Calculators
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To clean a calculator, first disconnect any electrical cord and move it out of the way. Then thoroughly dust both sides with an eye shadow brush, being careful to brush away lint and accumulated dust or dirt. If your calculator is superfuzzy with lint, brush it off with a soft, dry toothbrush.
Keeping keys clean can be difficult. Because fingers transfer all kinds of gunk--such as newspaper ink and sticky sugar--the keys are like magnets for lint and dirt. To get rid of anything that doesn't belong, dip a cotton swab into small amount of rubbing alcohol. Press the swab onto a paper towel to eliminate excess alcohol. (Who knows what kind of numbers your calculator will come up if you have liquid seeping into the works.) Swab each key lightly. For the bigger surfaces, such as the back of the calculator, you can use a cotton ball, dipped in alcohol, to get rid of unsightly dirt.
Camcorders
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Most camera professionals will tell you not to clean your own camcorder. There are too many integral little parts that are easily damaged. If you mess up while cleaning your camcorder, most camera repair shops will consider it "tamper damage," and they won't take responsbility for any subsequent problems. But there are times when it just makes good sense to take a dab at it--when your toddler splashes juice on it, for instance, or when you've bought home a little of the beach in your camera case.
Simple SOLUTIONS
Clean Tapes Equal a Clean Machine >
As a precaution, keep your tapes dust free. since it's better not to clean your camcorder at home, you can stretch the time between professional cleanings by storing your tapes in a box.
Treat outdoor exposure to salt, moisture, or dirt as soon as your can. Reporters who cover extreme weather, such as hurricanes, know you quickly exposure to elements, especially to salt, erodes and rusts a camera and its workings. Although you don't want to go inside the camera to clean it, you can do what the reporters do: Dampen a clean, soft cloth or towel with rubbing alcohol and wipe the surfaces thoroughly. You don't want the cloth to be saturated--just damp enough to remove that fresh coat of goo or grime. Make sure that the dock where you local the cassette tape stays closed.
When cleaning a lens, it's best not to touch it or a viewfinder with anything other than lens tissue, available for little money anyplace that sells camera equipment. Household facial tissues frequently contain additives, such as lanolin, that you don't want on the lens. The only other acceptable alternative is to use a soft, natural-bristled brush (an artist's brush or a makeup brush). If you use the brush, make sure it's new. Even brushes that have been washed can contain residue that you don't want to transfer to your lens and viewfinder.
To clean the heads in a camcorder, go to the store where you bought your camcorder and pick up a dry cleaning tape that is compatible with your camera. Simply load the tape, press Play, and let it run for the recommended amount of time.
Cameos
When a tape sits out unsheathed, dust gets into the grooves. Then, when you load it in the camera, it introduces dust to the inside of the camera, it introduces dust to the inside of the camera. A plastic case or a cardboard box helps keep tapes dust free.
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The intricate carvings and grooves that make cameos so charming provide handy hiding places for grime that can dull their beauty. Cameos are made of coral, resin, certain stones, and, most commonly, certain seashells. Different colored layers provide the characteristic contrast between the
relief carving and its background. These are delicate materials, and they need protection from dirt and dryness.
Cleaning a cameo is simple, no matter how complex the design. A dusting periodically with a soft-bristled brush will help keep particles from setting into crevices. The brushing may be followed by rinsing with warm water and drying with a soft, lint-free cloth.
Giving a cameo a soapy bath about twice a year. Never use a harsh cleaner. Put a few drops of mild dish detergent or a gentle wash detergent such as Woolite into a bowl with about 2 cups of warm water. Swish the cameo around, wet a soft toothbrush, and scrub--gently. Never let cameos soak, because soaking could damage the shell. After the soapy bath, rinse the cameo in warm water and dry it with a soft cloth.
Moisture a cameo after its bath. A cameo that is too dry may become cracked or chipped. Use a fine oil, such as olive oil, mineral oil, or baby oil--or follow an old-fashioned practice of using oil of wintergreen, available in drugstores, to give your cameo a fresh and surprising scent. Use a cotton swab to apply a little oil to the surface. Let it sit overnight, then wipe off any oil you can still see with a soft cloth.
Store cameos in a soft cloth or lined box away from heat and light.
