Old timer swore by lighter fluid to clean shutters but I'm skeptical

Guy at the camera swap meet in Portland told me to douse a sticky shutter blade with ronsonol and it would fix it in minutes, so I tried it on a junker and now the blades are clean but the whole thing smells like a campfire anyone else got a better method for dried up oil on leaf shutters?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivia_moore1mo ago

Just grab some naptha from the hardware store and q-tips, way less stink.

jamie9401mo ago

Does it really matter that much if a shutter smells like lighter fluid for a week?

uma_williams1mo ago

@olivia_moore is right on the money with the naptha and q-tips. I tried the lighter fluid trick once on an old Compur shutter and yeah, it worked but the smell stuck around for weeks. Naptha is basically the same stuff without all the stinky additives. I've cleaned a dozen shutters with it now. Just go slow with the q-tips, don't flood the blades, and let it fully dry before you fire the shutter again.