Cleaning Exterior of Old cameras

<p>I'm needing to play with cameras other than digital. I just miss how they feel, look and shoot.</p>

<p>Can anyone please advise what to use to clean camera body exteriors? Also, what to stay away from that may cause damage.</p>

<p>Thank you, Doug</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks for posting, Doug... I want to know this, too.</p>

<p>Especially some guidance about cleaning different materials: (1) chrome, (2) painted surfaces, (3) leather, (4) artificial "leather", (5) glass, (6) mirrors.</p>

<p>--Marc</p>

<p>Neats foot oil is great for the leather, (real or artificial), but not for bellows. Silicon spray for bellows. But, probably not for the leather ones.</p>

<p>A cotton ball, Qtip, or microfiber cloth lightly moistened with distilled water, occasionally a dab of rubbing alcohol (propyl alcohol). everything dried thoroughly with a soft microfiber cloth. Optical glass & mirrors - proceed with caution as the mirror may be front silvered in which case you are screwed, glass typically has coatings which are delicate and can be rubbed off, scratched, or otherwise damaged. Neatsfoot oil needs to be polished out if you use it on leather...and if you use it on a leather strap, beware that the strap may significantly weaken over time.</p>

<p>A little bit of soap - perhaps "washing-up liquid", in parts of the Empire - and a damp cloth should clean most of the external bits quite safely, be they plated, painted, or whatever. Lens cleaner for anything glass, though you can often get away with window cleaner (Windex or whatever) for eyepieces, rangefinder windows, and such. I wouldn't clean mirrors unless you really know what you're getting into - you run the very real risk of removing the silvering on front-surface mirrors - or you have no choice, as on an old TLR that's collected gobs of dust.<br>

Things to avoid? Abrasives, "metal polish", power tools, and anything much stronger than soap or a gentle ammonia-based glass cleaner. Rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol, methylated spirits ("meths"), kerosene / white gas, acetone, proprietary "degreasers"... unless you're trying to refinish or overhaul your camera, these are all probably more dangerous than helpful.<br>

99% of the time, I clean old cameras with paper towels, cotton swabs, and Windex, and don't have any problems. It'll remove dust and dirt, which are the usual issues. I've yet to find a really effective way to remove tobacco residue from metalwork, though.</p>

 

<p>Newer glass can be cleaned with eyeglass cleaning products meant for coated lenses, but older lenses - dry lens paper, or dry microfiber eyeglass cloth. I also use the eyeglass cleaner on the body. For the leather, I'm kind of hooked on colorful replacement leather so don't take my advice.</p>

<p>The only cleaning product safe on most camera surfaces (or any surfaces really) is regular old fashioned Dawn dishwashing detergent. Unscented, not concentrated and not antibacterial. Anything containing alcohol will cause plastics to degrade faster.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>99% of the time, I clean old cameras with paper towels, cotton swabs, and Windex, and don't have any problems. It'll remove dust and dirt, which are the usual issues.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>This is what I use scrubbing lightly with an old soft toothbrush and then wipe it off with paper towels (on everything except glass). On glass I use a soft horsehair or similiar brush and then a 50-50 mix of Isoproply alchohol and water. Dry with microfiber cloth. Never had a problem.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Newer glass can be cleaned with eyeglass cleaning products meant for coated lenses, but older lenses - dry lens paper, or dry microfiber eyeglass cloth.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>My optician told me not to waste money on eyeglass cleaning products as they were nothing but a mixture of alchohol and water. (that's where I came up with that mixture).</p>

<p>For many exterior cleaning jobs, the "waterless hand sanitizers" applied to a paper towel or tissue will provide just enough solvent activity (the active ingredient is ethyl alcohol). Most of these seem to dry relatively free of residues, though I wouldn't use them on a lens glass surface. Try yours out first by evaporating a little on a glass surface. A <em>soft</em> toothbrush can also help if used cautiously. "Windex" is basically ammonia, and can be pretty strong if also used without care.<br>

<br /> Use any kind of solvent (alcohol, naphtha=lighter fluid) only in small amounts and never applied directly to the camera or lens tube itself. Try anything out first on some part of the camera that is not quite so visible. Strong solvents can have really negative effects on leather, leatherette, plastic, etc.<br /> "Dawn" type detergents can work, but sometimes these detergents can themselves be pretty hard to clean off, so if you use them, <em>really</em> teeny, tiny amounts with some water and never directly.<br /> I hear different stories about how good "neatsfoot oil" is for leather, and sometimes good old saddle soap works just as well, when the covering is real leather. Hint: many coverings are "leatherette" and not real leather.</p>

<p>Neetsfoot oil is also not a cleaner, it is a conditioner used for softening leather, saddle soap usally contains either neetsfoot oil or mink oil as well as a mild detergent. As JDM said many cameras are covered in "Leatherette" which is usually vinyl and neither neetsfoot oil or saddle soap are the best product to use on these. </p>

<p>Thank you all, I appreciate your help.</p>

<p>Doug</p>

 

<p>I like to use washing up liquid and a little water which I scrub up into a foam on the back of my hand with with an old toothbrush. The foam is then used on the toothbrush to clean all metal and leather parts of newly acquired but grubby camera bodies. I like this because it avoids excessive wetting so the camera dries quickly and there is no danger of water getting where it should not.<br>

I use ordinary neutral shoe polish on leather and metal surfaces. Black enamel looks great treated this way. For lens and finders I use Q tips and micro fibre cloth (the finest you can find) moistened with vodka.<br>

As for mirrored surfaces and rangefinders I heartily second the advice already offered to go very, very carfully.</p>

