Cleaning inkjet prints

[dpirazzi]

I've got many large-ish (18 to 40 inch long side) loose prints, including some panos up to 10', laying around from the last ten or so years. Most have come from my Canon 8300 and are printed on RC semigloss. They have been protected from light and contact, but have accumulated lots of dust.

Rather than just toss them, I would like to clean some of them up and may even frame some for friends.

I've done some searching but have not found anything definitive on what to use beyond a blower, lint free cloth, or soft brush.

Are there solvents that will clean Canon Inkjet prints w/o damaging them. Any advice appreciated,

Dave

[dgberg]

Drytac DRS roller, a must for any print studio.

[Garnick]

You might also try one of the micro-fiber dusting clothes.  Just move it carefully over the print, shake it out and perhaps another run or two.  You don't have to apply any pressure, just the weight of the rolled cloth will do the job in most cases.  I use these clothes quite often when necessary and they do the job very well.  If you're up against a rather large accumulation of dust you should probably take Dan's advise try the Drytac roller. 

[mcbroomf]

Drytac DRS roller, a must for any print studio.

Hi Dan,
Do you recommend this over tack cloth, or do you use both?
(for cleaning the mount board rather than, or as well as a print)

thx

Mike

[mearussi]

In the future you also might try storing them rolled up in plastic bags. Mine are sealed in plastic sleeves and put in square shipping boxes until I need them. When I pull them out for use they're in perfect shape. 

[dgberg]

Hi Dan,
Do you recommend this over tack cloth, or do you use both?
(for cleaning the mount board rather than, or as well as a print)

thx

Mike

Hi Mike

I bought a whole case of tack rags several years ago and use them daily. Since I am cutting my dibond and gatorboard with my sliding table saw I get tons of dust particles.
When mounting canvas with miracle muck to gator I just use the tack rags.
When using a mounting adhesive I use the tack rag first then finish up with the DRS roller. It is amazing what they pull up.
It is quite pricy but a good investment.

[mcbroomf]

Thanks Dan, I may look at it.

I've also found that using a good focusing LED flashlight (I use the Coast series)  held to point the light at a very tight grazing angle across the mount board can pick up something the tack cloth missed.

[dpirazzi]

Thanks for the advice.

Looking at the Drytac DRS, they warn not to use with RC papers as the roller can lift ink as well as dust, is this really an issue?

I can get the prints mostly clean with a brush and lint free cloth, still hoping there is a solvent that can be used sparingly to finish cleaning prior to spraying timeless.

What kind of Tac rags are you using?

On a side-note, it is amazing how hard it is to get search results for this topic, any search that contains "clean" and "inkjet" immediately returns thousands of links on cleaning inkjet printers/heads.

thanks, Dave

[dgberg]

Have never had an issue with any paper. You just cannot start or stop the roller anywhere on the printed surface.

[Randy Carone]

When I sold inkjet paper (for Shades of Paper) I was wondering if the waterproof claim of pigment ink on Epson's Premium Luster was a stretch. I had a 13" x 19" print tacked to my office wall. I took it down, went into the kitchen and started by touching a wet paper towel to the corner of the print. Nothing. I put a few drops of water on the surface. Nothing. I got to the point where I ran it directly under a strong running faucet, wiped it with a paper towel and there was no evidence that it had been wet. I was impressed. If it is truly an RC paper in question, I'd start by carefully testing a damp paper towel on the surface of the least important print. YMMV. 

[dpirazzi]

I had problems with ink coming up when rolling Timeless (which is water based) on prints from my 8300, since then I've always assumed cleaning a print with anything waterbased would cause problems.

Having said that, I've just tried using a damp (barely) cloth to gently wipe a few of the prints with no visible damage. Amazing how much dust the damp cloth picks up even after brushing and cleaning with the dry cloth.

[mearussi]

I had problems with ink coming up when rolling Timeless (which is water based) on prints from my 8300, since then I've always assumed cleaning a print with anything waterbased would cause problems.

Having said that, I've just tried using a damp (barely) cloth to gently wipe a few of the prints with no visible damage. Amazing how much dust the damp cloth picks up even after brushing and cleaning with the dry cloth.

Timeless (and other similar coatings) will always lift the ink from glossy/luster papers but not from matte papers. Same goes for canvas. If you're wanting to apply any water based coating to a paper print and keep it from warping the paper you have to first spray coat it with a varnish like Moab, Hahnemuhle or Premier Art's Print Shield. This adds a waterproof coating that protects the paper base from the water in the coating.