Opticlean Polymer--where to get an equivalent

[Phil Hobbs]

Hi, all,

I went to buy some Opticlean strippable polymer for cleaning lenses, and
whadda ya know, it's gone, along with the company (Bradford Labs in
Milpitas) that made it.

It's a solution of polyvinyl alcohol in some polar solvent like methanol
or stabilized tetrohydrofuran, and it's great stuff. You put it on at
the rate of about 1/4 teaspoon per square inch, wait a little while for
it to dry, and strip it off with tape, taking fingerprints and dust with it.

Before I go trying to make my own, does anybody have a source for good
quality strippable lens cleaner?

Thanks

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

[Glen Walpert]

On Mon, 15 Jun 2015 17:49:59 -0400, Phil Hobbs wrote:

> Hi, all,
>
> I went to buy some Opticlean strippable polymer for cleaning lenses, and
> whadda ya know, it's gone, along with the company (Bradford Labs in
> Milpitas) that made it.
>
> It's a solution of polyvinyl alcohol in some polar solvent like methanol
> or stabilized tetrohydrofuran, and it's great stuff. You put it on at
> the rate of about 1/4 teaspoon per square inch, wait a little while for
> it to dry, and strip it off with tape, taking fingerprints and dust with
> it.
>
> Before I go trying to make my own, does anybody have a source for good
> quality strippable lens cleaner?
>
> Thanks
>
> Phil Hobbs

I did a bit of a search because I could not recall the name collodion, a
readily available peelable coating often used for optical surface
cleaning, sometimes with coating loss, probably exactly what you were
trying to avoid with Opticlean, and I stumbled upon:

<http://www.comaroptics.com/components/filters/adhesives-and-cleaning/
first-contact-polymer-film-cleaner>

"'First Contact' liquid replaces the 'Opticlean' liquid which is no
longer available. The product is virtually identical and is equally
effective. ..."

[Phil Hobbs]

Thanks. Yikes, $50 for 15 ml--that's about three lenses' worth, at the
usual quarter teaspoon per square inch. $12,600 per gallon, all for
poly(vinyl alcohol) dissolved in some polar solvent, like Elmer's Glue
in Everclear.

IIRC the stuff in stabilized tetrahydrofuran worked considerably better
than the alcohol stuff.

I'll probably have to figure out a recipe with some THF and PVA from
Fisher Scientific. Or maybe just mix Elmer's with some acetone to make
it dry faster. I have both of those in stock, so I'll try that first.

Irritating.

Cheers

[gghe...@gmail.com]

Never heard of the stuff, would it make sense to try and contact someone
at the old labs?
ohh, googling "Opticlean strippable polymer recipe" I found this...
maybe there is more?

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=116900&sid=b220f35b9f9b569bad85cac9987ef629

As the old saying goes, sometimes an hour in the library can save a day in the lab.

George H.

[Phil Hobbs]

Thanks, George, I'm in awe of your Google-fu.

This afternoon I'm going to try 3 parts acetone to 1 part Elmer's and
see how it works.

Cheers

[Phil Hobbs]

Nope, Glue-All is too goopy--it stuck too well and had to be rinsed off.
Maybe school glue.

[Glen Walpert]

Hmm, they claim Opticlean was collodion, which is much cheaper, for
example

http://mavidon.com/index.php/collodion-ind.html

10 oz for $33, telescope mirror cleaning grade rather than the medical
grade they also sell (it is used for attaching EEG electrodes for long
term monitoring and is available in 15cc single-use tubes for that use).

>>
>> As the old saying goes, sometimes an hour in the library can save a day
>> in the lab.
>>
>>
> Thanks, George, I'm in awe of your Google-fu.
>
> This afternoon I'm going to try 3 parts acetone to 1 part Elmer's and
> see how it works.

Please let us know how that works.

>
> Cheers
>
> Phil Hobbs

[Phil Hobbs]

Hi, Glen,

Thanks. I ordered a bottle and we'll see how it works. A bit dicey,
really, a solution of gun-cotton in volatile organic solvent.

[Skywise]

Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamM...@electrooptical.net> wrote in
news:la-dnXvwYsl8wR3I...@supernews.com:

> Nope, Glue-All is too goopy--it stuck too well and had to be rinsed off.
> Maybe school glue.

I know telescope mirrors are cleaned with CO2. Whether that's
practical or possibel for your needs... ???

Brian
--
http://www.earthwaves.org/forum/index.php - Earth Sciences discussion
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?

