Appreciation post: I was cleaning shutter blades with a cotton swab for a decade before a guy in a Chicago workshop told me I was just pushing the grit around.

Alex Hall · 2026-04-13T07:05:09.946513+00:00

He showed me his method with a soft sable brush and lighter fluid, and now I won't touch a focal-plane shutter without one, so what's your go-to trick for a truly clean blade set?

mitchell.daniel5mo ago

My old method was basically a crime.

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victor_carter513mo ago

Damn right about letting it dry completely. I learned that the hard way after rushing a Pentax Spotmatic and ended up with a shutter that sounded like it was dragging through mud for a week lol. The lighter fluid trick is solid but I've found that using a tiny bit of naphtha instead works even better for the really caked on gunk. I actually swapped to a makeup brush from the drugstore for mine, like the super soft powder ones, and it's way cheaper than a sable brush. That whole "pushing the grit around" thing hit home too, I spent years basically just making a bigger mess before some old timer set me straight.

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hart.parker5mo ago

That lighter fluid trick is a game changer (it cuts through the old grease so well). I'll add that letting the shutter dry completely before testing is key, or you can get some sticking. That combo gets them moving like new again.

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