<p>Having a son in diapers, I find it convenient and effective to employ the baby wipes that I use for cleaning his butt (not the same ones of course) on cameras and most other equipment. </p>

<p>Are we talking about something like an AE-1, or an old folder? You can use a lot of things on the more modern cameras w/o worry, but on much older cameras I wouldn't use anything but a lightly dampened soft rag at first and see how that goes. Start in an out of the way place at first. Often these cameras have been "refinished" and you may end up taking off the blacking and getting a sort of mangy looking camera that looked much better before you started. Don't ask me how I know.</p>

<p>Thanks, everyone.</p>

<p>My AE-1 is pretty clean, as it is fairly new (got it in 1976). I'm mostly concerned with my early 1950s Exa, Exakta, Contaflex, as well as the somewhat newer Canonflex, Nikon F, and Contarex.</p>

<p>The older cameras were acquired very recently... I'm not quite THAT old. ;-)</p>

<p>--Marc</p>

<p>I have mostly vintage rangefinders and SLR's. I have been using a diluted, 1:1, vinegar-based window cleaner for inital wipe downs with an old cotton T-shirt. I use The Tannery Leather and Vinyl Care, very lightly sprayed onto a soft cotton cloth, on my leather and leatherette covered cameras to good effect. It really deep cleans and removes decades of hand and face oils and buffs up to a nice finish. Flitz metal polish for metal areas (no abrasives). Use it <em>very</em> sparingly and be sure to wipe it all off. It makes metal clean and shiny. Get the toothpicks and Q-tips out. Get the special camera cleaning Q-tips from MicroTools. Regular ones are "hairy" and shed alot. On lenses I use a hand blower first, then CLEAN micofiber cloths and, if needed, my breath. <strong>In all cases test a small area first and work slowly.</strong> Be aware that some old optics, front surface mirrors, focusing screens and cameras with fragile bellows need special, extremely careful cleaning thats best left to a pro.</p>

<p>John: I actually find more modern cameras more worrying to clean - you never really know just what kind of plastic or synthetic or whatever they used, or what's going to melt or etch it. Chromed brass and leather, by contrast, are reasonably indestructible, though the adhesives used on the leather, like lacquer or shellac, are often annoyingly touchy around solvents.<br>

Louis: Flitz *is* abrasive, and IMO really belongs nowhere near a camera, mainly because it's an incredible pain to completely remove and clean, being essentially oil-based. (It's marketed as "non-abrasive" because its abrasive particles (it's roughly one-quarter aluminum oxide and diatomaceous earth) are (very slightly) smaller than a certain fairly arbitrary definition of "abrasive".)</p>

<p><strong>(1) chrome</strong> , Windex or equivalent; use acid neutral detergent or soap solution. Household alcohol, ethyl or iso propyl. wipe later with clean moist cloth. Avoid spraying; instead use a moistened cloth or Q-tips. DO NOT polish chrome with Brasso or rubbing compound. [they will remove the thin chrome layer].<br>

<strong>(2) painted surfaces</strong> , Use plain mild soap water and wipe off quickly with clean water. DO NOT use alcohol or Windex type cleaners. They can attack the paint. Especially windex contains Ammonia that can bleach if left for some time.<br>

<strong>(3) leather</strong> , <strong>(4) artificial "leather"</strong> , can be cleaned with dry-cleaning petrol from laundry supplies. You can apply shoe polish; [or, Simoniz] wax based is better than cream based for shining. Upholstery people have special compounds for restoring old leather, leatherette, vinyl etc.<br>

<strong>(5) glass,</strong> [not the lens!]Windex or equivalent, Ammonia and liquid soap.<br>

<strong>(6) mirrors</strong> . Use only a blower to blow the dust; nothing else. They are silvered on the outside. Any liquid or rubbing by contact could damage the mirror. Some new mirrors are protected with coating. But it is difficult to tell which is coated and protected to what extent.<br>

Additionally, NEVER use any liquid to clean the Fresnel screen. It has grooves cut in plastic [in most cases] and the liquid will penetrate between the plastic layer and the glass and will damage the the screen, permanently. Use only a blower.<br>

These are from my own experience in restoring 50-60 year old cameras. They are recommended by learned authors like Ed Romney and T. Tomosy. Regards, sp.</p>

<p>In some old much-handled cameras the leather or leatherette comes discolored. I have restored these successfully with Nail Polish of appropriate color. Nail polish is thin, dries fast and does not leave brush stroke marks. When dried it can be wax polished too! sp.</p>

<p>I used some Method all surface non-toxic wipes on a few of my old cameras made out of plastic and bakelite. You can pick them up at Target and they can be seen here <a href="http://methodhome.com/Product.aspx?page=510">http://methodhome.com/Product.aspx?page=510</a> They certainly arn't something I would clean an expensive camera with....I usually put them over a tooth pick to get into the little nooks.</p>

<p>While we're on the subject, what's the correct way to clean ground glass? I have an ancient Premo #8 (3A format) with a ground glass that was so grungy it looked nearly black; so a few weeks ago I popped it out, washed it with dishwashing liquid, and now am the proud owner of a piece of clear glass. You try to focus and you find yourself looking right through the glass at the back of the lens standard instead of at an image on the glass. Looks like the frosting washed off -- I didn't know that was even possible. How the heck can you un-etch glass? Sure, it's easily enough replaced, but I'd like to know how not to do that again.</p>

<p>If it was really GROUND glass or SANDBLASTED Glass then you can NOT wash it off. What you may have had was possibly a coating for a screen that was sprayed to give it a Matt screen. In that case it may have been some plastic or varnish type material. You could have it sprayed again.<br>

If you want a permanent frosting then you may have to get your glass sand-blasted. Regards, sp.</p>