_Why is a Good Flexo Cleaner Important?
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So, why is it important to use a high quality flexo cleaner? That’s a good question that I am not sure is given enough thought and consideration. In today’s competitive economy it’s hard for the flexo printer to compete with the ever-increasing rise in the costs of paper, ink, anilox rolls, flexographic printing presses, etc. The only way the printing company can try to maintain their shrinking margins is to decrease down-time and increase the time the presses are spent running jobs. A lot of time is lost between jobs during the changeover stage especially while cleaning up.
flexo cleaner
Flexo printers these days either use UV inks, water-based inks, or a combination of both. The problem with using both types of these ink systems is that both require a different kind of flexo cleaner. Herein lies the challenge because having to use multiple cleaners not only takes up more room in the plant, but also adds to the cost of goods sold. If the cleaner being used on the UV ink, (which is typically alcohol based), is mistakenly used to clean up the water-based ink it will not only do a poor job cleaning but will also cause the ink to dry in the cells of the anilox roll. When this occurs the anilox roll will become plugged and it won’t deliver the correct ink film thickness which will cause down-time trying to match the ink color which in turn eats away at the profitability of the job.
Another factor when having to use different cleaners for different ink systems is also a concern for the environment. Solvents like alcohol, acetate, etc are not only flammable but also are hazardous to the press operator along with causing disposal problems. And they just don’t clean that well because they evaporate too quickly which causes a lot of extra solvent to be used to keep the cleaning rag damp. Another problem with using solvents to clean is that press operators will use these at times to clean their printing plates which will not only swell them causing damage but will shorten the life of the plate. On a narrow web flexo press the average cost of a photopolymer plate is around one hundred and fifty dollars each. So to plate a ten color job is fifteen hundred dollars. If the job is ran more than one time it is very important for the printing company to be able to use the printing plates more than once, since this a cost that they can’t pass on their customer more than once.
So for the printer to keep costs down along with down-time he needs to have a flexo cleaner that will work on both UV and water-based inks, not swell or damage the printing plates, and be safe for his operators and the environment. So the question is… is there an anilox cleaner available on the market today that can offer this solution? The answer is YES.
For more information please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlT2EbJ2zVo
to discover how IB-100 from Ink Blaster, Inc can answer the question “ Why is a good flexo cleaner important?
Anilox cleaner
So, why is it important to use a high quality flexo cleaner? That’s a good question that I am not sure is given enough thought and consideration. In today’s competitive economy it’s hard for the flexo printer to compete with the ever-increasing rise in the costs of paper, ink, anilox rolls, flexographic printing presses, etc. The only way the printing company can try to maintain their shrinking margins is to decrease down-time and increase the time the presses are spent running jobs. A lot of time is lost between jobs during the changeover stage especially while cleaning up.
flexo cleaner
Flexo printers these days either use UV inks, water-based inks, or a combination of both. The problem with using both types of these ink systems is that both require a different kind of flexo cleaner. Herein lies the challenge because having to use multiple cleaners not only takes up more room in the plant, but also adds to the cost of goods sold. If the cleaner being used on the UV ink, (which is typically alcohol based), is mistakenly used to clean up the water-based ink it will not only do a poor job cleaning but will also cause the ink to dry in the cells of the anilox roll. When this occurs the anilox roll will become plugged and it won’t deliver the correct ink film thickness which will cause down-time trying to match the ink color which in turn eats away at the profitability of the job.
Another factor when having to use different cleaners for different ink systems is also a concern for the environment. Solvents like alcohol, acetate, etc are not only flammable but also are hazardous to the press operator along with causing disposal problems. And they just don’t clean that well because they evaporate too quickly which causes a lot of extra solvent to be used to keep the cleaning rag damp. Another problem with using solvents to clean is that press operators will use these at times to clean their printing plates which will not only swell them causing damage but will shorten the life of the plate. On a narrow web flexo press the average cost of a photopolymer plate is around one hundred and fifty dollars each. So to plate a ten color job is fifteen hundred dollars. If the job is ran more than one time it is very important for the printing company to be able to use the printing plates more than once, since this a cost that they can’t pass on their customer more than once.
So for the printer to keep costs down along with down-time he needs to have a flexo cleaner that will work on both UV and water-based inks, not swell or damage the printing plates, and be safe for his operators and the environment. So the question is… is there an anilox cleaner available on the market today that can offer this solution? The answer is YES.
For more information please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlT2EbJ2zVo
to discover how IB-100 from Ink Blaster, Inc can answer the question “ Why is a good flexo cleaner important?
Anilox cleaner