Someone recently posted the following in the Criterion Dynascope email forum re: mirror cleaning, that I thought some of you might find useful/interesting. I had never heard of this stuff (and it's probably overkill, but what the heck)... "The best possible soap is Kodak PhotoFlo, which was designed as a last rinse for photographic film. It is the essence of all dish soaps, minus anything else. Still available from B&H and Adorama. Useful anytime you want to avoid water spots, like clear shower panels. It has to be diluted in distilled water 200:1 so a pint goes forever." FWIW,/Rich
Rich, I would not simply use PhotoFlo. Here is the best way to clean optical surfaces. I have done it at least twice and it's wonderful. http://www.arksky.org/asoclean.htm -- Joe From: Richard Tenney via Utah-Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com>; UVAA <uvaa@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, January 1, 2015 11:46 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Telescope mirror cleaning Someone recently posted the following in the Criterion Dynascope email forum re: mirror cleaning, that I thought some of you might find useful/interesting. I had never heard of this stuff (and it's probably overkill, but what the heck)... "The best possible soap is Kodak PhotoFlo, which was designed as a last rinse for photographic film. It is the essence of all dish soaps, minus anything else. Still available from B&H and Adorama. Useful anytime you want to avoid water spots, like clear shower panels. It has to be diluted in distilled water 200:1 so a pint goes forever." FWIW,/Rich _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
Rich, For some reason the URL won't link in the email. So go to the Arkansas Sky Observatory and click on "ASO Guides." This will bring up the important info on cleaning glass and mirrors. -- Joe From: Joe Bauman via Utah-Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> To: Richard Tenney <retenney@yahoo.com>; Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, January 2, 2015 12:00 AM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Telescope mirror cleaning Rich, I would not simply use PhotoFlo. Here is the best way to clean optical surfaces. I have done it at least twice and it's wonderful. http://www.arksky.org/asoclean.htm -- Joe From: Richard Tenney via Utah-Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com>; UVAA <uvaa@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, January 1, 2015 11:46 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Telescope mirror cleaning Someone recently posted the following in the Criterion Dynascope email forum re: mirror cleaning, that I thought some of you might find useful/interesting. I had never heard of this stuff (and it's probably overkill, but what the heck)... "The best possible soap is Kodak PhotoFlo, which was designed as a last rinse for photographic film. It is the essence of all dish soaps, minus anything else. Still available from B&H and Adorama. Useful anytime you want to avoid water spots, like clear shower panels. It has to be diluted in distilled water 200:1 so a pint goes forever." FWIW,/Rich _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
Interesting tip. Thanks for sharing. A couple of useful bits of information about Kodak PhotoFlo. It is used heavily in the film industry. Many major motion pictures are still being shot on Kodak film. A good example is the new Star Wars movie that will be released this year. If the photography suppliers stop carrying it, you may be able to pick it up at a motion picture supply company. The two main ingredients in PhotoFlo are (by weight): 35-40% Ethylene glycol 25-30% p-tert-octylphenoxy polyethoxy ethyl alcohol (Note, the above is the most concentrated kind. The less concentrated kind add more water.) Ethylene glycol is essentially anti-freeze. You should dispose of it just like you would normal anti-freeze. Doubly so if you get the high-concentration variety. I suspect most of the 'magic' is coming from the p-tert-octylphenoxy polyethoxy ethyl alcohol. This is a very powerful and (in this case) highly concentrated surfactant. Various forms of it are used when you need to get something _really_ clean. It is used in industrial cleaning at these concentrations. It is probably a good idea to avoid drinking any. ;-) Oh... if you have a dog (or any pet) be sure they can't get in to this stuff or lap it up if you accidentally spill some. -Ryan On Thu, January 1, 2015 23:46, Richard Tenney via UVAA wrote:
Someone recently posted the following in the Criterion Dynascope email forum re: mirror cleaning, that I thought some of you might find useful/interesting. Â I had never heard of this stuff (and it's probably overkill, but what the heck)... "The best possible soap is Kodak PhotoFlo, which was designed as a last rinse for photographic film. Â It is the essence of all dish soaps, minus anything else. Â Still available from B&H and Adorama. Â Useful anytime you want to avoid water spots, like clear shower panels. Â It has to be diluted in distilled water 200:1 so a pint goes forever." Â FWIW,/Rich _______________________________________________ UVAA mailing list UVAA@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uvaa
It is not enough to simply use Photoflo and water if you want to avoid streaking and other problems. Go to Arkansas Sky Observatory on the Internet and continue to their site about cleaning glass and mirrors. They have great, detailed instructions. Use of Photoflo is involved but pay attention to the proper proportions of the various materials. It works wonderfully. Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 4, 2015, at 3:43 AM, Ryan Simpkins <astro@ryansimpkins.com> wrote:
Interesting tip. Thanks for sharing.
