Took a Kallitype workshop in Portland that changed my whole repair approach

I went to this workshop at Blue Moon Camera last spring thinking I'd just learn a new printing process. But the guy running it showed me how he cleans his old lenses with a mix of distilled water and a drop of dish soap. I've been using solvents and fancy lens cleaners for 10 years, and here this guy just wipes away haze with soap and water. Tried it on a dirty 1950s Elmar lens I've been avoiding and it came out Perfect. No more spending $40 on specialty cleaning fluids for me. Has anyone else found a simpler method that they swear by?

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price.jake1d ago

So I have to drop $40 on fancy cleaning goop every few months just to find out dish soap is the secret weapon. This is like finding out the cure for a disease is just drinking water and going outside. My grandpa probably cleaned his 1940s Kodak lenses with spit and a rag, here I am buying microfiber cloths imported from Japan. The next workshop I see is probably just going to tell me to use windex and an old t-shirt.