Hey, apologies if this is a duplicate post - my search foo is pretty bad nowadays I think :< - but I wanted to ask how others clean PEI sheets?
I see a lot of rather conflicting information, in particular whether to use cleaning alcohol or not on it. I intuitively understand Acetone is a no-no, but what about just alcohol? Does that also damage/roughen the surface of the smooth side?
Should I use window cleaner on the smooth side?
Just dishwashing soap to be on the very safe side?
Or is there some specialized PEI cleaner?
Windex actually works pretty well but I follow that up with some IPA just to remove any residue. IPA itself isn’t a great degreaser (apparently it just kinda smears things around), but it’s decent for surface maintenance.
I follow what prusa recommends, warm soapy water and a light scrubbing every so often. I actually haven’t done much to my satin sheet in months beyond IPA between prints, in my experience you’re pretty much the biggest source of oil that can be on your print surface so also practice not touching the surface as much as possible.
Check your paper towels as well, some brands have oils or softeners in them that undo all your cleaning. Also you probably should wear gloves with 99% IPA, it’s really rough on your skin and you probably should be careful with the vapours too
From what I’ve read, some people use Windex to intentionally reduce adhesion, primarily when printing PETG on glass to reduce the risk of it fusing with the bed. Never had to do it myself, but supposedly it leaves a film on the surface. Is this anything you’ve noticed?
It does totally leave residue so I wipe down with IPA, but it does a better job specifically with fingerprints than IPA (at least in my experience). Ultimately best cleaner has been dish soap and water, I have a spray bottle mixed up that I keep around for cleaning, just needs to be rinsed and dry which I found an IPA wipe down after the soapy water spray does a decent enough job. These are all things I do when I don’t want to take the entire sheet to a sink and do a scrub.
Sounds good. I think a potential problem with IPA is that it dissolves the fat and then leaves it on the bed as it evaporates, so it’s not the ideal bed cleaner.