The type of fouling (chemical make-up and physical characteristics) or residue the molding process leaves behind on your tooling will help determine your cleaning requirements.
Many resins contain stabilizers,

fillers or release agents that leave residue in the form of grease, light oil, yellow waxy film or rust and white-colored dust. Some resins, such as PVC, create hydrogen chloride gases that corrode many types of mold steels. Other resins with flame-retardants contain antioxidants, which will plate-out and over time attack steel.

Some color pigments stain steels that build up and can be difficult to remove. Even plain water will do harm if left on untreated mold surfaces too long.

Molds should only be cleaned as much as necessary to carry them through a predetermined number of cycles. Scrubbing or blasting all oxidation stains and discoloration off non-critical tooling and plates every time a mold comes out opens pores and slowly erodes the surface and edges, requiring replacement long before it should.

Unfortunately, it only takes minutes of run time to reacquire the initial staining. This was proven to me by observing molds that were thoroughly cleaned, run for a couple of hours, then pulled for a change-over. In areas where a lot of time had been spent scrubbing, some surface stains reappeared.

Many molds have self-cleaning vent passages, which means highly polished in toolmaker terms. Cleaning, then polishing vents to an SPI #A3 finish or better prevents residue from adhering to a rougher surface that milling or grinding leaves, allowing residue to be blown into the larger vent dump area. This keeps vents cleaner for a longer period of time and also allows potential cycle increases between cleanings.

Over-cleaning results from abrasive hands-on methods using scrubbing pads that are too coarse, emery cloth or sandpaper, stones, and brushes with bristles made of assorted compositions such as nylon, brass and steel.

High-pressure blasting units that use media like hard plastics, glass beads, walnut shells and aluminum also can abrade the surface of molds. If used frequently, or in an unregulated maintenance environment, these abrasive methods slowly pound the surface of steel like microscopic chisels, causing residue to adhere to the now-porous surface. Overly abrasive cleaning methods are the primary reason molds experience quick residue build-up, excess wear, premature tooling failure and flash defects.

Finding the right cleaning equipment required for your molds and processes, combined with documented methods and frequencies, can reduce repair hours by as much as 50 percent and reduce tooling wear. The ROI on cleaning equipment is less than 60 days in many cases. Typically, the best method will involve two or three different technologies designed to clean specific types of residue.

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