How do I clean a microscope?

Sometimes your microscope may need to be cleaned. To avoid cleaning issues and causing damage to the optics please use our tried-and-true cleaning tips!

Basic Cleaning of a Microscope

The most important consideration when cleaning a microscope: avoid having to do it in the first place. Always store your microscope in a low dust place, ideally with a dust cover and with all the lens caps installed.

Life happens, and sometimes dust finds its way around covers, so if you still get a bit of dust, follow these steps on which areas to clean and how.

Cleaning a Microscope Slide

If you are using a prepared slide, they can easily collect dust on top and on bottom of the slide. This will create little dots or defocused circles from the dust on the slide. Use a microfiber cloth and gently clean off both sides of the prepared slide. This is the easiest and safest area to clean, so always start with this step.

If you are not sure if what you’re seeing is dust on your slide, keep the following in mind:

• Dust on the slide is closest to your focal plane, so it will be extremely distracting and cause focus issues.
• If you move the slide position and the dots move with the slide, that’s usually a sure sign it is dust.

If the dots stay in the same place in the field of view, dust has made its way into the optical system so proceed to the next areas to clean.

Cleaning a Microscope Eyepiece

Even though the best way to avoid dust on the eyepiece is to keep them in their original container when the microscope is not in use, you still must use the eyepiece which means it needs to come out of the container!

Another thing to keep in mind: you NEVER want to leave the drawtube open and exposed. The drawtube should ALWAYS have the dust caps, or the eyepieces always installed. Unfortunately, if dust gets down into the drawtube area near the other optics and prisms, it can be almost impossible to clean, and the dust may damage the optics.

• If your eyepiece has gotten dirty, most likely the dirt is on the outside surface near where you place your eye. This is easy to clean, just use a slightly moist microfiber cloth and gently wipe off the outer surface.
• If you left the eyepiece out unsealed at any time, you can also wipe off the inner surface as well.

When in doubt, and you’re not sure if a part of your microscope can be cleaned or how it should be cleaned, ask a professional. Carson’s always happy to answer questions about our microscopes, as well as questions about the care and upkeep of them. We want to make sure your microscope remains operating at its highest level.