Cleaning with Collodion

Read a recommendation on Sky and telescope to use collodion to clean optics. Can anyone tell me how to do this? I purchased some at the local pharmacy and don't exactly know how to use it.

For those who have not hear of it, its a liquid that you spread on your optics that dries into a film. You then peel it off a with all the crud.

Clear Skys

Glen

Before starting, please read through whatever you can find.....It is extremely flammable and dangerous.

Alex

Glen,
Collodion is a hazardous material and it is at least sometimes shipped as such. You can get it from some pharmacies. For mirrors, you want nonflexible, not flexible collodion.
The biggest hazard next to its extreme flammability is that the gas it gives off is ether. I once cleaned a mirror in our unheated sunporch, thinking it was "well ventillated" enough, and was STUNNED in more ways than one that the gas FLEW upstairs in a second. That said,I did succeeed in the back yard. I poured some on my 10" mirror, rolled and pitched the mirror distributing the liquid, added one layer of thin gauze, added a little more liquid on top, and walked away. 20 minutes later, I came back and the chemical had transformed into a sort of semirigid saran wrap. The gauze helped me peel it back, leaving a pristine surface behind.
Trust me, this is NASTY, DANGEROUS stuff, and I can assure you that the less pristine results you get with conventional methods sometimes are effectively just as good with no difference detectible at the eyepiece.
Bob Hertel

Glen, Ive used it several times to clean various mirrors and corrector plates. Yes, noxious , flammable stuff.
I second the suggestion to use a gauze of some sort ( cheese cloth works too) to help peel it off. If you have th emirro completely out of the scope, make a small dam with masking tape around the mirror to keep it from dripping down the side.

Does a wonderful job though. Although, I must say that Ive also had excellent results with a couple of gallons of distilled water and one drop of Dawn detergent. That wont kill any brain cells

Mark