Tips for Cleaning Your Print Shop

Maintaining a clean print shop might not be on the top of your list of things to do, but it should be. This is not something that needs to be done daily, but at least weekly. You should be vacuuming, wiping down your printing equipment, and cleaning your air cleaner's filter and fans.

If you do not already use an air cleaner, buy one--it's a good investment. An air cleaner collects dust and fibers that you can't see. Once you start using an air cleaner in your shop, you will be amazed at the amount of lint that it collects. And yes--you have been breathing that stuff!  Position the air cleaner near your textile dryer or in your shirt folding area for maximum benefit.

A print shop is a dust magnet. The fibers from apparel build up and have a tendency to attach themselves to everything. If you use spray adhesive on your platens, you will notice fiber build-up quickly on your press making a real mess.

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Removing dust and fibers will not only make breathing easier for you and your employees, but will make your equipment run more efficiently and last longer.

If you are an apparel screen printer, you know plastisol ink does not air dry. A speck of ink left on a screen or on the printing press could stay there for a very long time. That speck of ink can be transferred to shirts you have already printed--and a shirt ruined by running a dirty shop.

Cleaning your shop does not have to be torture. Set aside ½ hour at the end of a day and wipe down your equipment with a rag. If you are not wiping down your ink buckets and squeegees daily, take a moment and run a rag over them. Get out the vacuum and make sure you get underneath your press and other places you print or fold shirts. And lastly, clean your fans and the filter in your air cleaners.  A cheap compressor with a air blaster nozzle is a good investment for cleaning fans and air  cleaners.  Take the filters and fans outside and clean them out with a good blasting of air.

Another benefit of maintaining a clean shop is the professional appearance that your customers will see when they visit your shop. If your shop is a dirty mess that no one wants to enter, it reflects on you. Make it your practice to operate a clean print shop--it's good for business.

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