[Phil Hobbs]

>I know telescope mirrors are cleaned with CO2. Whether that's

>practical or possible for your needs... ???

Wow, really? A colleague of mine tried that as a cleaning technology for chips, and wound up destroying them. I expect that'd get rid of the fingerprints, for sure, but I'd be worried about the thermal shock delaminating the coatings and maybe cracking the surface.

I could see how it might be okay on quartz or Zerodur, but I'd be very leery of CO2 snow on ordinary glass.

Do ordinary optics really survive that?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

[Skywise]

Phil Hobbs <pcdh...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:103e3f9d-ca78-4304...@googlegroups.com:

I know nothing other than that it's done. Some thoughts come to my
amateur mind - telescope mirrors are big, more thermal mass. Also,
no coating other than metalization. Finally, from what I've read
the snow scoots along the surface on a cushion of CO2 gas. Sounds
like the liedenfrost effect, and I know from experience that it
will protect from thermal gradients. I've done the wet finger in
400°F cooking oil trick, and have played with dry ice in my mouth.

But looking up a few pics and videos...

Cerro Tololo procedure:
http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/co2-snow-cleaning-procedure

Cleaning of the Subaru 8.3 meter mirror on Mauna Kea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R34fQY3uCE

NASA picture:
http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/engineers-clean-mirror-with-
carbon-dioxide-snow

[Phil Hobbs]

Well, it's easy to try--a $15 fire extinguisher from the hardware store.

[Tom Miller]

"Phil Hobbs" <pcdhSpamM...@electrooptical.net> wrote in message
news:55819498...@electrooptical.net...

If you can find a CO2 fire extinguisher for $15, grab it. My guess is it
would be a dry chemical type for that price.

[gghe...@gmail.com]

It was a few years ago, but I saw a small CO2 snow cleaning set up at a trade show.
Very small spray nozzle ~size of a pen. I did take over a few mirrors from
our set up and had him blast clean 'em. No harm done... not sure it would work
some fancy AR coating. Certainly less thermal shock than a fire extinguisher.

George H.

[Phil Hobbs]

> If you can find a CO2 fire extinguisher for $15, grab it. My guess is it
> would be a dry chemical type for that price.
>
>

I have one at home that I paid about that for, CO2. It's pretty old,
though.

[Phil Hobbs]

Misremembered. You're quite right--dry chemical. Still, the CO2 ones
are only a bit over $100--pretty cheap compared with $12,600 per gallon
for First Contact.

Thanks

[Tom Miller]

"Phil Hobbs" <pcdhSpamM...@electrooptical.net> wrote in message

news:558209AF...@electrooptical.net...

You might look at a CO2 tank used for pressurizing beer kegs or carbonators.
They do have a more standard valve and fittings that are standard.

[Phil Hobbs]

> You might look at a CO2 tank used for pressurizing beer kegs or
> carbonators. They do have a more standard valve and fittings that are
> standard.
>
>

My son has a disused one from his paintball days still lying around here
someplace. Commercial ones start at about $1800, it seems.

Cheers

[Tom Miller]

"Phil Hobbs" <ho...@electrooptical.net> wrote in message
news:55822395...@electrooptical.net...

No way. Here is a light 5 pound aluminum cylinder with a standard CGA320
valve for < $65 shipped.

http://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-CO2-Cylinder-CGA-Valve/dp/B00UXJ9SS8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1434595223&sr=8-5&keywords=5+lb+co2

It will be shipped empty and have a current hydro inspection.

You take it to any welding supply store and they can fill it for you. They
would also have the fittings and tubing to plumb up a blow off nozzle. You
would open the valve and invert the cylinder to get liquid CO2 ( which will
turn solid immediately and carry away the dirt).

If you feel this will be used often, then get a larger tank. They even make
tanks with dip tubes and dual valves - one for gas and one for liquid.

[mixed nuts]

Soluble collodion is mostly singly nitrated (cellulose mononitrate ~12%
w/w nitrogen). It'll burn vigorously, has been known to explode in
bulk, but doesn't pack the punch and sensitivity of the "insoluble" gun
cotton (cellulose trinitrate).

The solution does work well - I've used it many times. The only issue
I've encountered is that it may stick to an already-clean surface
requiring a solvent wash (acetone) to remove the remnants (don't do it
twice).

--
Grizzly H.

[Phil Hobbs]

Thanks. Sure is expensive!