A couple of useful bits of information about Kodak PhotoFlo. It is used heavily in the film industry. Many major motion pictures are still being shot on Kodak film. A good example is the new Star Wars movie that will be released this year. If the photography suppliers stop carrying it, you may be able to pick it up at a motion picture supply company.
The two main ingredients in PhotoFlo are (by weight): 35-40% Ethylene glycol 25-30% p-tert-octylphenoxy polyethoxy ethyl alcohol
(Note, the above is the most concentrated kind. The less concentrated kind add more water.)
Ethylene glycol is essentially anti-freeze. You should dispose of it just like you would normal anti-freeze. Doubly so if you get the high-concentration variety.
I suspect most of the 'magic' is coming from the p-tert-octylphenoxy polyethoxy ethyl alcohol. This is a very powerful and (in this case) highly concentrated surfactant. Various forms of it are used when you need to get something _really_ clean. It is used in industrial cleaning at these concentrations. It is probably a good idea to avoid drinking any. ;-)
Oh... if you have a dog (or any pet) be sure they can't get in to this stuff or lap it up if you accidentally spill some.
-Ryan
On Thu, January 1, 2015 23:46, Richard Tenney via UVAA wrote: Someone recently posted the following in the Criterion Dynascope email forum re: mirror cleaning, that I thought some of you might find useful/interesting. I had never heard of this stuff (and it's probably overkill, but what the heck)... "The best possible soap is Kodak PhotoFlo, which was designed as a last rinse for photographic film. It is the essence of all dish soaps, minus anything else. Still available from B&H and Adorama. Useful anytime you want to avoid water spots, like clear shower panels. It has to be diluted in distilled water 200:1 so a pint goes forever." FWIW,/Rich _______________________________________________ UVAA mailing list UVAA@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uvaa
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Here is a link to the article Joe mentioned: http://www.arksky.org/asoclean.htm -R On Sun, January 4, 2015 12:52, Joe via Utah-Astronomy wrote:
It is not enough to simply use Photoflo and water if you want to avoid streaking and other problems. Go to Arkansas Sky Observatory on the Internet and continue to their site about cleaning glass and mirrors. They have great, detailed instructions. Use of Photoflo is involved but pay attention to the proper proportions of the various materials. It works wonderfully.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 4, 2015, at 3:43 AM, Ryan Simpkins <astro@ryansimpkins.com> wrote:
Interesting tip. Thanks for sharing.
A couple of useful bits of information about Kodak PhotoFlo. It is used heavily in the film industry. Many major motion pictures are still being shot on Kodak film. A good example is the new Star Wars movie that will be released this year. If the photography suppliers stop carrying it, you may be able to pick it up at a motion picture supply company.
The two main ingredients in PhotoFlo are (by weight): 35-40% Ethylene glycol 25-30% p-tert-octylphenoxy polyethoxy ethyl alcohol
(Note, the above is the most concentrated kind. The less concentrated kind add more water.)
Ethylene glycol is essentially anti-freeze. You should dispose of it just like you would normal anti-freeze. Doubly so if you get the high-concentration variety.
I suspect most of the 'magic' is coming from the p-tert-octylphenoxy polyethoxy ethyl alcohol. This is a very powerful and (in this case) highly concentrated surfactant. Various forms of it are used when you need to get something _really_ clean. It is used in industrial cleaning at these concentrations. It is probably a good idea to avoid drinking any. ;-)
Oh... if you have a dog (or any pet) be sure they can't get in to this stuff or lap it up if you accidentally spill some.
