How to perfectly clean a reflector (with cotton wool)

This topic has been discussed several times, however from reading the forum I have feeling that sometimes people in fear of scratching the reflector rather leave a small fingerprint or dirt on it than try to clean it.
I also received SMO reflector with fingerprint - and still do not understand why someone needs to touch mirror part of the reflector, but whatever - I like the reflector to be perfectly clean.

So here is how to clean dirt or fingerprint from reflector:
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  • first - be carefull, never (accidentally) touch mirror part of reflector with fingers, or clothes, okay now
  • rinse the reflector under warmish water, this will remove any hard parts that could scratch the surface
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  • pour liquid soap on the mirror part, it’s enough just where the fingerprint is
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  • take more amount of new cotton wool, (maybe like half of your fist, depends of the reflector size) and also pour some liquid soap with a little water on it, form the wool a bit in to the shape of reflector
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  • now this is the most important part where you have to be carefull - gently wipe the reflector by circle and up/down movements, but only wool can touch the surface!!! Do not press on the wool, it has enough contact with mirror surface by itself and it will remove fingerprints in combination with liquid soap. If you do it like this it won’t leave any even micro-scratch, so no worries.
    This is why you should take more amount of wool, so you can hold the wool outside the reflector. But wool is very soft so it is okay if you go inside the reflector with fingers, just don’t accidentally touch it.
    If you see you took not enough wool - it’s not filling the reflector - just take more and start again. There needs to be right amount taken in order to wool self-pressure to surface and also good grip.
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  • after cleaning, rinse the reflector under water again, then use compressed air to remove rest of the water from mirror surface. This is only good option how to remove last drops of the water, otherwise water will leave marks after evaporation. Or use distilled water as last rinse and leave small drops evaporate.
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    That’s it, I did this ‘procedure’ several times and always with 100% success so it should work for everyone too. If you have any tips please comment, we need clean reflectors! :slight_smile:

I just take the reflector, spray it liberally with Windex, then spray it with distilled water and use a can of compressed air to dry it completely. Seems to work well for the reflectors I use.

+1 i used to try all sorts of tint safe glass cleaners with expensive scratch free microfibers til i settled on a method similar to this.

I like this better: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?330011-vinhnguyen54-How-Clean-A-P60-Reflector

I tried it and it worked. Of course I cleaned everything with water (normal water) afterwards and blew the drops off the reflector with compressed air.. but the cleaning part went really well. :D

This is good idea to use just sprays! I didn't tried this as I thought that spray itself could not clean fingerprint. Does the Windex spray remove also fingerprint?

No way, use the tongue?? :D Does it really works? Now this is really interesting method!

Effectiveness of these methods varies from reflector to reflector. Some reflectors can develop haziness and pitting just by being cleaned with liquid cleaners or even just distilled water. IMO the best thing to do is to leave reflectors alone.

If I get a cat do you think its tongue would do a better job at licking the reflector clean?

Seriously? :smiley:

If you persuade the cat, take some pics!

Sorry guys. It was an attempt at humour. There is some good points here. I have a HD2010 at the moment that the lens looks fine until you turn it on and then it has a smokey look to it. I tried detergent and using my finger but no luck. I will have to try the windex.

Well, cats are very good at cleaning bowls! :D It might not be so difficult, use milk as first rinse....and a hungry cat :D

Cats tongues might be too rough..

I apologise in advance.

Oh no my poor pussy licked my reflector and now its a zombie cat.

Post 10 here from viffer750 has another way of cleaning reflectors. https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/12089

I use all the same equipment I use to clean the lenses on my telescope, which is basically just a brush and a cloth (made of the appropriate materials of course).

Easy, just Rub Some Bacon on It! Cat will be licking it ’till the cows come home. Then it will be licking the cows.

I just realized that my X9 reflector has some kind of haze near the emitter. I did know after accidentally looking at the emitter when it's on when observing the cloudy lens (something that I never do before). I try from blowing air with mouth and lenspen and lens brush. all they did are adding more particle on the reflector, haha..

So, I read some reflector cleaning thread and without thinking bleach it with soapy water and rinse it with toilet jetwasher, also rub liquid soap on the haze part. under a regular 14w lamp, it shines so nice. when put back to the torch, nothing change, still bad as before (some smudges disappear though :) ).

I will try this cotton woll method too.

But, anybody know why the reflector become hazy in the first place?

I learned the hard way NOT TO USE COMPRESSED AIR cans when dealing with cleaning reflectors and lenses.

The problem with compressed air, is it's not just the air that comes out, but also the accelerant which provides the pressure.

A small amount of residue is left behind.

If you are compulsive about keeping your lenses and reflectors clean, and care about the tiniest imperfections, you will see the effects of this residue. Most people aren't that crazy... but then most people are also not flashaholics.

Consistently I find the best way to remove fingerprint scratches, is to use some 90% (not 70% or lower) isopropyl alcohol, and a lint free, microfiber towel. The alcohol easily breaks down the oils left by greasy fingers.

If you must wash, and use water. Distilled is best. To dry, shake it dry as much as you can, then use a blow dryer, at a distance, and on a low heat setting. Or even a desk fan will do just fine.

There is also a ton of purpose made cleaning devices used in photography... the little brushes work great to get a pesky piece of dust off the reflector.

LOL, I like the tongue part! (That’s what she said!)

There is truth in it though, since human saliva is one of the best organic solvents in the world (I read this somewhere, can’t quote on it, sorry.).
Anybody remembers that MAD TV Spishak Granma’s Spit Cleaner commercial? Can’t find it online but damn that stuff works! krkrkrrr….

So is stomach acid....

We continue talking about those guys panties and somebody is gonna eventually puke on his reflector. I’m requesting beamshots of that in advance!