I was recently looking at my collection and noticed that the lenses on some of my pairs had started to delaminate.I usually cleaned them with the microbag and running tap water.

This did concern me however, so I was wondering what other ways there must be possible without using additived. Now I am looking at an industrial ultrasonic cleaner, which seems to be a good solution to me. I mustn't think of my zeroes or x-metals going wrong...

Do any of you guys have some experience with ultrasonic cleaners? Or an opinion on it of course ;)

Looking forward to hear from you guys!

I've always used the cleaner included in the cleaning kits.

Yeah, that works quite great indeed. Problem is that in the Netherlands those kits can't get a refill easily... I am also not too keen on using other solutions than the one from the O on my lenses.

I just ordered an ultrasonic cleaner with temperature control, so you can theoretically get the grease of better by adjusting the temperature (temperature range is from 20 to 80 degrees celsius). I expect by using the cleaner and just water it might give a good result, curious to see it though ;-)

I received the cleaner yesterday. Did some testing, and I am positive that it might work, the unit had one defect with the timer however. So I returned, hopefully I will soon have a new one and can report some more on it.

Interesting pickup, Jules. Congrats and hope the replacement comes soon.

Thanks Oak, the test I did on some old and useless pairs was quite positive. I put some fingerprints on the lenses and with the temperature between 45-50 degrees celsius they were gone. It was also that first test session that I found out that the timer didn't work.

There was some other nasty stuff on the glasses though that remained. I am contemplating if some ecological dish washing solution might also help, we have one here from a brand called Sonnett and they only use plant based stuff in it. Comparing it to the lens cleaning solutions it seems like a way more pure solution than the solutions. It is this stuff: https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/store/sonett-dish-soap/

However I am always a bit afraid of using solutions on my eyewear. I am curious what you think.

Hard to say what solutions will adversely affect the various coatings on lenses. Oakley's iridium lenses has been very finicky in my personal experience when exposed to mild or harsh chemicals, so I'm not sure what long-term (ie. A year of usage, let's say) use of dish washing soap would do. It should at least be fine using it sparingly.

I use dish soap to clean my lenses, and have been for about a year and a half now. Might not be the most ideal method but lens solution only goes so far and my lenses can get really gunked up. My daily wear are non-Iridium so there's a little less concern about scratching which is good because I clean them almost daily. My good Iridiums only get washed occasionally and only when they need it. The only real effect I have noticed is the absence of whatever hydrophobic or anti-fog coatings that may once had been there. Other than that, there is no loss of base color, scratching or other deterioration. I can't speak the same for the Iridiums because I just don't do it enough to know how they wear down. I think it would be reasonable to guess that no matter how gentile one was in washing the lens, dishsoap would likely strip some of the Iridium off over time and the color would slowly fade.

I like your idea about the ultrasonic cleaner. I think that would be excellent for older or irreplaceable lenses, especially those that already have some damage. In fact, this has made me revisit my idea of getting a small air compressor, like a airbrusher, for drying lenses to avoid the spotting and smearing that occurs after a wash. Right now I use cans of compressed air because using a rollaway shop compressor was still incredible overkill despite its small size.

My #1 worry with this hobby is the cleaning of the lenses. Can't say I've figured out any tricks other than being super duper careful and having a delicate touch with the micro rag. Even then you just don't know how things will turn out until the end, especially with the vintage iridium. I wish all lenses came with the permanent hydrophobic coating, it makes cleaning like 100x easier.

The lenses are the most scary thing indeed. The reason I thought abut ultrasonic is that for three pairs my lenses started to delaminate, fortunately I have found replacements for two pairs. My black iridium Twitch, however is still in need of a fresh pair of lenses.

The idea of compressed air to dry the also sounds great, never thought of that. We do have a compressor, but I am afraid that one is quite overkill, definitely something to look into :D

Also good to hear some experiences with the use of dishwashing soap. So far it looks like it's ok, curious to hear some more experiences.

Anybody using an air compressor better make sure it's oil free, otherwise the end result will not be good, haha. Even better if it's oil free and has an inline filter.