Printable View
It's time for me to clean out my Zone print washer which has accumulated sludge, gunk, residue, etc which has adhered to the plastic/acrylic surfaces.
I'm taking it outside and giving it a power wash. However, my question is what type of soap, solvent, cleaner would one use? I heard of a dental cleaner product for false teeth, long ago. Fact or fiction???? What is recommended to give it a "deep clean?
Raymond
It's made of acrylic. Use a mild liquid dishwashing detergent, like Palmolive, Dove, etc.
Use warm water and let it soak for a while before rinsing away the detergent.
Be careful with that power washer. you could accidentally break something.
For cleaning darkroom sinks, I would refer to the following thread:
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...*+stain*+sink*
For just the washer, how about Lime Off? Never tried it, but I know that it's supposed to remove water deposits off showers, sinks, etc. If showers, I would think that it won't harm plastics, but not sure on this.
I used 409 on my Zone VI print washer. I removed all the dividers and cleaned them as well as the interior of the washer with 409 and a good scrub with a wash cloth. Then I rinsed everything thoroughly with a garden hose and let everything sit in water for a couple hours. Seemed to do a good job, at least the washer kept on washing afterwards and looked a lot nicer.
I recall a note in the Zone VI newsletters where "fizzy" denture cleaner was suggested to clear the residue. Something to consider...
Good luck.
Mike
I've used two methods on my Zone VI washer and they both worked well. Fairly strong stop bath, make sure it is acetic acid and not one of the non acid types, let it set for 24 hrs, this will dissolve many of the hard water residues. I've also used lime off and it also worked. You basically fill it up and let the material work on the gunk.
The denture cleaner works well when used for regular maint. From the description I don't think it would help much in this case.
Follow up question: How long should I leave water in my Zone VI washer? Drain when finished for the day? Overnight if I know I'll be printing again soon? Week? month? It takes a lot of water to fill this beast nd I hate to waste it. Conversely, I know gunk, grunge and nasty critters can grow in the water.
FWIW, I drain the water from my print washer when I'm through using it. Don't leave standing water in a print washer because it will eventually scum up.Quote:
Originally Posted by venchka
If you need to clean one use some Chlorox and dish washing detergent with warm water. The corners are a bitch to clean algae from.
Don Bryant
Thanks Don. I'll save the Zone VI washer for FB prints. I can wash RC in a dishpan.