Tips & Techniques

How to Clean HOYA and Kenko Filters

To maintain the best optical performance of your filters, here is how we recommend cleaning HOYA and Kenko filters as well as all multi-coated optics.

  1. Use high-quality disposable lens tissues and a liquid lens cleaner like Eclipse from Photographic Solutions or Formula MC. ROAR makes one as well.
  2. Make sure the glass surface has no dust or grit on it.
  3. Take a lens tissue, fold it once or twice (depending on size), and place a couple drops of liquid lens cleaner on the tissue and wipe with the tissue in a circular pattern starting from the center and moving out to the edge.
  4. Immediately follow the first tissue with a new dry tissue using the same pattern.

Warning: HOYA and Kenko do not recommend using the standard fabric "lens cleaning cloths" with any liquid because dust and grid can become trapped in the fibers and damage the lens or filter on subsequent uses.

Hoya and Kenko filters are "hard-coated", meaning the metals and chemicals that make up the coating are applied in a furnace to bond them to the surface of the glass.

There have been some new optical cleaning products that have been introduced recently such as Lens Cleanse from Hoodman that work well and will not damage the coatings.

THK Photo Products, Inc. has the most extensive experience with Eclipse by Photographic Solutions. Eclipse comes in a 2 oz. bottle or as individually packaged pre-moistened lens cleaning tissues in foil packs that are easy to carry in a camera bag. Lens Cleanse comes in two-section pack with a pre-moistened disposable tissue on one side and a dry tissue on the other.