Cleaning 2-ply acrylic

[Steve Krahn]

I have been working with engraving 2-ply acrylic for a few different jobs now, and I can't seem to get a great finish on the engraved areas after cleaning. I am mostly using Rowmark LaserMAX black on white. My machine is a Rabbit QX-80-1290.

I have tried using alcohol, dish soap, Mr. Clean magic eraser, just plain water, and none of them seem to get me a nice white finish. There is usually black smudged somewhere. I have tried applying soap before engraving. I have tried 3M masking tape, and I have tried leaving the protective coating on. I have done my best to ensure that all the mirrors, and the lens are clean and aligned. I am not sure what else to try. Perhaps it just takes more experience, I am not sure. Would some of you be able to tell me how you ensure a good quality engraving on 2-ply acrylic?

[Mike Null]

Steve
I have pretty good luck using Magic Eraser and water. My trick is to put the laminate in water before wiping with the ME. My theory is that the water keeps the dust in suspension and prevents it from embedding in the white.

If that fails on a piece or two try 90% isopropyl alcohol. My all purpose go to cleaner is DNA but it doesn't work as well as the isopropyl on the laminates.

[Gary Hair]

Try less power, that seemed to help the most for me. After lasering I use denatured alcohol and it works 100% of the time for me, but takes a lot more effort when you go too deep. The idea with Rowmark is to remove just enough of the cap layer to expose the color underneath fully, not to deep engrave. Also try bottom-up engraving, that keeps the muck out of the area you just engraved.

[Joe Pelonio]

Try less power, that seemed to help the most for me. After lasering I use denatured alcohol and it works 100% of the time for me, but takes a lot more effort when you go too deep. The idea with Rowmark is to remove just enough of the cap layer to expose the color underneath fully, not to deep engrave. Also try bottom-up engraving, that keeps the muck out of the area you just engraved.
Same here, DNA but too much rubbing with it remove some the surface color, and when clean I give a quick wipe with damp (water) cloth to remove any DNA still left. Take a scrap and soak it in DNA and it will eventually let you wipe off the top layer.

[Kev Williams]

I only use DNA to clean the goo off cut edges, and lately I just use turpentine, it works better and won't attack or remove the color...

For topside cleaning, first thing I grab is the air hose, and blast the surface off with 125 psi worth of air pressure. It's amazing how much it helps. Then it's off to the plastic laundry sink, where I have some watered down Dawn dish soap, warm water and a 50 year old, very soft Kiwi shoe polish brush-- I lightly brush with a little soap, then I grab a dollar-store, or HD, or any other el-cheapo magic eraser that's not an ACTUAL magic eraser (they're too aggressive) and lightly rub down some more, then rinse, then towel dry. Works like a charm...

However, there's one more factor involved, smoke extraction. If you're pulling smoke across already engraved substrate, and especially if it's RED, your chances of getting the engraving clean is almost nil. My LS900 won't engrave uphill, and it pulls smoke like gangbusters right across the table's surface. I've found that if reduce the airflow so the smoke is allowed to drift upward, the drifting smoke isn't covering my engraving with soot!

The best thing I did for cleaner engraving was buying the LS100 and connecting it to the same blower as the LS900- Both still pull smoke just fine, and the engraving in both machines is noticeably cleaner :)

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Before Rowmark stopped selling to JDS, I used a LOT of LaserMax & Textures. What worked for me was a combination of the above responses. Whenever I engraved a black/white, red/white, blue/white etc, I would engrave using the bottom-up option using only as much power to produce a clean engraving. Depending upon the engraving, sometimes I needed to do a 2nd light clean-up pass to ensure I had a clean white engraving. Next up was to rinse the plastic in water. (Either in a large bowl, or under the running faucet.) You can often find cheap, super-soft facial cleansing brushes at the dollar or drug store for $1-$2. A quick wipe with a facial brush while in water then prevented any remaining loose dust from getting into the engraved area. I then dried the LaserMax with a clean white terry cloth towel. Every once-in-awhile I would manage to get some colored dust into the engraved area. A quick swipe with a Magic Eraser would clean it up. I followed up with cleaning with WD-40 on a paper towel to remove any potential sticky edge and give it an overall cleaning. (DNA also cleans sticky edges.) Once I switched to Duets, I had to change to Krud Kutter since any other cleaning product would ruin the engraving.