving residue.

In any case, I doubt the reflectance of the reflector will be very negatively impacted from a few small scratches or glass particles - so extensive cleaning probably isn't needed.


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## enforcer (Nov 25, 2009)

Saint_Dogbert said:


> If there are glass particles on the reflector, touching it directly in any way will prob'ly result in scratches. I own a few camera lenses as well as a 12-inch reflector telescope and believe me, the coating on that mirror is much more fragile than the coatings on a camera lens. Blow on the glass particles (not with your breath) then if that doesn't take care of things run some clean water over things - blow or air dry. Rinsing with alcohol as others have suggested might work as well and avoid leaving residue.
> 
> In any case, I doubt the reflectance of the reflector will be very negatively impacted from a few small scratches or glass particles - so extensive cleaning probably isn't needed.



One of those pc tiny keyboard hoovers or 100% isopropyl alcohol in a spray type bottle(like cd lens cleaner) so not too much is applied, might do the trick.


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## NutSAK (Nov 26, 2009)

It's best left alone, as stated. If you're going to use water, use distilled water.


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## Superdave (Nov 26, 2009)

Yoda4561 said:


> You know what, for the sake of curiousity I'll see if I can find some flashlights I don't like (we have quite a few crappy lights around the house) and give them a whirl in my harbor freight ultrasonic.




it depends on the solution.. the stuff we use here at work actually took the anodizing off of a 2AA Mag. It was mixed a little strong though.. haha



+1 for alcohol. 

http://www.invisibleglass.com/ is an alcohol based glass cleaner, i'll try that on a junk reflector tonight and see what it does.. I bet it works ok.


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## Cataract (Nov 26, 2009)

I THINK I GOT YOUR SOLUTION:
I haven't tried this yet, but now that I think of it I will swear by it:

I got a binocular cleaning kit from opticsplanet, and god knows binocular lenses are very sensitive... if it work on a multi-coated lens, it just has to work for flashlight lenses.. you an get a decent one between 10$ and 20$ US, includes a "gummy" dust remover so you can take dust specks off without scratching anything... well worth the price when you consider I have flashlights that cost more than my binoculars! 

If you have a lot of mud on your lens, I would recommend running warm water over it first to remove the worst, though.


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## qwertyydude (Nov 26, 2009)

Optical lens coatings are tougher than people make them. I've got camera filters that are multi coated and a soft cotton cloth and breathing doesn't damage them but a soft cotton cloth on a reflector will definitely damage the reflector.


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## fyrstormer (Nov 28, 2009)

Depends on the lense and the coating. I bought a couple of sapphire lenses from the Sandwich Shoppe, and the AR coating on the lenses was so weak that just pressing it against the O-ring in the wrong position was enough to damage the coating, and I ended up scraping off the remainder of the coating and saying to hell with it.

Oddly, the coatings on my McGizmos that came with AR-coated lenses are much more durable, to the point that I can have the coating on the exposed side of the lense and it still doesn't get scratched. I dunno.


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## Henk_Lu (Nov 29, 2009)

fyrstormer said:


> Oddly, the coatings on my McGizmos that came with AR-coated lenses are much more durable, to the point that I can have the coating on the exposed side of the lense and it still doesn't get scratched. I dunno.



Well, I'm known as the coating destroyer, as I have "dustophobia" or in general "dirtophobia" and must always clean my lenses, wheter I should or not. I destroyed the coating on two Clicky lenses already, but I must say for their defense that there is no problem anymore since I don't rub hard anymore, but just wipe away the dust with my pullover. I ordered two sapphire lenses and saw only afterwards that they are coated on both sides too, so acting carefully will still be required.

As for the reflectors, I've tried to clean two ones until know. The one of my M20 Titanium had some dirt on it, which revealed to be greasy. I took a q-tip, the part I cleanes has minor scratches now, I hope I'll get a new one. The other one was from a Peak Caribbean, it had a sort or patina, I cleaned it also with a q-tip, still some patina and scratches of course. I doubt those scratches will affect the beam visibly, but it isn't nice to see of course.

When I got my Maglites, 20 years ago, I didn't know about the sensibility of those things and I cleaned them with a cloth...  I must order new ones one day...


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## Saint_Dogbert (Nov 30, 2009)

Well the Quarks are nice because the outer surface of the window supposedly has a sapphire coating; in any case, it is very resistant to scratching.


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## how2 (Nov 30, 2009)

fyrstormer said:


> I just bought an older light that has some haze on the reflector. I figure CAIG DeOxIt should pull that right off, but every time I've wiped down a reflector in the past it's left hairline scratches in the reflective coating -- not bad enough to affect the beam, just noticeable when looking at the reflector from the side while the light is on. What's the best way to go about this?




