Injection Mold Cleaners

Choosing the Right Mold Cleaner
Temperature differences can impact the effectiveness of a mold cleaning product. Solvents that work well on the bench and evaporate at a convenient rate may flash off too rapidly on a hot mold and aren't in contact long enough to do much cleaning.

Solvents that work well at higher temperatures are less effective at room temperature. They take longer to evaporate or may have to be wiped off.

Cleaning Molds At The Bench
Offline mold cleaners are used primarily to dissolve resins, silicone, oil, mold release, and sometimes rust, along with other contaminants. They require a rapid evaporation rate. The best cleaners for this are formulations which rapidly remove resins and silicones by flushing the mold with a heavy top-to-bottom spray.

Mold releases and resin build-up may require scrubbing with a cloth saturated with mold cleaner. Pre-saturated mold cleaning wipes are an effective offline mold cleaning option, especially for medical molding and clean rooms.

Another option for offline mold cleaning is the use of a mold polish and cleaning compound. Typically a paste that combines cleaning solvents and mild abrasives, a mold polish has the added benefit of leaving a sheen on the mold surface, which serves as a natural lubricant and release.

Cleaning Molds At The Machine
Online cleaners are generally used to remove mold release build up, plate out of resins and light rusting of the mold. Often molds get plate out, which is due to the adhesion of resins (such as Delrin or Celcon) or fire-retardant materials. Such build-up must be chemically removed from the mold surface to minimize potential part deformation. A resin-removing product can chemically work to break down the material and remove unwanted resin from the mold surface.

A sampling of Slide best-selling injection mold cleaning products include:

• Mold Cleaner 4 (46910): NFS-registered formulation evaporates fast and leaves no residue.
• Mold Cleaner Wipes (46370): Presaturated cleaning wipes effective for prepping molds for storage or production.
• NEXGEN Mold Cleaner (46410): NFS-registered formulation effectively breaks down resin deposits.
• Resin Remover Mold Cleaner (41914): Effective at removing resin build-up, color deposits and stains as well as unclogging mold vents.

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