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Had a chat with a retired repairer at the swap meet that made me question my cleaning habits.
He told me he stopped using compressed air on old shutters twenty years ago after it blew fine grit into the bearings of a Leica M3. I've been doing it for a decade without a second thought. What's your go-to method for cleaning delicate mechanisms without making things worse?
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julia_carter706mo ago
My grandpa was a watchmaker and he swore by a soft sable brush and lighter fluid for cleaning tiny parts. I still use his old brush on my camera shutters, just gentle sweeps to lift the dust away. That compressed air can really force gunk where you don't want it.
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campbell.elliot6mo ago
Lighter fluid on camera parts? That sounds like a fire waiting to happen.
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annanguyen6mo ago
My uncle used that exact method on his old Leica lenses. He'd dip a tiny brush in lighter fluid, let it almost dry, then flick away the dust without any residue. That old-school approach just works on delicate mechanisms.
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