Dirrrty filter

[Jimbo]

Hi all - my cirpol filter appears to have sea spray on it.

Any suggestions for getting it off? Obviously rubbing it with a cloth is going to scratch the filter to buggery. Should I soak it in something? Water, or something else?

[I @ M]

I reckon a good soak in water should dilute the salt and a bit of swishing around should agitate it enough to get any "scratchy" bits out before you dry it and give it a gentle clean with a microfibre cloth.

I don't know what Hobart water is like as far as acidity / alkalinity goes but it would have to be pretty heavily unbalanced in either direction for it to cause damage to a filter.

[peterking]

That's a common problem for me so I keep a bottle of water and two microfibre cloths with me. As soon as the shoot is finished I squirt the filter with the water and wet one cloth, use that to wash the filter then use the dry one to dry it off. Six months of this and no damage to my filters.

[tomtom1]

I disagree with the above poster. Whatever you do, DON'T submerge your circ pol in water.

Polarizers are made by sandwiching the polarizing glass in between two other layers of glass. The edges of these generally aren't sealed, and if you dump it in water, or run it under a tap, water may get between the layers, permanently damaging your filter.

An exception to this are filters like b+w kaesemann which are supposedly edge sealed for weather resistance, but I still wouldn't do it with one of these.

I'd probably use a combination of lens cleaning solution and microfibre cloth to get the worst of the salt off, then a lens pen to clean up.

[Jimbo]

Thanks everyone!