Cleaning mirrors

From Scope F70076

I don't know much about cleaning the mirrors, and I have only cleaned the secondary mirror. It was easy and fast, really, though I cannot assure you that I did it in the most correct way, but taking care of such telescope cannot be too complicated, so we should use easy solutions.

The mirrors and lenses have to be cleaned with alcohol, a one that is completely clean and has no other ingredients in it. Better to just pour it to the mirrors and not wipe, let it dry by itself. What everyone can get is isopropyl alcohol, better if it's more pure. I get mine from the stores where they sell electronics.

A medical cotton can be used for wiping, one should not use any pressure at all. But some medical cotton may contain tiny pieces of glass or other abrasive material in it, it's better not to wipe at all.

When I cleaned the secondary mirror, I didn't have distilled water, thus there remained some residue which one can barely see only in a strong light, but that has not caused any problems when looking through the telescope. For cleaning the primary mirror, a distilled water would still be a must I think. I bought distilled water from the drug store, distilled water is extremely cheap.

The most important is not to touch the surface of the mirror never. Also the mirrors should be cleaned as rarely as ever possible, or never if there is no serious reason. Optics surface is a very subtle thing, it must be exact to the degree close to the wave length of light, thus any residue on that surface is a great impurity.