General Do you clean your telescope often?

[Shortie]

Your telescope can spend a lot of time out in the open, especially if you are looking to spot things that you can capture whilst using it. Due to this, you can often end up with it getting a little dirty and even dusty and keeping it clean regularly can help keep the dirt and dust away.

If you have a telescope, how often do you clean it and what do you tend to use to keep it dirt and dust free?

 

[Tracy]

Just the outside shell, with warm water on a soft cloth.
You don't want to clean your lenses unless you have to. The slight dust build-up on the telescope lens can usually be worked around with your flats that you capture. My primary refractor has a couple of "thingies" stuck on the inside of the front lens... and I don't worry about it as It's way too easy to scratch the coating of the lens if wiping (specifically referring to refractors and SCT). A Newt can have the mirror removed and gently washed... I'm currently working on an article detailing the suggested ways of cleaning a telescope.