Best way to clean an ink disk?

I just got a 10x15 C&P New style, and it’s time to spiff her up to get read to print. I won’t be doing much cleaning or scrubbing, she’s pretty much rust-free, but the ink disk is a little dingy because it’s been sitting for a few years without being used. What is the best thing to use to clean the ink disk before I ink it? I’ve used Crisco to clean ink before (which is hilariously the best thing I’ve experienced to remove ink) and also rubbing alcohol to get off the stubborn stuff. I’m not sure if I should use a soap solution or maybe rubbing alcohol to get it clean? Any and all suggestions are welcome.

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I’m going to channel Mick with this response… Please excuse my lack of structure

- Solvents -

water
mineral spirits
ethanol
isopropyl alcohol
acetone
methanol
toluene
methyl ethyl ketone ( dye-free PVC pipe primer is a mix of acetone and MEK. The dyed stuff is the same, but leaves purple residue)

In moments of desperation, paint stripper (Circa 1850 = methanol + dichloromethane, and is terrible stuff to handle. I can feel it through “chemical proof” gloves after about 20 minutes with it.)

- Abrasives -

stiff nylon brush
steel wool + elbow grease
wire brush
various grades of Scotch Brite + elbow grease

I tend to use solvents in the order listed, and abrasives in the order listed. Start out gentle, and ramp up if the results are unsatisfactory.

I’ve found that toluene is the best for removing ink residue. Type wash is a mixture of toluene, isopropyl alcohol and hexane. I haven’t found a source for hexane (besides type wash). Interesting factlet: hexane is used to wash vegetable oils out of their natural sources (crushed seeds), and evaporated out to leave pure oil. Yum.

Long story short: consider upgrading your solvent arsenal. Use them outside with gloves and good ventilation, use very little (every bit you pour out of the bottle will end up evaporating into your immediate environment). I get the desire to use “friendly” methods of cleanup, but sometimes you have to be heavy handed. Use them responsibly. If you drive a car, you pour much more nasty things into your gas tank every time you fill up.

Finally, the back of my ink disk was thick with ink. I dropped it in my electrolysis tank for an hour or so, and all of the ink just fell off. No solvents, no scrubbing, just an old PC power supply, some washing soda, a few bits of scrap metal and a plastic tub. Our friendly local curmudgeon has strong opinions on the damage this process causes, but I haven’t seen any evidence that he has tried the process himself. Lots of vintage machinery restorers use the process with a great deal of success. I have too. YMMV.