Question about cleaning old shutter blades with lighter fluid

I keep seeing people post about using regular rubbing alcohol to clean sticky shutter blades on old cameras. But I tried that once on a Canonet QL17 and it left this weird residue that made the blades even more sluggish. Switched to lighter fluid (the real Ronsonol kind) and it worked perfect. Anyone else run into this issue where alcohol does more harm than good?

3 comments

3 Comments

seanjackson29d agoTop Commenter

Oh man, I've heard the same thing from a couple repair guys online. They said alcohol can actually eat away at the old lubricant or coating on the blades if it sits too long, and then it just dries into a gummy mess. Lighter fluid is way safer because it evaporates clean and doesn't leave that sticky film behind. I read one thread where a guy ruined a whole set of aperture blades on a vintage Nikon using isopropyl, and everyone in the comments was like "yeah, shoulda used Ronsonol." So you're definitely not alone on this one. The residue thing is real, especially on those older Japanese rangefinders.

theagibson29d ago

A buddy of mine learned that lesson the hard way on a Pentax Spotmatic. Soaked the blades in alcohol for 20 minutes, came back to a sticky tar pit. Now he swears by Zippo fluid like it's a religion.

anthony12929d agoMost Upvoted

Twenty minutes in alcohol? That's a death sentence for those old Japanese shutters. I heard about a guy who did that same thing on a Canonet QL17 and the blades fused together like a solid sheet. He had to toss the whole lens, couldn't even get it apart without snapping the blades.