Soaking squeegees

[inkbrigade]

I know your not suppose to let squeegees soak in ink degrader to long because it will soften the rubber.

Does anyone know how long you can do it and get away with it?

Letting my ink knives sit over night in ink degrader is awesome because all I have to do it hit them with a pressure washer the next morning.

Id sure like to do that with squeegees.

So does anyone have any experience with this? 15 minutes? 45 minutes? 2 hours? Or no soaking at all?

Thanks!

[inkman996]

Personally we do not use ink degrades at all on our rubber we simply take a dry rag and wipe off the ink, if the,ink is carded of really well first it wipes off no prob. I always found using a solvent gets messy and leaves more a mess, but of course we do not have a parts washer if we did I would use it. Using a pressure washer is tough and messy, wipe with a rag and be done with it.

[whitewater]

I do one spray of ickee stickee (franmar) on a rag and wipe...easy peasy...

[screenxpress]

I do one spray of ickee stickee (franmar) on a rag and wipe...easy peasy...

I think you;re in NW Houston.  Can you purchase that locally?  I had not found anyone.

[ZooCity]

Hey Whitewater,  Ickee stickee isn't really meant for that task.  out of all of Franmar's chem's I would say it stands to do the most damage to you blades.  Try Greeneway or Color Change instead.

[sweetts]

909 spray

Sent  from samsung gem(the worst smart phone ever)

[inkbrigade]

Cleaning with a rag isn't an option when you use qcm 158 on an auto haha! I'll take pic for you guys. That thing is covered!!!

[Prōdigium]

I have to agree with most, in that I fail to see any reason to "soak" squeegees...especially wood handle manual ones as it will also rot the wood. If the printer takes any care in his/her job they will sufficiently scrap the ink off the squeegee and the minimal amount of ink that is left can easily be removed with either a rag, or in the washout booth with a quick spritz of ink remover and a light scrub with a brush.

However if you have a serious issue with a high volume of squeegee's and floodbars that need cleaning you might consider just getting a dedicated washout tub and fill it with a 50/50 mix of water and ink degrader such as the one my friend made for his auto-shop below. The nice thing here is that the other side is used to wash hands and allows you to rinse them off...an easy solution and fairly cheap. (second hand wash tank)

 

[inkbrigade]

As you can see from the photos, simply wiping them down with a rag won't do the trick. Also is a shot of SOME of the squeegees and floods we use in one day.

http://i.imgur.com/Da5cq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/R76Oi.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Jn9D3.jpg

[sweetts]

citra paste and water ??

[inkbrigade]

Yea that's what I'm wondering. How long can a squeegee blade sit in a 50/50 citra Paste and water mix before ruining the rubber.

[brandon]

Cleaning with a rag isn't an option when you use qcm 158 on an auto haha! I'll take pic for you guys. That thing is covered!!!

Ha! Totally

[mk162]

I wouldn't soak anything.  You want it in and out.  I would scrub them with some degrader and rinse.  I use a parts washer, clean ours and then stand them at an angle to dry.  I should probably wipe them with a rag, maybe I will start that so they dry faster and don't sit with a layer of solvent on them.

Also, we use plastiwash in our washer, works great.

[inkman996]

I have tried soaking things in the past and found soaking does nothing, the degradent doesn't really penetrate if just sitting on it, it needs to be agitated or scrubbed.

We use citra paste works best in the wash out booth.

[whitewater]

Hey Whitewater,  Ickee stickee isn't really meant for that task.  out of all of Franmar's chem's I would say it stands to do the most damage to you blades.  Try Greeneway or Color Change instead.

Yeah but I am out of it....What does it do to the rubber? I have not seen any degrading as of yet....or is it something I can not see?