By JB on 19th Mar 2020
As we all know filming equipment and water are not a great mix, so these cleaning tips don’t involve a bucket of soapy water with a sponge. It does involve paying attention to high touch areas and lots of wipes.
Tip 1: Disinfectant wipes and cotton buds are your best friend.
As we have said lots of water is going to cause damage rather than help in this process. So you want to have a good stock of disinfectant wipes, making sure they are not to damp before wiping down and electrical parts of your equipment. You will also want a good stock of cotton buds to help clean in those small hard to reach areas.
Tip 2: Targeted cleaning is key.
Yes you want to wipe down and ensure all of your equipment is clean and germ free - this includes things like wiping down tripod legs and feet as germs can live for hours on surfaces. However, there are specific areas on each piece of equipment that are more likely to harbour germs. These are the “high touch” areas and include parts like camera top handles, controls/buttons, pan bars on tripods and focus wheels etc. As these areas are touched most you want to pay special attention to ensure they are wiped down and disinfected.
If you are unsure of what would class as a “high touch” area and needs more attention just ask yourself, “do I touch this section every time I use the equipment?” if the answer is yes then it needs more attention and cleaning to help stop any spread.
Targeted cleaning also ensures you don’t over clean delicate and unrequired areas. Examples include avoiding these methods for camera sensors and the front/rear elements of lenses. This is because they can have delicate coatings and shouldn’t be touched during filming anyway so require a more subtle approach.
Tip 3: Quarantine dirty kit.
Most conscientious rental companies will already have implemented a kit quarantine period between hires, where they can ensure all equipment is fully disinfected before and after each use. However, if you are sharing equipment across multiple teams during your productions you may want to have a similar plan/approach to make sure you can clean the kit between each person’s use to avoid any spread of germs or infection.
Tip 4: Dry Dry Dry.
Once again water is not the friend of filming equipment and even low moister disinfectant wipes can still leave water residue on your equipment which may down the line cause you problems. So the best way to avoid any potential damage is to wipe down and dry all cleaned equipment with something like blue roll or absorbent tissue to make sure there isn’t any unwanted liquids left on your kit.
Some of these cleaning tips might add a little extra time to your production’s day but properly cleaned kit could help you save you the headache and loss of time through a coronavirus outbreak in your production.
The Kit Room is always happy to help if you have any questions about best processes and practices so feel free to get in touch.