What towel or cloth do you all use?

[cruisegirl]

I'm wondering what towel or cloth you all use for drying both inside and out? Or which do you have around when removing the camera to avoid lint?
My first underwater camera was the Olympus Stylus 600. It had only 1 O ring and was easy to get out quickly. My current camera is the SP 550 UZ and it has a larger housing and 2 O-rings. I feel like every towel I use has lint or dust. So thought I would ask those with much more experience what you all use?

 

[joystershell]

I have used the REI chamois towels with my camera. No lint, no fuzz, and can be ordered in multiple sizes. I've used the smallest for the camera, and the largest for myself.

 

[alcina]

I don't dry the inside - it should never be wet

I have a few old, well washed towels that I use for drying my uw photo gear. I'll also use an old cotton t-shirt for the orings and grooves. Try tea or kitchen towels rather than bath towels if you are having problems as they shed less, too. The towels that swimmers use (chamois type) can be really good, too, as some of them seem not to shed much at all.

A rocket blower or some similar thing is a great thing to have to blow any bits of lint off, too.

 

[Larry C]

After soaking, I drip dry the whole mess on a well used and much washed beach towel. I dry the outside of the port with a small microfiber towel to get rid of spots. For o-ring grooves I only use the firm, non linty make-up q-tips that you get in the cosmetic section of the big pharmacies. They don't leave any residue, they're firm and they stay in one piece. The pointy end is also the only thing I've found that will get way down in the bulkhead and clean out the groove around the pins for the strobe cord.

 

[jghflash]

I use the little pre-moistened (alcohol) eyeglass cleaners to wipe out the oring grooves. They dry out quickly but have no lint and the moist part seems to insure that things are clean. I also do a quick wipe of the o-rings with the cloth before putting a very light coat of grease on them. I then dunk test the housing before the dive.......doesn't guarantee it won't leak but it gives me a more warm and fuzzy feeling.

The "one time" I didn't dunk test it the housing started to fog at about 15 feet, I noticed some water in the housing, tuned off the camera to retract the lens and then pointed the housing down to gather he small amount of water in the lens port area. turns out there was one small hair and a grain of sand.......that's all it took. Luckily no damage done but now I an even more careful!

 

[cruisegirl]

What a bunch of great ideas. I will try the chamois towel. As well as some of the other ideas. I know there shouldn't be water inside but I've gotten a few drops as I've taken out the camera when I don't have all the water gone at the door area.:blinking:lol..... and I've had a couple of drops on the inside of the lens area. Can I just say, trying to dry that is a buggar. And trying not to scratch. It's crazy.
Now, the alcohol wipes. It doesn't hurt the O-ring? I would think it would be too drying and damage it? I understand for the groove. Great idea on that and the Q-tip. Lot's of ideas.
And where can you get the Chamois towels?

 

[alcina]

I don't like q-tips or cotton buds for cleaning grooves as they can leave fibers.

IMHO much better are the sponge tipped cosmetic applicators - not only do they soak up the odd droplet of water, but they don't leave fibres, you can clean and reuse them and they can be poked into all sorts of small spaces in your housing.

 

[jghflash]

The alcohol evaporates almost completely while I am wiping out the o-ring grooves so it's really just a lint free cloth by the time I wipe the o-ring itself. I then put a light coat of grease on the o-ring so it isn't "dry" for a minute. I have been doing this for 4 years and 200 dives with the same set of o-rings. The new back up's are still in the package. So far, so good!

 

[pummkin]

I use a super absorbent PVA towel from Japan that has no lint & feels rubbery but can absorb much water. I travel with two of these towels, one for my usage & the other for the camera housing. Should cost about US$15 - 20. Buy those that are made in Japan. There's a brand similar to this called Super Absorber & it comes in a plastic container.

 

[sylpha]

The alcohol evaporates almost completely while I am wiping out the o-ring grooves so it's really just a lint free cloth by the time I wipe the o-ring itself. I then put a light coat of grease on the o-ring so it isn't "dry" for a minute. I have been doing this for 4 years and 200 dives with the same set of o-rings. The new back up's are still in the package. So far, so good!

touch wood - quickly that really is tempting fate!

(pretty much what i do too)

i have an old towel which i cover my camera with on the boat to keep the sun off it then when i get it home i soak it in fresh water for at least an hour before i bring it out & leave it on a drainer till it's dry.

i clean the inside of the lens with a lens cloth & at the end of the season i demote that lens cloth to 'o ring space' cleaner using a manacure stick to poke it into the groove. when i buy a new cloth i make sure it's adifferent colour from the previous one.

it works for me.