What do you use to clean your cameras?

Hi,

everything is in the title...

I got some cameras which need to be cleaned (FED & Zorki 1). I would like to find a efficient but non abrasive solution.

Any idea?

Thanks!

Lighter fluid and toothbrush, method courtesy of Ulrich Witte. Works the best! For leather I use those preoiled shoe shine sponges, but it's better if it's not completely new so it's not very oily anymore.

Vlad

As Vlad wrote I use a tooth brush and lighter fluid to get rid of the dirt in the grooves of the winding and rewinding knobs. They are like new after that. It's also a good way to clean the gears of the winding and shutter mechanism. The camera looks perfect if you also clean the slit of the chromed screws with the toothbrush :-)

For the chromed parts I use NevrDull, rub them with only a little pressure and clean them dry with a piece of cotton or something like this (old t-shirts work best).

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

I agree...
but add :
for dirty grooves on buttons ,At first, use a needle or a point to unstick the grime and then do as Ulrich wrote.
To limit the attacks on the chrome-plated surfaces, I use an eraser containing metallic grains as we can found in "do it yourself" shop (sometime used to ease wounds on leather clothes)

Nail polish remover can be useful, but you need to be careful as it can lift paint, even WD40 and cotton buds can often clean things well as its mostly white spirit afaik, but definitely agree on the lighter fuel

Samsung GX-10,too many Russian Lenses, A lot of Zenits, an Almaz 103 a few Yashica,and finally a Minox35GT

yes richard , I use it sometime too.

So,if I can dismantle some parts , I use an Ultrasonic whashing machine (see "CONRAD" Shop or so) usually used for glasses or jewelry cleaning.

Thanks guys for your comments!

To be precise, I an looking for solutions for chrome-plated surfaces. For internal cleaning, I use mostly alcohol, toothpick and cotton swabs.

I use brasso for chrome but be very careful it's abrasive

I use Dremel (that small drill like thing) and car chrome polish.

Best regards,
Juhani

Alain, right, to use a needle or something like that to remove the hardened dirt saves a lot of time for the toothbrush. I also have tried to use an ultrasonic cleaner but it does not work as I expected, it's good for my glasses but it does not remove all of the dirt on the knobs. The toothbrush method with lighter fluid is much faster.

Nicolas, as written before, NevrDull works very good for me. You can get it in a motor bike store, the bikers use it to polish the chrome on their machines. A box with about 200g of it costs here 5 or 6 Euros and lasts really long. You only need very little amount of it.
But don't rub too hard, as I remenber Bill says it could be abrasive to the chrome on Contax/Kievs but I haven't had any bad experience on my FEDs and Zorkis until now. Their chrome seems to be harder and thicker.

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

" Fed/Zorki chrome seems to be harder and thicker."

yes indeed ! I often used a copper/brass brush screwed on my drill machine whithout problems (especially on button grooves).
As said Ulrich , sometimes Ultrasonic is not so fast as brushes.

As for me, lighter fluid and toothbrush, thanks to Ulrich.
For the old grease inside, cotton and light naphta (essence C in France). If necessary, WD 40 for the screws of the lens. Much less than for the winches of my boat!!

Amitiйs. Jacques.

My 2 cents is that I found that mix of lighter fluid and alcohol work slightly better then lighter fluid along.