Supermarket fungus cure

[PeterW]

I discovered some fungus on the rear lens element of a pre-war folder I bought and went to make my usual 50/50 mix of ammonia and hyrogen peroxide to deal with it but, oh sh#t!. I'd run out of hydrogen peroxide.

I went down to my local small chemists' shop where I bought the last bottle but he shook his head sadly. "Don't stock it any more. I think you bought the last bottle ages ago (actually it was about four years) and no-one's asked for any since. I can order you some, but it won't be in now till after Christmas."

I ordered some, but didn't really want to leave the camera dismantled for a couple of weeks so as I'd read that Pond's Cold Cream also does a good job on fungus I asked for a jar of that just to try it out. "Don't keep that either any more. Everyone wants the latest new wonder cream they've seen advertised on television at about five times the price."

I gave up and went back home out of the cold. I'd already checked the bathroom cupboard, but just on the off chance I tried the kitchen cupboard where we keep cleaners and such. I found a spray bottle of Dettox Mould and Mildew Remover ('Eats mould bacteria. No need to scrub') and thought 'I wonder?'

I tried some on an old scratched lens just to see if there were any ill effects but there weren't. So I used some on a Q-tip on the fungus.

Hey Presto! The fungus disappeared like magic, and after a wash in warm soapy water I had a beautifully clean and clear lens.

The lens was uncoated, so I don't know if it would have any ill effect on coating or not, but I pass the tip on for what it's worth.

PeterW

[mickeyobe]

Peter,

I think your neighbourhood beauty salon would stock both hydrogen peroxide and Pond's Cold Cream.

Mickey

[PeterW]

My own view is that a lot of the once easy to find chemicals have disappeared because stores are cutting out their slow-selling items and using 'government legislation' or sometimes in the UK 'EU legislation' as an excuse.

I was shown a supermarket manager's training manual recently, and there a whole chapter on 'return per square metre of shelf space', return in this case meaning monthly monetary return which the manager had to make to head office. There was a note at the end which said 'Company advertised loss leaders and bogofs not included'. (bogof = buy one get one free).

[herron]

Peter:
I think you've stepped right on top of the "secret." Slow-moving items, regardless of how useful they might be, are disappearing from retail shelves.

Young folks today don't know a thing about hydrogen peroxide, and probably never will, unless some enterprising company starts to market it (at eleven times the current cost) as something like "HydroPer, Nature's Natural Cleanser." Look at products like "Soft Scrub" which is essentially bleach in a heavy soap substrate.

Fortunately, I can still find peroxide at the hardware or the local pharmacy, and Pond's Cold Cream at the pharmacy and the local grocery store...but I would be in trouble if they should ever disappear from the shelf, since I have NEVER seen "Dettox Mould and Mildew Remover." Must be a UK-specific item!

[greyhoundman]

I hit upon another nice glass cleaning mixture. Toothpaste with baking soda.
It removes haze and fungus and leaves it very clean. I then use some 97% alcohol for a rinse.
And then I can say the lens is minty.

[herron]

greyhoundman:
I've heard before of folks using a toothpaste concoction to clean lenses. I've always been a little leery of it, because some toothpastes contain an abrasive...and I don't know what that might do to a lens coating over time!

[greyhoundman]

I just put a little of the paste on each side. Then I gently rub the glass between my fingers.
It does a nice job. I've never found any scratches in the coatings. I don't use much pressure. The cleaning action of the toothpate seems to really lift haze.

[nikonbob]

I have heard of most of the products mentioned here for lens cleaning with the exception of the Dettox stuff. We can get Dettol stuff here so I must look and see if they have a mold and mildew remover product. For the bino rehab that I just did I used amonia to clean the haze off of the lenses and prisms. I don't know if that is the right stuff for that but it seems to have worked on the non coated optics. I agree with Ron in that I would be a little leary of using toothpaste due to it normally containing mild abrasives. Looks like we will all have to stock up on our favourite slow moving products for future use.

Bob

[tswill2]

Back in the 1940s we used to use sodium bicarbonate for toothpaste to good effect. That was before Crest, etc. I haven''t tried it as a lens polish, but would use it before commercial toothpaste I think. Worth a try.
Tom