How do you clean your scanner?

[Dialectic10]

Every time I scan, which is about twice a week, I always get dust on the scanned photos. I use pressurized air and those cloth for glasses, and still, some of the dust still won't come off. I open the back with screw drivers and use pressurized air spray to clean the area where the negatives get scanned, but... I still get dust on the photos.

So, I was wondering what methods you guys use to minimize the dust on your scans?
Thank you.

 

[Josh66]

Do you do you own processing, or send it out?

I find that I get much less dust on my own than I do from pro labs...

I clean my scanner with paper towels and windex ... then blow it off with a rocket blower. I also blow the film off before scanning. There will always be a little dust, but I have found that with the methods I employ, it it very minimal...

I think most of the dust comes form the film drying stage - if you aren't developing your own film, there isn't really anything you can do about that...

 

[Pgeobc]

I have a terrible time with environmental dust. That has led me to use an anti-static cloth on my negatives, slided, and prints that I scan--in addition to the scanner. Are you certain that some of your problem is not on the media?

 

[Dialectic10]

I have a terrible time with environmental dust. That has led me to use an anti-static cloth on my negatives, slided, and prints that I scan--in addition to the scanner. Are you certain that some of your problem is not on the media?

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I'm sure it's not from the media. Because I look at the negative against light and they looks pretty clean. And I know some of them catch dust and I understand, but sometimes the dust just comes from the scanner. I'm going to try using windex to clean the area where the negatives get scanned. I primarily use 35mm, so yeah. And use anti-static cloth on the negatives too.

 

[Josh66]

Windex has been working well for me on the scanner glass. Try to use a lint-free cloth though (not a regular paper towel) if you can. A regular paper towel will work, but it will leave little specks of lint that will have to be blown off with a rocket blower or something. (Which is not a big deal, it's just that it's another step that could be avoided...)

 

[Dialectic10]

Windex has been working well for me on the scanner glass. Try to use a lint-free cloth though (not a regular paper towel) if you can. A regular paper towel will work, but it will leave little specks of lint that will have to be blown off with a rocket blower or something. (Which is not a big deal, it's just that it's another step that could be avoided...)

I unscrewed the back part of the scanner so I can clean inside the transparency unit window. I used windex and wiped it with a microfiber cloth. For my first try, there were specks of lint left because I forgot to use my compressed-air spray. After using the spray, some of the lints and dust came off, but some just moved to a different place. Haha I think I just need to do a better job cleaning it.