mold cleaner

[Flash]

we have been using a mold cleaner for years and it was brought to my attention that the main ingredient is (TCE) Trichloroethylene, I thought this was banned years ago. Has anyone had good results from a different type of mold cleaner that is safer?

[brentb]

Slide Mold Cleaner/DegreaserII by Percy Harms. No more trichloro, but works as well.

KOM

brent

[joeprocess]

I've found there is not one magic spray for everything. Slide works well, but dissipates very quickly as does DAC cleaners and many others. This is good if you are trying to remove moisture as part of the cleaning process. On hot molds sprays like this are basically useless. They burn off before much any cleaning effects. For hot molds that have gassy build up my preference is an orange foam cleaner. Slide Degreaser III and others also have solvents in them which don't work well when cleaning mirrored surfaces. Acetone or alcohol is the way to go, but be careful and store in a safe place. From time to time Resin Remover is needed. Our basic and most used mold cleaner is bulk heavy duty mold cleaner from PPE. This has much better yield, works well for most things, is not as much an irritant to the eyes, nose and skin and you can actually spray it on a rag and it won't disappear in seconds. We use Sure Shot Sprayers. The initial investment is well worth it.

[rickbatey]

Joe, I tend to keep pushing the guys to clean a mold BEFORE its up to temperature and started for production. That way the Slide doesn't evaporate so fast. I also spray the rag when cleaning the ejection side! Nothing worse than the mold cleaner emulsifying the ejector pin lubricant!!
The only other I'd mention is Stoner. Ask for a sample pack from them. Of course Slide will send you up to four samples per year to test. That way you can find the best for your plant. I do like the foaming orange from Slide as well.
Rick.

[joeprocess]

I agree Rick, never spray the core half and if there are inserts in the cavity side don't spray that either. We have some hot molds that require more frequent cleaning of the P/L, these are the cases where I've found these quick drying sprays to be not so useful.

[Flash]

Thank You all for your advise. We are in the midst of personnel changes and this one person brought this to my attention,although their heart is in the right place,I think you can never get away from using some type of chemical that is going to be harmful in some way. Everything I have checked so far,either may cause cancer,may cause deformity,or is highly flammable. I just have visions in my head of some dummy leaving a spray can under a chamber on a press and having it explode because the flash point is 122 degrees.

[Canmoulder]

What type of mold are you running
Thermoset?
Thermoplastic?

For thermoplastic we use Citrus Cleaner for Heavy duty cleaning and wash it after with break cleaner
For thermoset we use a product Called Clean 13 resin invader http://www.westcoastplastics.com/HTML/PD-Clean-It-13.php

i work on diamond polished molds