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Rant: I was cleaning shutter blades with a cotton swab for years
Last week I had a Nikon FM2 on the bench with a sticky shutter. My usual way was to dip a cotton swab in solvent and try to wipe each blade, which always left tiny fibers. I saw a video from a guy in Austin who uses a small piece of lint-free lens cloth wrapped around a flat pick. Tried it, and the difference was huge. No more stray bits stuck in the mechanism, and the cloth holds just the right amount of fluid. Has anyone else found a better tool for this job?
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paulschmidt12d ago
Oh man, I read a tip once about using a trimmed artist's brush dipped in lighter fluid.
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blair24812d ago
Yeah, that's a classic tip, but @paulschmidt, lighter fluid can leave a residue that attracts more dust over time. A tiny drop of isopropyl alcohol on a soft brush works way better for cleaning old electronics. It evaporates completely without any gunk left behind.
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Honestly, I have to disagree on the alcohol for shutter blades. In my experience, it can strip the thin coating right off those blades, especially on older cameras. Lighter fluid like naphtha dries way cleaner than people think if you use the pure stuff, not the cheap kind with additives. That lens cloth trick is solid, but the fluid choice matters just as much.
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