Cameras
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cameras are compact bundles of extremely delicate parts. Cleaning them without doing damage in the process is a daunting task. What you use to clean them is also somewhat controversial. If you want endless discussion of the pros and cons of every known camera cleaning product, you can find them on the Internet. Search under the name of your camera and the name of the product. you're interested in.
To clean the lens, first examine it with a magnifying glass. Any kind of foreign material, including gunk you can't see with the naked eye, will mar your pictures and may damage your lens.
To get rid of dust or dirt on the lens, start with air. Photo shops sell a blower brush, which, as the name suggests, combines a brush with a blower. The blower on most of them is actually ineffective. Better is a bulb syringe, which can you get at any drugstore. Still more effective is a can of compressed air. Also known as "canned air," it's an aerosol can containing air under pressure and a nozzle extension. Some say canned air gives too big a blast, but it is widely used. One brand of canned air is Dust-off, available for about $5 at stores that sell photo supples, computers, or
electronics.
If your lens is removable, check the back end occasionally and clean it in the same way as the front.
To remove persistent specks that don't respond to the air treatment, brush them away with a blower brush or soft watercolor paintbrush. You can also use a cleaning cloth. But you don't want to move specks around--that will only damage the lens or its coatings. So take care in choosing a cloth. The best is a microfiber lens cleaning cloth which can also be used on the body of the camera and can be washed and reused. These cloths trap particles among their fibers rather than on the surface. One example is the Micro Optic Cleaner cloth, available for about $7 from photo shops. If you can't lay your hands on a lens cleaning cloth, go to plan B: lens tissues, also available at camera stores.
To remove fingerprints or really persistant specks, you may need to use lens cleaning fluid. There are many types on the market. Check your owner's manual for recommendations. If your camera has a plastic lens, make sure the lens cleaner is suitable for plastic as well as glass. Use a few drops of lens cleaning fluid on a microfiber cloth--never directly on the lens--and clean with a light, circular motion. Fingerprints should be cleaned immediately in this way. If left for a long time, fingerprints can actually etch themselves into the glass.
Fingerprints are finger food for glass mold, a type that doesn't need as much moisture as most other molds need. The mold will also feed on dust, and it can destroy the surface of a lens. Using your camera in the sunshine every so often will usually be enough to prevent glass mold. If you aren't going to be using your camera for a long time, take it out of the case. Camera cases can build up moisture and grow mold quite easily.
To clean inside the camera, use compressed air and a soft water color brush to banish dirt from the film chamber, followed by a gentle wiping with a microfiber cloth. Don't forget the inside of the lens cap and the inside of your camera bag.
When cleaning a digital camera, make sure it is unplugged before you start. One new product, a lens pen, combines a retractable brush on one end with a cleaning tip on the other. There are various models on the market at prices ranging from $5 to $15. They are especially recommended for digital cameras.
Keep It simple, and Everything Will Click
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed Romney has made a career of restoring really grungy cameras, sometimes using such things as diesel starting fluid as cleaning agents. He has helped foster a growing interest in antique cameras and their restoration. His advice to the average amateur photographer: Don't clean it--keep it clean.
Romney began his love affair with cameras in the 1930s, helping out in his father's photography studio. In 1969 he started his camera restoration business out of his home in Drayton, south Carolina. After cleaning and repairing thousands of old cameras, he now writes about that topic (and others) and sells his books from his website, www.edromney.com.
For maintenance, Romney subscribes to the basics of cleaning a camera, but that's about it. "It's a pity to do unnecessary things to a camera," Romney says. "More lenses are destroyed by cleaning than anything else. Overpolishing a lens is an awful thing to do."
He uses clean rags and a little Windex on lenses. He has no objection to special lens cleaning fluids or cleaning cloths, but he finds them unnecessary. "And there are so many, and the names keep changing,' he says. "A lot of it is a little bit too cultish."
He likes treating leather parts with neat's-foot oil and uses a rag dabbed with silicone spray--"I use the cheapest"--on the body.
Romney is worried about the mold that can attack lenses and literally eat them. If you look at the lens with a magnifying glass and see "hairy things," it's got mold, he says. To kill it, he wipes the lens with a rag dipped in a 50-50 mixture of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide.
