Cleaning your Lamps?

[Brett Allbritton]

Hey everyone.

The other day I was testing out different bulbs in my 1K fresnel to see how wattage correlates to output (switching from 750 to 1K only resulted in 1/3 stop difference, which I found really surprising).

 

I did something stupid though: since I only had my light on for a few seconds to take a quick light meter reading, I thought that the lamp probably wasn't that hot, and waited far less time than I normally would for it to cool down.

 

Basically, I touched the bulb with the gloves I happened to be wearing at the time (which aren't real proper leather electrician gloves but rather a pair I found at Home Depot with faux leather-like tips on the fingers designed so you can use touch screens), and some of the faux leather finger tips melted right onto the glass of the bulb. Fortunately, these gloves are thick enough that I didn't get hurt, but unfortunately, I have this melted stuff stuck to my lamp.

 

Are there ways to clean off lamps? I know mine might even be a lost cause now, but this seems like it might be useful information for the future. Thanks.

[JD Hartman]

Trying soaking it off with hot water and strong detergent. You might have to mechanically rub off the residue, but you don't want to create any scratches in the glass.

In the future....scrims and ND of various strengths is what I'd recommend. Cheaper and quicker...