Cleaning filters in a dish washer

[RalphLambrecht]

Has any body tried this? AND WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE? What speaks against it?

 

[BrianShaw]

No, never even considered it. What speaks for it?

 

[Frank53]

Good idea. I will try it someday.
Regards,
Frank

 

[Nodda Duma]

The temperature shock / high heat might delaminate the coatings. Maybe not the first round, but I would expect coating failure relatively quick. Think "accelerated life cycle testing."

But it may not...hard to say.

Run a coated filter you don't care about through a few wash cycles and see what happens.

 

[macfred]

I had an old Apple keyboard and a few heavily soiled vinyl LPs in the dishwasher - keyboard is still in use - those vinyls are slightly better than before but not so much I can recommend this way for cleaning ...

 

[guangong]

Good grief! Cleaning filters is so laborious that a dishwasher is necessary? Some folks on a recent thread recommended cleaning plastic development reels in dishwasher...tree it a few times but couldn’t see a difference.

 

[ic-racer]

Anyone that has ever recovered lenses or filters from a water submersion mishap can attest that water will get between the glass elements and the metal housing. To properly dry, the glass elements may need to be removed from the housing.

 

[Rick A]

You can try it Ralph, but I would TURN OFF the heated dry cycle at the end.

 

[macfred]

When I have filters (I mostly use multi-coated B&W Schneider-Kreuznach and Zenza-Bronica filters), that are heavily soiled and cannot be cleaned with conventional methods (lens brush and lens tissues), I clean them with warm water, a soft sponge cloth and a drop dish soap; thereafter I rinse them with distilled water and dry them lying on a towel - no problems so far (neither with water between the glass elements and the metal housing).

 

[Helinophoto]

I have only cleaned my filters using regular dishwashing detergent (typically the stuff you use once your dishwasher beaks).
Works very well, and why should it not? It removes grease and marks from regular glass and the filters are the same.

I would not put filters in a dishwasher, since the cubes/soap also contain chemicals to loosen up things like burned grease and stubborn stuff.
That, and the high temperatures inside the dishwasher, I am sure would not do much good for a coated filter.

 

[BrianShaw]

How many filters does it take to get a full load?

 

[GRHazelton]

I had an old Apple keyboard and a few heavily soiled vinyl LPs in the dishwasher - keyboard is still in use - those vinyls are slightly better than before but not so much I can recommend this way for cleaning ...

Some years ago I heard the dishwasher regimen suggested for keyboard by a consultant. She said she'd used it successfully,. Good to get another user experience. How'd you preserve the labels on the vinyls?

 

[macfred]

How'd you preserve the labels on the vinyls?

Surprisingly nothing happened to the lables. Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend the dish washer method for vinyl that you really love (I did it only out of curiosity) - there are other, much better solutions.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

All my filters are wratten gels... I don't think the dishwasher would take kindly to them.

 

[faberryman]

Most of the dish washing detergent you use in a dish washing machine are abrasive.

 

[wiltw]

Go ahead, put a polarizer in the diswasher, to see what can happen when a filter dye is not part of the glass itself.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

I saw the thread title and just ... gasped.
It's something I have never ever heard of and certainly would not put my own filters to the test with. We are talking about coated glass (much of it expensive!), not the crystal stuff we pour our daily dinner tipple into then toss in the washer for that famed Leica sparkle...

 

[Sirius Glass]

No, each filter is completely cleaned by hand and inspected. I would be afraid of the filters getting knocked around or chipped in a dishwasher.

 

[mfagan]

If using a dishwasher seems too high risk (chips etc. as mentioned) what about securing them well under a wiper blade and going through a carwash - brushless of course ?

 

[removed account4]

i just use some comet or bon ami and a brillo pad
i've used salt too, but its a bit abrasive...
works better than a dishwasher

 

[RalphLambrecht]

No, never even considered it. What speaks for it?

simplicity but, I have since learned that some dish washing tablets can etch crystal glass and that makes me nervous.

 

[mshchem]

I had a guy give me a bunch of nice old Nikon filters. I boiled (bring it to a boil then simmer for 5 min. ) a grungy O56 filter in distilled water and gentle dish washing liquid. Cleaned up nice. Automatic dishwashing compounds are so highly alkaline they destroy damn near everything.

I still have great luck with filters by breathing on them and using a undershirt to clean. The nice old brass filters used a tiny bit of oil assembling the filters, sometimes lens solution just sets the oil free.
Best Regards, Mike

 

[MattKing]

You don't have to put detergent into a dishwasher to make use of it .....
That being said, make sure you aren't using any rinse aid.

 

[Arklatexian]

i just use some comet or bon ami and a brillo pad
i've used salt too, but its a bit abrasive...
works better than a dishwasher

Surely, you jest! There was a BonAmi solid cake at one time that we used to clean microscope slides and cover glass. Never a scratch. If it is still made, use it but not the powder. Almost guaranteed to scratch as are comet and (shudder) a Brillo pad. Have you tried Kosher salt? The salt crystals are a different shape than table salt. I would not use either one. Your breath and a good lens cloth or even lens tissue would be my preference......
regards!

 

[silveror0]

My first thought regarding the thread title was that OP was talking about renewing filters used in the water supply. Guess I was mistaken. I too only use Wratten gels.