More cameras are thrown away because they are dirty than because they are broken, he maintains.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To clean a calculator, first disconnect any electrical cord and move it out of the way. Then thoroughly dust both sides with an eye shadow brush, being careful to brush away lint and accumulated dust or dirt. If your calculator is superfuzzy with lint, brush it off with a soft, dry toothbrush.
Keeping keys clean can be difficult. Because fingers transfer all kinds of gunk--such as newspaper ink and sticky sugar--the keys are like magnets for lint and dirt. To get rid of anything that doesn't belong, dip a cotton swab into small amount of rubbing alcohol. Press the swab onto a paper towel to eliminate excess alcohol. (Who knows what kind of numbers your calculator will come up if you have liquid seeping into the works.) Swab each key lightly. For the bigger surfaces, such as the back of the calculator, you can use a cotton ball, dipped in alcohol, to get rid of unsightly dirt.
Camcorders
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most camera professionals will tell you not to clean your own camcorder. There are too many integral little parts that are easily damaged. If you mess up while cleaning your camcorder, most camera repair shops will consider it "tamper damage," and they won't take responsbility for any subsequent problems. But there are times when it just makes good sense to take a dab at it--when your toddler splashes juice on it, for instance, or when you've bought home a little of the beach in your camera case.
Simple SOLUTIONS
Clean Tapes Equal a Clean Machine >
As a precaution, keep your tapes dust free. since it's better not to clean your camcorder at home, you can stretch the time between professional cleanings by storing your tapes in a box.
Treat outdoor exposure to salt, moisture, or dirt as soon as your can. Reporters who cover extreme weather, such as hurricanes, know you quickly exposure to elements, especially to salt, erodes and rusts a camera and its workings. Although you don't want to go inside the camera to clean it, you can do what the reporters do: Dampen a clean, soft cloth or towel with rubbing alcohol and wipe the surfaces thoroughly. You don't want the cloth to be saturated--just damp enough to remove that fresh coat of goo or grime. Make sure that the dock where you local the cassette tape stays closed.
When cleaning a lens, it's best not to touch it or a viewfinder with anything other than lens tissue, available for little money anyplace that sells camera equipment. Household facial tissues frequently contain additives, such as lanolin, that you don't want on the lens. The only other acceptable alternative is to use a soft, natural-bristled brush (an artist's brush or a makeup brush). If you use the brush, make sure it's new. Even brushes that have been washed can contain residue that you don't want to transfer to your lens and viewfinder.
To clean the heads in a camcorder, go to the store where you bought your camcorder and pick up a dry cleaning tape that is compatible with your camera. Simply load the tape, press Play, and let it run for the recommended amount of time.
Cameos
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The intricate carvings and grooves that make cameos so charming provide handy hiding places for grime that can dull their beauty. Cameos are made of coral, resin, certain stones, and, most commonly, certain seashells. Different colored layers provide the characteristic contrast between the
relief carving and its background. These are delicate materials, and they need protection from dirt and dryness.
Cleaning a cameo is simple, no matter how complex the design. A dusting periodically with a soft-bristled brush will help keep particles from setting into crevices. The brushing may be followed by rinsing with warm water and drying with a soft, lint-free cloth.
Giving a cameo a soapy bath about twice a year. Never use a harsh cleaner. Put a few drops of mild dish detergent or a gentle wash detergent such as Woolite into a bowl with about 2 cups of warm water. Swish the cameo around, wet a soft toothbrush, and scrub--gently. Never let cameos soak, because soaking could damage the shell. After the soapy bath, rinse the cameo in warm water and dry it with a soft cloth.
Moisture a cameo after its bath. A cameo that is too dry may become cracked or chipped. Use a fine oil, such as olive oil, mineral oil, or baby oil--or follow an old-fashioned practice of using oil of wintergreen, available in drugstores, to give your cameo a fresh and surprising scent. Use a cotton swab to apply a little oil to the surface. Let it sit overnight, then wipe off any oil you can still see with a soft cloth.
Store cameos in a soft cloth or lined box away from heat and light.
