How Printing Press Operators Reduce Ink Contamination

How many times growing up did you hear the words “clean your room”? If you were an average kid, probably more than a few times, over more than a few years! That phrase was repeated throughout your childhood not to give you something to do but rather instill in you the importance of keeping things tidy, organized, and free from dirt. As a press operator, those three little Commandments fit perfectly into your work environment today.   

One of the most common and frustrating issues in flexo printing is dirty print. This occurrence can arise from many factors, including paper dust, printing plate issues, and mishandled anilox rolls, but typically shows in the form of contaminated ink. These factors result from not keeping your room, in this case, the press room, clean. While there is no magic answer to eliminating ink contamination, there are several things you can do to prevent it from happening. 

Benefits of Preventing Contamination

Taking preventative steps to ensure your ink doesn’t become tainted is good for production, customers, and company growth. Implementing standardized preventive measures in your print operations will lead to:

  • Overall cost & budget savings
  • Improved productivity 
  • Increased quality
  • Reduced health & safety concerns 
  • Meeting regulatory compliances 
  • Reduced environmental impact 

6  Ways Printers Can Reduce Ink Contamination

These days, printing companies are short on production time. With complicated press set-ups, expensive materials, and customer sign-offs chewing up your shift, the last thing you need is dirty print. However, if you do identify contaminated ink as the culprit, plan on setting aside enough time to perform a partial press teardown to take care of draining ink and cleaning rollers, pans, and plates. All this is in addition to the need to replace or remix ink. To help curb the headache, take a look at six easy ways you can reduce the chances of contaminated ink during your press runs:

  • Clean Anilox Rolls – For many, the anilox roll is regarded as the heart of the press. Properly maintaining anilox rolls is essential to quality printing. Create and follow a maintenance schedule to be performed on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Dried ink particles from clogged anilox cells can easily contaminate ink from job to job if not properly cleaned.
  • Filter and Reuse Ink – Reusing press return ink can increase efficiency, reduce ink purchases, and lessen hazardous waste, provided it’s not contaminated while being used on-press. If you suspect it has, there are options for filtering or removing debris without disposing of the ink. For example, a magnet can remove metal shavings, or slivers, from the ink as your doctor blades wear. This is extremely important as slivers can cause anilox scoring, leading to your roll needing to be reconditioned or replaced. To catch larger, non-metal particles, like dried ink, attach DIPCO’s CAPFILTERS on your return drain hose. CAPFILTERS can also be used on certain one-gallon jugs to filter ink as it’s poured into pans. 
  • Add a Web Cleaner – Paper dust is a significant area of concern in a printing environment.  Adding a simple-to-use web cleaning system to your machine helps remove dust and dirt from your substrate before it gets to your print stations.
  • Install Enclosed Doctor Blade Chambers – Enclosed doctor blade chambers reduce ink evaporation which, in turn, results in better control of ink usage, more consistent color, and improved performance of the inks on press. Retrofitting doctor blade chambers on older presses with open fountains has a positive effect by decreasing ink evaporation and preventing paper dust from settling in ink.
  • Update the HVAC – Heat and humidity can wreak havoc on inks and negatively affect print quality.  Running an efficient, high-quality heating and cooling system controls ink pH (and thus viscosity), dry time, dot gain, and adhesion.   
  • Install Ink Pan Liners – Even hand or mechanically washed pans may leave behind dried ink particles, especially in corners, around drains, and inside the drain hose. Pan liners are a multi-faceted tool that eliminates the pan-cleaning process, ensuring zero contamination while reducing press downtime. 

Keep in mind that maintaining your press and inks goes well beyond these simple tips. Reach out to your ink, material, and anilox suppliers for more information. If you’re interested in learning more about our products, please call us any time. We’re always available to lend a helping hand.

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Phone: 970-874-2852

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