How to Clean a Telescope Eyepiece in Just Six Simple Steps

If you are thinking of cleaning a telescope eyepiece, then you might be a little worried about how to clean it. A very important part of a telescope is the eyepiece. The eyepiece becomes dirty if it is used indiscriminately and because of this, it provides a degraded image.

So, it is important to clean your telescope's eyepieces whenever they are dirty. But if you do not know the rules of cleaning the eyepiece properly and clean it incorrectly, then the chances of reversal are high. You may damage something while cleaning.

But now there is no reason to worry. In this article, we are going to share with you how to clean a telescope eyepiece safely and effectively. So let's find out.

How to Clean a Telescope Eyepiece?

You need to take some precautions before cleaning the eyepiece of the telescope. Clean it frequently as it is more commonly used with more fingerprints, nasal pressure, and eyelash grease. Take some time and carefully clean it well with a clean-kit without any damage.

Below are some tips on what tools are needed to clean a telescope's eyepiece and how to do it.

Cleaning materials

1. Table
2. Photography brush
3. Squeeze bulb air blower
4. Isopropyl alcohol
5. Cotton swabs
6. Microfibre cloth
7. White bright light
8. Lens cleaner (Lenspen)

Now let's come to the direct point of the cleaning method.

Step-1: Select a safe place

To clean the eyepiece first, choose a place free from the dust where light can come. And make sure that there is no red or green light but white light. Because if you clean it in white light, you will see grit particles and they will no longer be able to scratch the lens. Take a table and place the eyepiece and the cleaning items on it. Wear thin cotton gloves so that your fingerprints do not stick to the eyepiece while cleaning.

Step-2: Use a brush

After placing eyepieces and the cleaning utensils on the table, use a photographic Great Camel Hair Brush to remove the loose dust particles on the eyepiece. If you have a lens pen, you will find a brush on one side of the lens pen.

And if you want to buy a separate brush, you can buy a photography camel hairbrush from any camera shop. With this brush, first, you need to shake off the dust thoroughly around the eyepiece.

Step-3: Use an air blower

At this stage, you need to take a squeeze bulb air blower. Because even after cleaning the eyepiece with a brush, some loose-dust, and large-dust remain. So to clean them, use a squeeze bulb air blower and gently press the eye part of the head towards the part of the eyepiece that you want to clean.

The air that will come out from this air blower will help to blow away the dust attached to the eyepiece. Even if you notice some stubborn dust remains, gently brush the top and the outside of the lens with a camel hairbrush.

Step-4: Use cotton swabs, alcohol, and microfiber cloth

When you can remove all the visible dust or dirt from the eyepiece, you can move to the next step. In this step, pour a little alcohol from a bottle of cleaning alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) into a small container. Then soak one end of a cotton swab in it and start swabbing gently with it.

In this way, after swabbing one side of the eyepiece, you have to wet the other end of the cotton on the other side and swab it. And when you swab the lens on both sides of the eyepiece, use different ends of cotton to swab for different lenses.

Once the entire eyepiece has been swabbed, gently wipe the entire part of the eyepiece by applying gentle pressure with a microfibre cloth.

Step-5: Use white bright light

Once the eyepiece is completely wiped with a microfibre cloth, then check if the eyepiece is free from dust and dirt. Keep in mind that you should test the eyepiece under good white light to have a clear view. If you still find that there is a small amount of dust left, re-soak it in a cotton swab and wipe it off with a microfiber cloth and check the light again.

Step-6: Use a lens-cleaner pen

Finally, now you need to use a lens pen as a lens cleaner. A lens pen has a handy retractable dust removal brush on one side and a special non-liquid cleaning element (invisible carbon compound) on the other side. We have already told you what to do with the lens pen dust removal brush.

Now use the special non-liquid cleaning element of the lens. Open the cap on this special invisible carbon compound. Then place this carbon compound on the lens of the eyepiece to remove other dirt, including fingerprint oils, from the lens.

Your eyepiece is now completely clean. Put the cap on the lens pen and keep it in a safe place. Remember, with this lens pen, you can clean the lens about 500 times. Remove the cleaned eyepiece from there and put it in the eyepiece box or eyepiece bag.

Note

Now you know what you need to know about how to clean the telescope's eyepiece. Remember that you can only perform the cleanup by following these steps when the eyepiece needs to be cleaned. But if your eyepiece does not have dirt, dust, or oily smudges, it is best not to clean it unnecessarily.

Conclusion

Take the matter of cleaning the eyepiece of the telescope very seriously. Be careful when cleaning. The eyepiece of a telescope is more prone to dirt, dust, and oil because it is more commonly used. If you clean with a brush, air-blower, cotton, microfibre cloth, cleaning alcohol, then there is no possibility of damage while cleaning. And if your eyepiece is perfectly clean, you can easily view bright, sharp, and stretched images through it.

We have explained in detail how to clean the eyepiece. You can ask us if you are interested to know more. And if you think we need to add something more, let us know by commenting here.