Fingerprints on UV prints

[DoubleDown]

Was at a show recently and someone was talking about oils, fingerprints, etc on flatbed prints and we were discussing how we get rid of them.

Curious to see what others do...of course we all wear gloves here but we normally clean everything that is not foamcore related with denatured alchohol because it's a little stronger for things like aluminum, pvc, coro but we clean foamcore with isopropyl alchohol.

I think the only problems we've ever had is with aluminum because even if you rub your arm up against it oils can transfer to the surface. So sometimes we even use a heavy degreaser to be safe.

What does everyone else do?

Best,

 

[Simon Belmont]

I use gloves and IPA on just about everything, except coro, which i never usually have a fingerprint problem on luckily.

 

[WYLDGFI]

FIngerprints are always an issue....takes soo much time to clean boards after we get them in. Its not our handling...but when they come from the supplier...Usually isoprpyl...have been looking to try the Denatured soon on the PVC. thats the toughest it seems.

 

[WYLDGFI]

Ok...FYI. Used some Denatured alch past 2 weeks for preparing boards and all. Saw no improvement over the 91% alchohol we buy from wal mart. $6 per can of Denatured vs $2 for 91%...hmmm....91% WINS!
We also have been using a windex to get loose dirt off utilizing a LIGHT scrubber sponge and that is working very well!

 

[Typestries]

glad I'm not the only one that gets those funny looks at walmart with my cart full of iso alcohol!!!!

 

[WYLDGFI]

Yea rick...its kinda funny with that. I cant wait for the Sams Club to open!!

 

[pixel_pusher]

what about digitally printed banners? I get fingerprints on those from time to time.

Also, do you guys wear cotton or latex gloves?

 

[DoubleDown]

How and where do you get prints on your banners? We typically wear cotton to let our hands breath some but we also wear the latex ones alot if you want to be ultrasensitve about oils. With no gloves, typically we only hold last 1" of the banner roll to put it on the machines, plus if you web the banner correctly on the machine the parts on the banner you touched anyway should be near the take up reel and not near the printing if that makes sense.

Best,

 

[Checkers]

Denatured alcohol is an accident waiting to happen. You never know what's really in it and it can contain parafin(sp?) wax which can really screw up your prints.
Care in handling, Rapid Prep or isopropyl alcohol and cotton gloves worked for me.

Checkers

 

[hammered]

They sell the Alchy wipes as well. I like them for spot cleaning.

 

[Matt Cuellar]

Gloves....Saves a lot of headache and helps minimize a NEVERENDING problem!

 

[jdigital]

We typically wear cotton gloves. As for how to clean materials? It depends on what material you're using. For styrene we use a mixture of 25% TSP, 50% ISP alcohol, 25% hydrogen peroxide. Mix these in a 1 gallon container. These seems to work for us. If you are printing on sintra, it's recommended not to use any cleaning agent, except water, because any cleaner will remove the coating on the surface which will cause streaking in your prints. Other than those two materials we use straight ISP alcohol