Ink Storage and Cleaning Procedures

[Quaddaddy]

I am trying to get my shop cleaner and I was curious how you all stored your ink and spatulas.  Specifically what do you do after a job is complete?  Do you clean all of the ink off the screen immediately?  Where does the screen go? If so, do you also clean the spatula or leave it in the ink container?  If you clean the spatula, where do you store it?  Do you store the inks with their lids on or do you leave the spatula in the ink and store it on the shelf?  Pictures and procedures followed would be awesome.  I'm curious to see what others are doing so I can implement a process here.  Thanks in advance!

[tonyt79]

I am a small shop, so sometimes easy to handle. I clean the screens off on press and pretty much all of them go get stacked for clean and reclaim. I store all inks closed and on shelf besides white and black. They normally stay on my bench. I always clean spatulas right on the bench and store them on a cart I keep there with my cleaners, paper towels and general stuff I use most days. I just have a home made shelf system that holds ink quarts and most used gallons of ink close to my press. Other inks are stored in a back room.

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[Quaddaddy]

Thanks tony79.  I am a small shop too. I'm losing my printer soon and may go back to printing myself.  I screwed up by not staying after my printer and the shop is a disaster.  I'm going to gut it and start fresh. I'm hoping others chime in with their process and pictures of their ink storage. 

[1964GN]

It really depends on what jobs are coming up but in general... screens/squeegees/flood bars come off the press and get placed at a carding station. They all get de-inked, the ink goes back on the shelf with the lid on. Squeegees/flood bars/spatulas go to the parts washer. Screens go to the reclaim area. Screens going back on the shelf for reprints get cleaned and labeled and put in the racks so when the reprint comes they are ready to go.

Inks will only stay out if we have similar color jobs coming up in the next day or so. Same with squeegees and flood bars. We almost always leave black and white items out and ready to go since they are used on most jobs.

I just wish we had a person dedicated for these tasks. Pulling others off their main duties really puts a cramp in production.

[inkbrigade]

We're a 5 person shop so what we do might not work best for you. We cap all the inks. As for spatulas, we use one with a metal blade and a plastic handle. When we're done with it, it gets tossed into a 5 gallon home depot bucket half full of ink degrader. They sit in there until someone gets around to dealing with them or were out of them and need some cleaned.
The nice thing about them sitting in the ink degrader is you don't really need any muscle to clean them. Just pull them out, a quick squirt with the pressure washer and it's clean as a whistle.

[rmonks]

I posted this long time ago. But It always bugged me that the handle on the bucket was touching the side of the bucket, and I hated getting ink on my hand when I grabbed a bucket . SO I said SCREW THIS  and that is what I did, I  put a screw as shown in my buckets where the bail attaches (NOT all the way through the bucket) but it helped with keeping ink off the handle. As you can see in the photo I haven't got to all of them.

[tonypep]

Like this

[Du Manchu]

I beleive we could do a better job of managing it, once we get the mixed ink buckets all standardized in size and lid (ditching the tuperware bowls) and find a better label process.  Even the factory buckets of ink labels disappear quickly with a swipe of ink wash.  Sharpie pens do not stand the test either.  What are you guys using as a label and marker?

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Like this

Now THAT'S depressing.

[Colin]

I beleive we could do a better job of managing it, once we get the mixed ink buckets all standardized in size and lid (ditching the tuperware bowls) and find a better label process.  Even the factory buckets of ink labels disappear quickly with a swipe of ink wash.  Sharpie pens do not stand the test either.  What are you guys using as a label and marker?

We use a sharpie.

Then cover it with clear tape.

[bimmridder]

Labels printed out using ink manufacturer's software and thermal printer. Tape over with clear tape. Exact formula on every container. Easy to keep clean.

[jvanick]

Labels printed out using ink manufacturer's software and thermal printer. Tape over with clear tape. Exact formula on every container. Easy to keep clean.

we do exactly the same.. makes remixing a breeze, except that we print the labels on our office printer and then cut them to size...

[bimmridder]

Scammed an old UPS printer and use their labels. So nice of them to oblige me.

[ebscreen]

Scammed an old UPS printer and use their labels. So nice of them to oblige me.

You too?

If you do enough volume they "rent" you one for like $6 a month.

Clear packing tape over the label keeps it legible.

[jvieira]

Labels printed out using ink manufacturer's software and thermal printer. Tape over with clear tape. Exact formula on every container. Easy to keep clean.

yep. same here