Unpopular opinion: Isopropyl alcohol might be doing more harm than good on old shutters

I had been cleaning sticky shutter blades with 99% isopropyl for years. Then last month I tackled a 1950s Mamiya and the alcohol actually made the blades curl up. A vintage repair guy told me those old lubricants dissolve and expand into the gaps. Now I'm split between continuing with alcohol for newer stuff and switching to Ronsonol lighter fluid for anything pre-1970. What do you guys use on really old shutters without wrecking them?

3 comments

3 Comments

cameron9632mo agoMost Upvoted

Didn't you find the lighter fluid leaves a weird film though?

foster.patricia2mo ago

That lighter fluid film always made my chicken taste like a gas station bathroom. I switched to a chimney starter and never looked back. Total game changer for under 20 bucks.

graceprice28d ago

I had that exact same curling problem on a 1950s Compur shutter last summer. @foster.patricia totally gets it - that stuff is nasty for cooking but it leaves zero residue on metal. I switched to naphtha for anything with bellows or old brass. Works perfect, no swollen blades. Expensive though. Found a guy who uses it for vintage watch cleaning too.