Re: Dirty mirror?

suave harv wrote:

Any answers or experiences anyone would like to share? 

Use a wire wool and plenty of elbow grease!

I'm joking of course. I had a grimy mirror on  my 10" Dob, and I just would
not believe that cleaning it wouldn't improve it. I took advice off this
forum, (I think it was natural soap flakes, nothing chemical, distilled
water and cotton buds ROLLED not Wiped). I spent ages trying to get the
grime off, and still a horrid film was on there.
So in the end I though 'f*ck it'  I wiped the mirror with cotton buds, in
the soap/distilled water. It shone like new!
Have I ruined it? Well, it may be scratched to buggery but it's clean.  I
refuse to believe a few scratches are worse than a mirror that covered with
a grimy film.
Or am I missing something? (I usually am!).

In this particular case you would be amazed just how dirty a mirror can be and still give very good images provided that the dirt is random fine particles or a uniform haze. You lose a bit of light but nothing really noticeable.

What causes serious damage to image contrast are long linear scratches or streaks and coherent patterns that cover significant areas of the mirror. It is all too easy to damage a mirror when cleaning it, and most beginners want to clean them too often.

NB It is worth cleaning ASAP if you get a direct hit of bird lime or bat droppings before the chemistry rots the surface (also if you are near to the sea).

I prefer a dish washing detergent and plenty of distilled water to wash the residuals away with. My tapwater is too hard even for rough washing.

Regards,
Martin Brown

.

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