Platen Tape Removal 5/13

[DCSP John]

Hi Everyone - hope all are well and safe and still printing...

Any tricks or tips for removing the base layer of platen tape off of boards?
Solvents or anything?  Last I remember, we struggled mightily on each and every board.
I'm planning on taking off all tape on all boards, down to the rubber, which is still in great shape on
all presses....  Thanks in advance.  - John

[ericheartsu]

we've found pallet tape releases easier when they are warm!

[Maxie]

Agree, we always pre heat before removing pallet tape.

[ebscreen]

And change paper more often than not. I know our specialty pallets can be a bear
to remove the paper from. Time isn't kind to pallet paper.

[DCSP John]

I hear ya... Im talking about the base layer that we put on when we got the presses.
Baked on, yellowed, impossible to peel off. Was thinking there was a mild solvent the we could
soak platens in to soften the tape, and at the same time loosen the adhesive so we could scrape off.

Or the other option is to work each board for two hours by hand....


John

[ebscreen]

Ah, we only use one layer with honeycomb pallets.

The paper we use has a water soluble adhesive so we just soak in Simple Green if need be.
It helps a lot but isn't a magic bullet for old paper.

Oh, also, for what it's worth, we've found that our local sign supplies house brand application tape
is waaaayyyyy better than anything sold specifically for screen printing.

[Frog]

Ah, we only use one layer with honeycomb pallets.

The paper we use has a water soluble adhesive so we just soak in Simple Green if need be.
It helps a lot but isn't a magic bullet for old paper.

Oh, also, for what it's worth, we've found that our local sign supplies house brand application tape
is waaaayyyyy better than anything sold specifically for screen printing.

And usually cheaper as well if I remember pricing the last time I checked.

[ebscreen]

Most indubitably. Not to mention 40" pallet paper isn't usually a thing.

[DCSP John]

thanks, fellas.. I appreciate the feedback.

John

[TCT]

When we had rubber pallets we put down a layer of platen tape that NEVER got removed or printed on. We just applied and made sure it was super nice and smooth. Then we applied a second layer on top of that. The second layer was the only one that would come off.

With Honeycomb pallets we just use the 1 layer of tape and are good.

Like others have said, heat helps. Stubborn pieces we would spray some screen opener on and let it sit, then peal. WARNING! Only apply screen opener/goof off/ect. at the end of the day on a Friday or even better a long weekend if possible. We found if we did it and tried to apply new tape right away or even after lunch the opener/goof off/ect would make it super hard for the tape to stick. 

You can buy pallet tape(sign mask) in different sticky-ness levels...

[mooseman]

The only thing easier than getting tape off pallets after 100 years of service is turning lead into gold.
This stuff https://www.screenprintingsupply.com/Tekmar-Orange-Adhesive-Remover-Cleaner--Quart_p_15445.html   however we find makes the job somewhat easier. Score the tape (paper) saturate with this stuff let it set and apply elbow grease with a sharp edge scraper.
mooseman

[farmboygraphics]

Sprayaway 957, few hours soak, pressure washer. Pay attention not to get to aggressive. Used this to clean some sleeve boards that hadn't been used for awhile. Worked great and cleaned off all the adhesive snot at the same time. Now I only tape those when I use the and take it off as I take them off the press. Keep a roll of 6 inch transfer tape on hand for that, which also works nice if you need to de-lint anything quick.