Relief printing is a lot like cooking. The fun part is putting everything together. The drudgery is cleaning up afterwards. If you are using oil based inks, cleaning is not merely messy, it can also be hazardous to your health, if you don’t follow some basic shop safety rules.
What can make
clean up hazardous is that you need solvents to clean up inks, comprised of
pigments and linseed oil. To minimize your exposure to harmful chemicals, take
the following steps:
- Use no solvent stronger than mineral spirits. Do not use gasoline, kerosene, lacquer thinner, or turpentine for cleaning. Frequent use and misuse of solvents expose artists and printers to a variety of health hazards, which include damage to the nervous system, liver and kidney damage, cancer, dermatitis, chemical burns and damage to the respiratory system. To make matters worse, solvents are usually either flammable or combustible. If you must use solvents, select those that are the least toxic ones. Using mineral spirits is a better choice than using turpentine. Turpentine is the more toxic of the two solvents. Lacquer thinner is also toxic because of the toluene and xylene used in the mixture. NOTE: You may have heard that naphtha and mineral spirits are the same thing. While they are similar in chemical composition, the main difference is that naphtha is a hotter solvent. Because it has a lower boiling point, it will evaporate faster, which usually means that you will use more in clean up. Stick with odorless mineral spirits. It is safer to use.
- When you are not using a can of solvent, put a lid on it to prevent the vapors escaping into the air of your shop. If you happen to knock a can of solvent over, clean up your spill immediately.
- Don’t eat, drink or smoke while you are working with chemicals. Do not clean your hands with solvent. A little vegetable oil will help loosen residual ink on your skin. Then wash your hands with soap and water.
- Work in a well-ventilated work space. Running high volume fans can improve air circulation and dissipated high concentration of fumes.
- Wear nitrile gloves during clean up to prevent exposure of your skin to ink and solvents. I recommend buying the thick industrial nitrile gloves. They last longer than the thin bargain brand latex gloves. You can actually get several uses from a pair . See my story on Disposable Gloves for Painting.
- Before using any solvents clean up as much ink as possible, using either rags or paper toweling. Dispose of used rags and toweling in a metal container or soak rags in a bucket filled with water.
- In cleaning the brayer, roll it over absorbent paper towels or newspaper to remove much of the excess ink. Then spray the roller with mineral spirits and wipe off the remaining ink. Be sure to clean the ends of the roller to prevent dried ink build up which could impede its movement in the future.
- In cleaning the glass inking plate, use a putty knife to scrape up as much ink as possible, transferring the ink to paper toweling. Continue cleaning the glass surface wiping it with toweling and low odor mineral spirits. Use solvents sparingly to minimize exposure. As an alternative to mineral spirits, some printers use water-based solvents. Don’t expect these cleaners to be as effective as mineral spirits. Use a razor scraper to remove any dried ink.
- Familiarize yourself with the hazards of any solvents that you use. Read all appropriate manufacturer technical bulletins and Safety Data Sheets.
- Keep solvents and other hazardous materials in clearly labeled containers with the name of the chemical or brand name.
- To minimize the risk of fire, if you have more than a few quarts of solvent in your shop, store any flammable liquids in a fireproof cabinet, that satisfies the requirements of your local fire code.
- Keep a fire extinguisher mounted within ten feet of your storage cabinet and make sure that it is regularly inspected and kept in working order.
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About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.
Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer. Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.
Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for publications, such as Signs Canada, SignCraft, Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 400 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published. Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon.
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