ink stained clothes
I like to wear a mechanic’s jumpsuit when working with a variety of different presses. Needless to say, the clothing gets stained (sometimes a little, sometimes a lot).
Is there a method for cleaning ink (rubber base) stained clothing in the washing machine without leaving residue in the tub? A particular brand of detergent?
Or is it best to just chuck the whole damn thing when the stains get to be too much?
Thanks for your thoughts…..
JP
Why remove the stains? Embrace them! Keep the jumpsuit in your shop and consider it a work of art in progress. :)
Steve
The ink should be on your type and not on your jumpsuit…
simple print naked, you will never stain your clothes, some wear aprons, myself I use sweatshirts in the winter and t shirts in warmer weather. most of my clothes have ink stains on them, as Inky says “get some ink on your shirt”
Enough said….thanks
Although I agree with *all* the above advice (an unusual state of affairs!), I can also recommend Gojo hand cleaner, esp. if tried when the ink is fresh.
Lisa
Pre-spotting the stains with full strength Pine Sol, may (if allowed to “work” a short bit, may take stains out. Check results before drying and retreat as necessary.
A good printer’s apron and good ink handling habits (cleaning knives and mixing pallets immediately after use) will go a long way to reducing the tendency of ink to wind up everywhere.
You can try “Dry cleaning” solvents, rather than water washing, if you wish. I have personally used naphtha (with the clothes off me, on a table) to spot clean a Tshirt I really liked to good effect. I guess it also depends on the severity/age/staining agent.
While cleaning your clothes with the “Dry cleaning” solvents you can get that dried ink off your type. :)
I am a hobby printer. I remove the rollers to clean them after a bit of printing. I do not re-attach them until I have another project…could be a few days or a couple of weeks.
I place the rollers on a brace so that no rubber touches anything while not being used.
Questions: Is there a way to clean the rollers on a C&P 8X10 with removing the rollers?
Is there any harm in storing the cleaned rollers on the press when not being used?
Thanks (again) for all your advice.
JP
There’s no harm at all in storing cleaned rollers on the press—so long as they are not resting on the ink disk or a form in the chase (both of which will leave flat spots in your rollers).
Rollers can be washed on the press in a variety of ways. My favorite is to spray mineral spirits on the ink disk while the press is in motion and then “sheeting off” the loosened ink with scrap paper (pick up a bundle of old office paper from the recycle center).
One needs to use about three or four sheets, and then use a rag wetted with solvent to do the final cleanup, rolling the rollers up onto the ink disk (wiping all the time) and then back down so they can rest with the rollers in the middle of the press bed.