Scanner Holders/Scanner Beds: What do you Clean with?

[cayenne]

Hi all,
Ok, I got ahold of the Epson V800/850 negative holders.
I will be using them on my Epson V600

I noticed my new holders, the plastic 'windows' where you put the negatives, looks a bit smudgy, etc....
And I think my scanner bed could use a bit of a cleaning too before I start.

So, wondering for recommendations, how do you CLEAN:

1. Your negative holders that have plastic windows?

2. Your glass scanner bed

I did get some cotton gloves off ebay to handle my negatives...they're a bit small, but can work till I get larger ones.

Cayenne


PS> Oh by the way, what do you use to cut your negatives? Just plain old scissors?

 

[mb66energy]

Cleaning of holder:
Maybe using some microfibre cloth is the most secure way to clean smudge - using solvents is a little bit tricky because you have to know which plastic you clean.
Some mild detergent might be a safe option too.

Cleaning of the glass:
Is it really mineral glass? If it should be safe to use isopropanole 70% so you have solubility of both fat like compounds and salts - but keep it away from plastic parts if possible to minimize impact to these parts. If it is plastics (organic glass) you have to be careful. If it is PMMA do NEVER use alcohols which might introduce some micro-cracking!

Maybe it it is a reason to write a mail to EPSON and ask them about optimum cleaning procedures!

Cutting slides and negatives: I have always used good scissors (for textile) and I would recommend NOT to use any tool where you slide the film into anything where it can scratch the surface of the film. In a foto shop they told me that these scratches are normal because of tiny fragments of the film produced by the cutting process. They offered me to give me the negatives uncut. That was fair, but after roughly 1995 or 2000 it was no longer possible. So I gave up analog photography and startet in 2001 with a Powershot G2 (4 Mpix) which was surprisingly good at these times when they delivered a 32 MByte (!!!) CF card with the camera holding roughly 15 photos at maximum quality.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I once used some windex to clean the scanner glass of a $1000+ HP scanner. Just the fumes wiped out the sensor which then had to be replaced. Now, I use a soft cloth and water, a drop of dish detergent at most to get any oil spots off. I've never had to clean the plastic parts.

 

[dcm]

I use microfiber cloths and blower to clean my Epson V750 and the trays. Also use the blower on the negatives before I place them in the trays. I gave up with the gloves - too much lint. I use good tweezers to handle the negative by the edges. Much more precise and convenient than the gloves.

I have pulled the scanner glass a few times over the years to clean a slight film that develops on the underside. Used my lens cleaning kit and microfiber cloth.