-Ryan
On Thu, January 1, 2015 23:46, Richard Tenney via UVAA wrote: Someone recently posted the following in the Criterion Dynascope email forum re: mirror cleaning, that I thought some of you might find useful/interesting. I had never heard of this stuff (and it's probably overkill, but what the heck)... "The best possible soap is Kodak PhotoFlo, which was designed as a last rinse for photographic film. It is the essence of all dish soaps, minus anything else. Still available from B&H and Adorama. Useful anytime you want to avoid water spots, like clear shower panels. It has to be diluted in distilled water 200:1 so a pint goes forever." FWIW,/Rich _______________________________________________ UVAA mailing list UVAA@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uvaa
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
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Thanks, Ryan. For some reasons one of my devices wasn't pasting on URLs correctly. -- Joe From: Ryan Simpkins <astro@ryansimpkins.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Monday, January 5, 2015 4:08 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] [UVAA] Telescope mirror cleaning Here is a link to the article Joe mentioned: http://www.arksky.org/asoclean.htm -R On Sun, January 4, 2015 12:52, Joe via Utah-Astronomy wrote:
It is not enough to simply use Photoflo and water if you want to avoid streaking and other problems. Go to Arkansas Sky Observatory on the Internet and continue to their site about cleaning glass and mirrors. They have great, detailed instructions. Use of Photoflo is involved but pay attention to the proper proportions of the various materials. It works wonderfully.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 4, 2015, at 3:43 AM, Ryan Simpkins <astro@ryansimpkins.com> wrote:
Interesting tip. Thanks for sharing.
A couple of useful bits of information about Kodak PhotoFlo. It is used heavily in the film industry. Many major motion pictures are still being shot on Kodak film. A good example is the new Star Wars movie that will be released this year. If the photography suppliers stop carrying it, you may be able to pick it up at a motion picture supply company.
The two main ingredients in PhotoFlo are (by weight): 35-40% Ethylene glycol 25-30% p-tert-octylphenoxy polyethoxy ethyl alcohol
(Note, the above is the most concentrated kind. The less concentrated kind add more water.)
Ethylene glycol is essentially anti-freeze. You should dispose of it just like you would normal anti-freeze. Doubly so if you get the high-concentration variety.
I suspect most of the 'magic' is coming from the p-tert-octylphenoxy polyethoxy ethyl alcohol. This is a very powerful and (in this case) highly concentrated surfactant. Various forms of it are used when you need to get something _really_ clean. It is used in industrial cleaning at these concentrations. It is probably a good idea to avoid drinking any. ;-)
Oh... if you have a dog (or any pet) be sure they can't get in to this stuff or lap it up if you accidentally spill some.
-Ryan
On Thu, January 1, 2015 23:46, Richard Tenney via UVAA wrote: Someone recently posted the following in the Criterion Dynascope email forum re: mirror cleaning, that I thought some of you might find useful/interesting. I had never heard of this stuff (and it's probably overkill, but what the heck)... "The best possible soap is Kodak PhotoFlo, which was designed as a last rinse for photographic film. It is the essence of all dish soaps, minus anything else. Still available from B&H and Adorama. Useful anytime you want to avoid water spots, like clear shower panels. It has to be diluted in distilled water 200:1 so a pint goes forever." FWIW,/Rich _______________________________________________ UVAA mailing list UVAA@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uvaa
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_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
Mirror and lens cleaning is easy, and you don't need any uncommon materials to do it. I was a photo lab technician in a former life and am very familiar with PhotoFlo. You don't need it. All you need is a mild liquid dish soap and some ordinary distilled water for a final rinse. Guaranteed spot-and-streak free. I've been using these materials for decades with excellent results. There's no mystery or black art to it. Common sense and care during the process will yield a clean, streak and spot-free mirror with no coating damage. Some things don't need to be re-invented. Maybe optics cleaning would be a good subject for a club meeting one of these days. Next time I clean a mirror, I'll shoot some video and post it on You Tube or Photobucket.
Hmmm, there are so many possibilities. I could ask you to include it in your July presentation, as the subject is appropriate, but that is asking too much and I won't. It would be a great demonstration at SLAStrofest in May, or at a society meeting show and tell down the road. It's on the list of good ideas :) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Hards" <chuck.hards@gmail.com> To: "Joe Bauman" <josephmbauman@yahoo.com>, "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 6, 2015 5:27:25 AM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] [UVAA] Telescope mirror cleaning Mirror and lens cleaning is easy, and you don't need any uncommon materials to do it. I was a photo lab technician in a former life and am very familiar with PhotoFlo. You don't need it. All you need is a mild liquid dish soap and some ordinary distilled water for a final rinse. Guaranteed spot-and-streak free. I've been using these materials for decades with excellent results. There's no mystery or black art to it. Common sense and care during the process will yield a clean, streak and spot-free mirror with no coating damage. Some things don't need to be re-invented. Maybe optics cleaning would be a good subject for a club meeting one of these days. Next time I clean a mirror, I'll shoot some video and post it on You Tube or Photobucket. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
participants (6)
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Chuck Hards -
Joan Carman -
Joe -
Joe Bauman
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Richard Tenney -
Ryan Simpkins