I too tried to clean my reflector with white spirit, and got fine scratches.
Lesson learned.


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## kosPap (Dec 1, 2009)

I cleaned my drop-ins reflectros (both OP & SMO) with acetone and q-tips

The method i used was to lightly swirl the q-tip while pulling....got excellent results...

To me it seems the real danger is from the material used....A strict NONO to paper products....

Someday I will try those alcohol swabs


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## Henk_Lu (Dec 1, 2009)

Saint_Dogbert said:


> Well the Quarks are nice because the outer surface of the window supposedly has a sapphire coating; in any case, it is very resistant to scratching.



Hm, last weekend I carried my Quark 123 neutral white around, used and wiped it off a lot (see my post above...). It has now a few fine scratches, probably in the coating, which I never observed until now (only rubbed off coating).

As I wore stone washed jeans, pretty new ones, it is possible however, that sand got on the lens. The scratches are only visible if the light is on and shouldn't have any effect on the beam.


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## Flashanator (Dec 1, 2009)

i never bother anymore I tried cleaning some finger prints off a new 9" & it leaves small scratches.


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## LuxLuthor (Apr 18, 2010)

I wanted to resurrect this thread, and reference these two past ones:



https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/127058


https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/188776
I have always had good luck with using water/alcohol/acetone/Rexton Lens & Optical Cleaner until today.

I had an incan 1185 bulb that blew up inside of one of my treasured FiveMega 2" Deep Reflectors with a mirror SMO surface. I got all the glass pieces out, but there was some whitish cloudy residue that would not wash off.

I decided to try this small square of blue ultra-fine fabric that came with my Samsung SyncMaster LCD monitor. It feels like elegant silk as you rub it, and one side is somewhat shiny. It looks like this LCD cleaning cloth which promises to never scratch. It is way finer than any microfiber cloth, and does not have sewn edges. It does absorb water.

In any case, I was surprised to be able to wipe off the white residue with absolutely no sign of any damage/scratching of the SMO reflector, using this fabric. I was so happy, and thought I would share this type of product and experience.


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## JNewell (Apr 18, 2010)

rizky_p said:


> how about using a jewelry cleaner the one that uses ultrasonic would it work?


 
I tried this once with *water* (no chemicals at all) and the plating started peeling in several places. YMMV but I would not recommend using an u/s at all.


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## ElectronGuru (Apr 18, 2010)

JNewell said:


> I tried this once with *water* (no chemicals at all) and the plating started peeling in several places. YMMV but I would not recommend using an u/s at all.



Our unit has adjustable power levels, I may give it a shot when there's more time. 

BTW, a little dawn should be used when running plain water to reduce surface tension (acts as a surfactant). Otherwise, more force is required for cavitation (stronger, less consistent cleaning). Just a few drops is enough for a whole gallon.


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## JNewell (Apr 18, 2010)

This was an old Kel-Lite reflector (boy did that result make me mad :mecry. The base metal was copper and who knows how well the plating was done in the first place. 

I have thrown everything from carburetors to Garand bolts into my u/s, typically with great results. I will caution urgently against using standard Simple Green formulations with any aluminum product. It is capable of taking off the anodized layer and attacking the aluminum. 



ElectronGuru said:


> Our unit has adjustable power levels, I may give it a shot when there's more time.
> 
> BTW, a little dawn should be used when running plain water to reduce surface tension (acts as a surfactant). Otherwise, more force is required for cavitation (stronger, less consistent cleaning). Just a few drops is enough for a whole gallon.


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## LuxLuthor (Apr 18, 2010)

One other product which also has the same silky/shiny fabric came with my Maui Jim sunglasses, and is called Micro-Clair linked here. However, this Micro-Clair product has sewn the edges to keep from unraveling, so either keep the threads out of the reflector, or get the one I linked earlier from "Simply Good Stuff" website here, which addresses this issue thoughtfully by:



> Our *Microfiber CD, DVD and LCD Cloths* feature unsewn edges. In order to prevent scratching and fraying, the edges are thermally welded instead of sewn.


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## Skyeye (Apr 18, 2010)

You "no toucha da reflector" or it's a gonner eventually.:thumbsdow


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## LuxLuthor (Apr 18, 2010)

Skyeye said:


> You "no toucha da reflector" or it's a gonner eventually.:thumbsdow



That's what I thought until finding these silk-like cleaning wipes...but then there shouldn't be a need for repeated wipes.


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