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A good camera is a significant investment, both in terms of the cost, and in the time you’ll need to spend figuring out its intricacies and understanding how to best clean and maintain it. 

Cleaning such an intricate bit of kit is often a daunting prospect, and it can be tempting to put it off for as long as possible. However, it is actually a fairly simple process once you get to grips with things, and you only need a few items to get your camera shipshape. 

Check out our digital camera reviews to see which models came out on top in our tough test lab. 

You can get a lot of camera cleaning stuff together as a kit, but we’ve listed the individual bits you’ll need here:

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When you think about cleaning a camera, an image of someone diligently polishing a lens is probably what comes to mind. A good lens, properly maintained and looked after, can last well over a decade. 

A smudged or dusty camera lens is usually fairly obvious because it will result in photos with blurry spots, as if you’re looking out of a dirty window. If you’re unsure or want to check your lens for signs of dirt, set your camera to manual and turn the focus ring to the infinity symbol (∞). Set the highest possible aperture value, and the lowest possible ISO. Take a picture of a plain surface. When you look back at it, any dust should be easy to spot in the resulting image. 

Keep in mind that you shouldn’t clean your lens too frequently - only as and when it actually needs it. Too much cleaning can cause damage in the long run. 

Cleaning a lens is a simple process, and the key is to be gentle throughout, rather than scrubbing too rigorously. 

If you’ve still got dark spots in your images after cleaning your lens, then it’s probably down to dust on the image sensor. This is fairly inevitable - each time you change lenses it’s possible that dust will get in - so it’s good to learn how to clean it yourself. You can, of course, take it to a camera shop to be cleaned if you’re particularly anxious about causing any damage. 

Most modern cameras actually have an auto-clean or clean sensor option, which vibrates the sensor to shake the dust loose. If this doesn’t work, you’ll have to go in manually. 

The sensor is probably the most important and expensive part of your camera, so it should go without saying that you need to approach it carefully.

The camera’s body and LCD display screen are much less of a pressing concern than the lens and sensor, but they’re still good to keep on top of and maintain. 

Thankfully, you don’t need any materials you wouldn’t already have from cleaning the lens.

Despite claims of how weatherproof your camera may be, you should never submerge it in water to clean it, or apply water directly. Being weather-sealed or weatherproof may help it stand up to rain or snow, but there’s no way it’d survive being dunked in the bathroom sink. 

You should also avoid using any rough cloths, such as a kitchen cloth, as they can be abrasive and cause scratches. You should also steer clear of any household cleaning products, like bleach, as the harsh chemicals can do more harm than good. 

It’s inevitable that you’ll have to clean your camera every once in a while, but there are steps you can take to try and minimise the dust and dirt its various components might accrue. 

See our guide on how to buy a digital camera  to find which camera is best for you.