"CanonAE14fun" wrote
I know that cotton swabs can be used, but it seems to me that the foam
swabs are lint-free,where the cotton swabs might not be...

I have to confess I have never cleaned a lens with a foam swab.

But then I have never had problem with lint from cotton swabs. There
is the occasional long cotton fibre left behind but it is easily
swabbed back up by the self-same swab.

Clean room swabs are made from urethane foam, which is wettable,
so they do absorb moisture. Urethane is what is used in rotted
light seals, gooey mirror bumpers, falling-apart hi-fi loud
speakers and it produces formaldehyde when used for insulation.
I stay as far away from it as possible on religious grounds:
I don't care what anyone says, I won't use it and I certainly
will never design it into a product.

I suppose if the swab were cellulose, like a kitchen sponge, and
if it were well wetted and wrung it out it would work.

But Q-Tips are cheaper, easier to purchase and you can always
find some around the house.

For cleaning fluid I use Windex. It takes the dirt off quickly with
a minimum of scrubbing. It is scrubbing that damages lenses, not
the cleaning fluid.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index2.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com