Dust-Aid Platinum & DustWand Combo
£47.50/$70
www.cameraclean.co.uk
The Dust-Aid Platinum slips easily into a kit bag and has its own compact travel case. It’s a simple device consisting of a wand with a silicone pad on the end measuring roughly 10x15mm, plus six adhesive cleaning strips. Press the pad onto one of the cleaning strips to remove any contaminants, then dab your sensor to pick up loose dirt. No residue is left, but you can get a sticky outline if you rock or twist the pad while it’s in contact with the sensor.
For stickier stains, there’s the Dust-Wand kit. This is a liquid and swab combo, but unlike with most kits, you make your own swabs by wrapping a small cloth around a plastic handle. This can be a faff, but you do get 50 cloths, and replacement packs don’t cost a fortune. What’s more, the bundled cleaning liquid doesn’t leave streaks. But with no loupe and all that folded cloth creating a relatively bulky swab, it’s not the easiest cleaning experience.
Pros Compact, cost-effective and removes all types of dirt
Cons Dust-Wands are a bit fiddly to make and use; no loupe
We say Gives a comprehensive clean at a fair price