Cleaning out old light seals

[MattKing]

I have a repair resource who charges me a very reasonable fee to put in new light seals - if I first clean out the old ones before giving him the camera to work on. I think it is an excellent division of labour - mindless grunt work for me, skilled and dexterous wo.rk for him

 

[richardHaw]

i use alcohol first, next is benzine and naphtha to finish.

http://richardhaw.com/2017/04/09/repair-camera-foam-seals/

you really cannot rely on just a single solvent for this as the foam and cement both react to different solvents.

 

[M Carter]

99% iso is easy to get in the US - Frye's sells it with the computer components. Great for cleaning lenses, film, and so on.

I like white gas (Coleman fuel) for many things (stuck shutters and man, it's an excellent cleaner for bromoil brushes and glass), but man - the stuff is (by design) pretty explosive as far as fumes go. I tend to use it outdoors or at least in my large open kitchen vs. my small darkroom (where a water heater and pilot light are behind a louvered door). Maybe that's extreme paranoia, but I remember dads at the Indian Guides campouts trying to start campfires with it and suddenly their hat's in the next county and they have no more hair on their face and arms...

 

[BarryWilkinson]

Isopropyl Alcohol is available in the UK from a number of suppliers such as...

http://darrantchemicals.co.uk

Barry

 

[Nokton48]

A medium sized jewelers screwdriver works great to scrape away petrified gunk that won't come off easily. If you scrape the paint off it doesn't hurt anything. You don't have to get every bit of it, it will stick down fine and it's being covered anyway. Cameraleather says you don't need to get every bit of it and he should know.

Acetone and lighter fluid, and goo gone are your friends, just be careful.

 

[MattKing]

A medium sized jewelers screwdriver works great to scrape away petrified gunk that won't come off easily.

Bamboo skewers are even better!

 

[Nokton48]

Bamboo skewers are even better!

I angle cut bamboo chopsticks on my mini bandsaw, but the screwdriver works better for me.
Try removing the original goo from Peco Jr Plaubel lensboards and you will see what I mean.

 

[Jon Goodman]

Please try methylated spirits...should work great for you and I know they're available there.
Jon