Take Care of your Optics

Working with the Outdoorsmans Trade-In Program for the past couple of years, I have seen high-end binoculars in every kind of shape imaginable. We’ve developed a routine to get those binoculars to nearly “mint” condition with relative ease. Below are the steps we follow to get our glass back to “cherry” condition even after the dustiest or dirtiest of hunts.

1. Use a coarse brush soaked in isopropyl alcohol to scrub the armoring of the binoculars. You can spray the isopropyl alcohol directly onto the armor as well. If you’re cleaning a high-end binocular, you can actually rinse the binocular right under your faucet. Repeat until the armor is completely grime-free. 
2. Take a Q-tip wrapped in a microfiber, again soaked in isopropyl alcohol, and scrub/scrape and tight crevices and/or corners of the bino to remove tough to reach dirt. 
3. Remove the eyecups from the binocular and scrub all the areas where the eyecups seat in the binocular. This area collects a lot of dust and dirt. Also wipe off the eyecups themselves with an isopropyl soaked micro fiber. Work the eye cup in and out to remove and grit that may have accumulated while working the eyecups in and out. 
4. Use a soft lens brush (local camera shop will have these for a couple bucks) along with compressed air to knock any dust loose from the glass itself.
5. Prep TWO new microfiber or lens cloths, one with a good spray of Isopropyl alcohol and leave one dry.
6. Apply wet cloth to lens and wipe in a circular motion, the key here is to rotate the cloth while you’re wiping to ensure you never wipe the glass with the section of the cloth twice. 
7. Use the dry cloth to “buff” the now clean glass. Repeat this on all 4 lenses.
8. Screw your eyecups back in and you’re ready to rock with a fresh set of binoculars.