I get a fair amount of adhesive transfer onto the iron when I tack the print to the backing board via the dry mount tissue. If I don't clean it regularly I it becomes extremely hard. If I don't clean it I get a smudge on when I use it.
I've been cleaning mine by heating it up a aggressively rubbing it off with a paper towel-PITA. There must be a better way. How do you clean yours?
Thanks,
Kirk
at age 73:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
Most of these irons are either teflon or silicone, so solvent-resistant. Do a little spot test with acetone to be certain. Otherwise, try a film cleaner like PEC.
Acetone works on the fresh adhesive but won't seem to make a dent in old stuff.
Thanks,
Kirk
at age 73:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
Wasn't mounting tissue made with shellac? If so, alcohol should do the trick . . . I would think.
Per Drew's counsel, while the iron is still warm. Mine is teflon, and so never loads up as yours (I do however employ a rather light touch with these things). If yours is a non–coated oldie, it might be worth investing in a new one before they're made illegal*.
* so this photo store employee looks at my prints and exclaims in horror, "You're not dry mounting these!" Sorry, its only recently become clear to me how unprofessional it is of me to dry mount – pigment print technologies having having driven everything photographic.
Yes... warm the iron to low temp. Use a FINE nylon scrubber (I use white)- something suitable for safely scrubbing teflon fry pans, for example, but not with any
kind of sponge backing or filler susceptible to acetone. If that doesn't work, there is a safe citrus-based solvent called De-Solv-It, which you can apply and let sit
for about 20min to a cold iron, then scrub with the nylon pad. But it leaves a residue, so rinse this off afterwards with denatured alcohol. I do not know the exact
current composition of Colormount. I've been told it's no longer simple shellac; but I personally haven't had any trouble removing either it or acrylic based adhesives
using the products described above. Hope this helps.
Mine is teflon-coated, but still picks up residue from Colormount. I don't let that happen. A clean sheet of plain white paper is kept on the counter. Each time the iron is dragged across tissue, I immediately wipe off the residue on that scrap paper. Always use a clean spot on the paper.
As with most things, ongoing maintenance is easier than "repairs."
Sal that is a great idea. Its so obvious that I'm embarrassed to say I never thought of it.
Thanks,
Kirk
at age 73:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
My company used to make/sell a white spray on dry teflon, worked well on many things, if you can find it and perhaps coat or recoat your iron. I'm hoping to find my can and fix my scratched tacking iron.
They were absorbed by Loctite, who promptly discontinued many popular big sellers.
Maybe it can be found. It was sort of like this, http://www.amazon.com/DuPont-Non-Sti...ef=pd_sxp_f_pt
I actually never get adhesive on the iron from drymounting, due to the way I use it. But I have sometimes borrowed it for cabinet shop application of heat-seal
shellac glues where it did get contaminated and need to be cleaned. When I tack the tissue to the back of the print, I always have a little piece of silicone release
paper in between (But never use this method on the face of the print, or a little bit of shiny residue might transfer to the emulsion). My own drymounting method
is a lot more clean and efficient than the traditional one shown in most books, and I have taught it to a number of people. But basically, the tissue is briefly tacked to the back of a predryed print with release paper in between , then the whole tissue is pressed dead flat on the print between a ragboard sandwich, with a full sheet of release paper between the mtg tissue and board... But it's important that no tissue overlaps and can adhere to the top board. This is then removed, cooled under the pressure glass, then trimmed to final size. After that, mounting and pressing to the final board (also predried), between the ragboard sandwich, and under the pressure glass again.
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