Cameras
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cameras are compact bundles of extremely delicate parts. Cleaning them without doing damage in the process is a daunting task. What you use to clean them is also somewhat controversial. If you want endless discussion of the pros and cons of every known camera cleaning product, you can find them on the Internet. Search under the name of your camera and the name of the product. you're interested in.
To clean the lens, first examine it with a magnifying glass. Any kind of foreign material, including gunk you can't see with the naked eye, will mar your pictures and may damage your lens.
To get rid of dust or dirt on the lens, start with air. Photo shops sell a blower brush, which, as the name suggests, combines a brush with a blower. The blower on most of them is actually ineffective. Better is a bulb syringe, which can you get at any drugstore. Still more effective is a can of compressed air. Also known as "canned air," it's an aerosol can containing air under pressure and a nozzle extension. Some say canned air gives too big a blast, but it is widely used. One brand of canned air is Dust-off, available for about $5 at stores that sell photo supples, computers, or
electronics.
If your lens is removable, check the back end occasionally and clean it in the same way as the front.
To remove persistent specks that don't respond to the air treatment, brush them away with a blower brush or soft watercolor paintbrush. You can also use a cleaning cloth. But you don't want to move specks around--that will only damage the lens or its coatings. So take care in choosing a cloth. The best is a microfiber lens cleaning cloth which can also be used on the body of the camera and can be washed and reused. These cloths trap particles among their fibers rather than on the surface. One example is the Micro Optic Cleaner cloth, available for about $7 from photo shops. If you can't lay your hands on a lens cleaning cloth, go to plan B: lens tissues, also available at camera stores.
To remove fingerprints or really persistant specks, you may need to use lens cleaning fluid. There are many types on the market. Check your owner's manual for recommendations. If your camera has a plastic lens, make sure the lens cleaner is suitable for plastic as well as glass. Use a few drops of lens cleaning fluid on a microfiber cloth--never directly on the lens--and clean with a light, circular motion. Fingerprints should be cleaned immediately in this way. If left for a long time, fingerprints can actually etch themselves into the glass.
Fingerprints are finger food for glass mold, a type that doesn't need as much moisture as most other molds need. The mold will also feed on dust, and it can destroy the surface of a lens. Using your camera in the sunshine every so often will usually be enough to prevent glass mold. If you aren't going to be using your camera for a long time, take it out of the case. Camera cases can build up moisture and grow mold quite easily.
To clean inside the camera, use compressed air and a soft water color brush to banish dirt from the film chamber, followed by a gentle wiping with a microfiber cloth. Don't forget the inside of the lens cap and the inside of your camera bag.
When cleaning a digital camera, make sure it is unplugged before you start. One new product, a lens pen, combines a retractable brush on one end with a cleaning tip on the other. There are various models on the market at prices ranging from $5 to $15. They are especially recommended for digital cameras.
Keep It simple, and Everything Will Click
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed Romney has made a career of restoring really grungy cameras, sometimes using such things as diesel starting fluid as cleaning agents. He has helped foster a growing interest in antique cameras and their restoration. His advice to the average amateur photographer: Don't clean it--keep it clean.
Romney began his love affair with cameras in the 1930s, helping out in his father's photography studio. In 1969 he started his camera restoration business out of his home in Drayton, south Carolina. After cleaning and repairing thousands of old cameras, he now writes about that topic (and others) and sells his books from his website, www.edromney.com.
For maintenance, Romney subscribes to the basics of cleaning a camera, but that's about it. "It's a pity to do unnecessary things to a camera," Romney says. "More lenses are destroyed by cleaning than anything else. Overpolishing a lens is an awful thing to do."
He uses clean rags and a little Windex on lenses. He has no objection to special lens cleaning fluids or cleaning cloths, but he finds them unnecessary. "And there are so many, and the names keep changing,' he says. "A lot of it is a little bit too cultish."
He likes treating leather parts with neat's-foot oil and uses a rag dabbed with silicone spray--"I use the cheapest"--on the body.
Romney is worried about the mold that can attack lenses and literally eat them. If you look at the lens with a magnifying glass and see "hairy things," it's got mold, he says. To kill it, he wipes the lens with a rag dipped in a 50-50 mixture of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide.
More cameras are thrown away because they are dirty than because they are broken, he maintains.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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