DUST-AID was invented and developed by Ross Wordhouse, a panoramic landscape shooter who primarily works with film but needed digital capabilities for advertising/contract shoots. One of the biggest problems he ran into with this new digital system was the major dust build up on his full size DSLR sensor. He tried the hand powered air blaster and the swab/liquid solution but ran into problems. The swab was great for removing moisture stains but both the air blaster and swab seemed to just push the dust around. He was debating on buying the expensive brush, but got to thinking. There must be a low-cost and safe way to remove dust that's fast, easy and doesn't use flammable liquid, canned air, or batteries. The wheels started turning... Looking around the office Ross noticed a sticky note. It's low tack but would it leave adhesive residue? He tried a simple test of twisting the sticky note adhesive on a piece of glass... residue was left behind, bummer. He then jumped on Google and did a search for adhesive sensor cleaning. There where a couple of hits and all of them STRONGLY advised against it. He found one that recommended Scotch tape #810. He went to the store and picked up a roll and did his simple twist test on glass... residue. That's not going to work. But that didn't stop Ross, he saw it as a challenge and started calling some of the biggest adhesive manufacturers on the planet. He then got bombarded with tons of samples and found one that passed the simple twist residue test. He then sent this tape off for scientific lab testing using one of the best techniques in analyzing contamination, FTIR testing. It passed FTIR testing which showed no adhesive residue contamination after application. Ross then designed the foam blend that would cushion the application process. He came up with a very soft black foam that would cushion the application of the ultra low tack tape. He then used a piece of removable tape to help hold the black foam to an application wand. The foam tapes are bundled into one pad that is created in clean room conditions and bagged to protect the tapes. The wand design came next. With help from Guy Tal, a photo friend of Ross's, the wand base was designed so that it could cover any size sensor with four applications. The finger grip was designed to help the user see all four corners of the wand base, making it easier to apply to the sensor. The final element was the tin can. Ross wanted a package that would protect the wand and pad from being crushed while in a backpack. Plus, he wanted it to be reusable, to help reduce waste. So please don't throw out the tin can, use it for storing nails, pennies or any other small items. Now we have the final working product! Born out of a need, tested for residue contamination and delivered for ease and performance. Thanks for reading our story and think about giving DUST-AID a try! |
