Issues with "paper debris" on Red River roll paper

[Schmoe]

Hi, I'm experiencing much frustration printing on a roll of Red River Palo Duro Satin.  It appears the roll is not very clean of debris from the production process.  Often this debris gets printed on, and then later falls off the print, leaving behind white spots on my print.  If I avoid printing borderless, my chances of getting a clean print go up, but still no guarantee.  I'm curious what more experienced folks here suggest as a path forward.  Some ideas:

1. Switch to a different brand.  I know Red River is more on the "economy" side.  Would the problem go away if I switch to a "higher quality" paper?
2. Pre-dust in advance of printing.  This is an obvious thing to do with sheet-cut paper, but I don't know how I'd go about it with roll paper. 
  2.a. Should I measure out how much paper I'll need, un-roll, dust, then re-roll it before feeding in the printer?  Or perhaps:
  2.b. Meaure out how much paper I'll need, cut first, dust, then feed into printer?  (seems to defeat the purpose of having a roller though)
  2.c. Some other method I haven't thought of?
3. Avoid roll-printing all together.  Is this just a downside to printing on any brand's roll?
4. Switch to a different paper from Red River... ?

Any insights you can provide on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

[mearussi]

Do you think it's from the paper stock itself shedding or from contamination during manufacturer, and have you complained to RR?

There is often some dust on most rolls, though your experience does seem extreme. Also some paper types are worse than others with 100% cotton matte being more likely to shed than something like glossy RC (though RC metallic paper is very susceptible to flaking).

Most though just assume the worse and dust before printing either by brush or compressed air. I don't usually bother because I stick to high quality companies like Hahnemuhle and Canson, and I seldom use 100% cotton matte except in canvas which doesn't shed.

[Schmoe]

Do you think it's from the paper stock itself shedding or from contamination during manufacturer, and have you complained to RR?

There is often some dust on most rolls, though your experience does seem extreme. Also some paper types are worse than others with 100% cotton matte being more likely to shed than something like glossy RC (though RC metallic paper is very susceptible to flaking).

Most though just assume the worse and dust before printing either by brush or compressed air. I don't usually bother because I stick to high quality companies like Hahnemuhle and Canson, and I seldom use 100% cotton matte except in canvas which doesn't shed.

To be honest I'm not sure of the answer to your first question.  Sometimes the 'debris' is a small speck that I just don't notice until it's flaked off my print.  Other times it's a fairly large size (0.5cm+) chunk of some semi-transparent something - I'm not sure what it is.  These are easier to spot and tend to be on the edge of the paper, perhaps a byproduct of the cutting process...?

I did complain to RR after I created this post.  They do claim that it's highly unusual, and on the bright side they did offer to issue a refund.

I did try using compressed air on the paper as it was getting fed into the printer for a print, but it didn't work reliably.  So, it seems, if I want to get any good use out of the rest of this roll, I'm going to have to manually unroll and pre-dust the amount I'll need before feeding into the printer.... ufff....

[mearussi]

Manufacturing defects over the last couple of years have been fairly common with several inkjet paper companies.

I've had canvas problems with Breathing Color, Hahnemuhle and Canson, though at least Canson has solved their problem. Coating is just difficult to do correctly and finding a reliable high quality coating manufacturer that can turn out a consistent product is often quite difficult. RR also had that problem about three years ago and had to redesign one of their popular papers to accommodate a new coating company.

You can never truly let your guard down. Always be suspicious and always check carefully for any manufacturing defect.

[Schmoe]

Manufacturing defects over the last couple of years have been fairly common with several inkjet paper companies.

I've had canvas problems with Breathing Color, Hahnemuhle and Canson, though at least Canson has solved their problem. Coating is just difficult to do correctly and finding a reliable high quality coating manufacturer that can turn out a consistent product is often quite difficult. RR also had that problem about three years ago and had to redesign one of their popular papers to accommodate a new coating company.

You can never truly let your guard down. Always be suspicious and always check carefully for any manufacturing defect.

Will do.  Thanks.