Re: Cleaning the Spring Sheet with Ethanol
On the rubbing alcohol containing oils - we really need to READ the labels on the stuff we buy. Here in South Africa I saw similarly looking bottles, both laballed "Rubbing Alcohol", one label green and the other white. The one had 99% IPA content and the other one had 70% IPA, x% Wintergreen ( I forget the exact number) and the rest water.
Re: Cleaning the Spring Sheet with Ethanol
Why do you feel the need to do things like attack your print beds with sharp metallic objects, sandpaper, and harsh chemicals and solvents?
What exactly are you cleaning *off* your beds that requires such drastic measures?
The natural oils and grease that accumulate on the bed from handling it, and the clearly visible residue that the previous print leaves behind. Water may appear to the naked eye to be 'cleaning' that off, but it's definitely not getting all of it.
I don't use sharp metal objects or sandpaper on my bed (who the heck would use sandpaper on a PEI sheet??)...and I don't consider IPA and Windex to be 'harsh chemicals' personally.
As has been pointed out, 70% IPA isn't ideal...part of the remaining 30% is stuff that you do not want to be left behind on the bed. 90% IPA is readily available at pharmacies in the US (and dirt cheap), and seems to work well for me (mostly printing PLA at the moment).
Re: Cleaning the Spring Sheet with Ethanol
How could 70% isopropyl alcohol ever not be sterile? What sort of pathogen can survive in that?
If you want an example, a very common bacterial that is resistant to 70% IPA is C.Diff. It goes into spore phase where it can withstand pretty much anything (so its resistant due to a physical phase it goes in, not that it developed resistance). For a normal person who is currently healthy, our gut kills it via our own bacteria (lactobacillus, etc). But when it gets into someone who has been on antibiotics that kill our own normal bacteria, it becomes a problem (you don't want to know what the most effective treatment is... hint, its not more antibiotics, but rather more bacteria... from another person). You can easily prevent spreading it by hand washing, unfortunately a lot of healthcare professionals (me included, but I don't touch patients) just use the alcohol foam generously located on every wall of the hospital.
😯
Re: Cleaning the Spring Sheet with Ethanol
How could 70% isopropyl alcohol ever not be sterile? What sort of pathogen can survive in that?
If you want an example, a very common bacterial that is resistant to 70% IPA is C.Diff. It goes into spore phase where it can withstand pretty much anything (so its resistant due to a physical phase it goes in, not that it developed resistance). For a normal person who is currently healthy, our gut kills it via our own bacteria (lactobacillus, etc). But when it gets into someone who has been on antibiotics that kill our own normal bacteria, it becomes a problem (you don't want to know what the most effective treatment is... hint, its not more antibiotics, but rather more bacteria... from another person). You can easily prevent spreading it by hand washing, unfortunately a lot of healthcare professionals (me included, but I don't touch patients) just use the alcohol foam generously located on every wall of the hospital.
😯
I don't mean to scare you. For the most part facilities appropriately use antibiotics and regularly educate staff on hand washing vs foaming (with alcohol) in and out of rooms. The culprits are usually long term care facilities that don't have infectious disease staff constantly monitoring antibiotic use. Overuse of our big guns like carbopenems has led to resistant organisms predominantly spawning from these facilities (once we have these bugs, there is very little we can use to kill them).
Back to matter at hand. Check the labels thoroughly. Rubbing alcohol and antiseptic isopropyl alcohol are similar but different. If you get the green wintergreen rubbing alcohol that is fragrant, thats got oils in it. The antiseptic alcohol like the Walmart brand I posted earlier that costs like 2-3 bucks is just isopropyl alcohol and water. I think I have a bottle of rubbing alcohol I can compare labels with to show.
Re: Cleaning the Spring Sheet with Ethanol
Why do you feel the need to do things like attack your print beds with sharp metallic objects, sandpaper, and harsh chemicals and solvents?
What exactly are you cleaning *off* your beds that requires such drastic measures?
The natural oils and grease that accumulate on the bed from handling it, and the clearly visible residue that the previous print leaves behind. Water may appear to the naked eye to be 'cleaning' that off, but it's definitely not getting all of it.
I don't use sharp metal objects or sandpaper on my bed (who the heck would use sandpaper on a PEI sheet??)...and I don't consider IPA and Windex to be 'harsh chemicals' personally.
As has been pointed out, 70% IPA is not a good idea...part of the remaining 30% is stuff that you do not want to be left behind on the bed. 90% IPA is readily available at pharmacies in the US (and dirt cheap), and seems to work well for me (mostly printing PLA at the moment).
Josh, I've been using 70% IPA pads and have had no problems. The water I see left behind either evaporates naturally or is driven off once the bed gets up to temp. If there is any issue with the residual molecular water content interacting with the first layer of the PLA supplied by PR, I've not seen it. Does this become more apparent in prints with larger footprints?
Re: Cleaning the Spring Sheet with Ethanol
Why do you feel the need to do things like attack your print beds with sharp metallic objects, sandpaper, and harsh chemicals and solvents?
What exactly are you cleaning *off* your beds that requires such drastic measures?
The natural oils and grease that accumulate on the bed from handling it, and the clearly visible residue that the previous print leaves behind. Water may appear to the naked eye to be 'cleaning' that off, but it's definitely not getting all of it.
I don't use sharp metal objects or sandpaper on my bed (who the heck would use sandpaper on a PEI sheet??)...and I don't consider IPA and Windex to be 'harsh chemicals' personally.
As has been pointed out, 70% IPA is not a good idea...part of the remaining 30% is stuff that you do not want to be left behind on the bed. 90% IPA is readily available at pharmacies in the US (and dirt cheap), and seems to work well for me (mostly printing PLA at the moment).
Josh, I've been using 70% IPA pads and have had no problems. The water I see left behind either evaporates naturally or is driven off once the bed gets up to temp. If there is any issue with the residual molecular water content interacting with the first layer of the PLA supplied by PR, I've not seen it. Does this become more apparent in prints with larger footprints?
In my mind the added water in 70% IPA isn't the issue as much as the other potential non-isopropyl components like impurities, oils, or fragrances (depending on the type you buy). That said, the added water isn't helping its ability to dissolve and remove grease. 90% is a stronger solvent, and therefore theoretically more effective at cleaning.
Re: Cleaning the Spring Sheet with Ethanol
The decontaminated isopropyl alcohol is for clean rooms. I'm a pharmacist in a hospital and we are required by state law to use this (seemingly) ridiculous product at an extreme price. There is no special seals in it.. its just gamma irradiated and double bagged to make us feel better. Once we open it, its no longer sterile... so why sterile in the first place?
How could 70% isopropyl alcohol ever not be sterile? What sort of pathogen can survive in that?
chemical contaminants, not bacterial.
Re: Cleaning the Spring Sheet with Ethanol
Rubbing alcohol often contains Oil!
not good for heat beds
regards Joan
You say this, like this is common knowledge. Please elobrate on this subject.
Everyone says "Clean the bed with IPA, make stuff stick better." And I'm like "Uhhh, My PLA won't stick after I clean it with IPA." and they are like "*crickets*".
I use Windex for everything, unless I'm doing a "cleanup" which I will use acetone, or IPA depending on how far I wanna go on the "cleanup".
Other stuff is added to 70% ethanol bought in pharmacies to make it taste gross to prevent people from drinking it. It leaves a residue. That is also sold as "rubbing alcohol".