Don't ruin your build plates with alcohol!

Yeah. And I notice that using Gyroid infill really makes the plate shake. I change those to Rectlilinear if I can.

3 Likes

I have now been using IPA 99.5% for more than a year on my machines, between each print, and my machines run 24/7 without any problems. Should it wear out or break down my plate, I just change the pallet, just like I change the nozzle. IPA is an easy and quick solution in daily operation

1 Like

The original post is just all AI researched/written… so maybe it’s accurate but who knows? This would be more credible to me if OP had done their own research and IRL experimentation.

1 Like

Thank you for the post and great information

I had a huge adhesion issue a month or so back and no matter how much dawn and even green degreaser I used prints failed.

Only after I used IPA did the adhesion issue go away. Was only using Bambu Petg

So now I clean the plate with gloves dawn soap then dry and clean with IPA.
Not sure if Dawn is the wrong soap?

The problem with soap is, that in normal soap there is more or less glycerine. But glycerin itself has the same effect as fingerprints. A very good soap would be simple curd soap.

Dawn is the correct soap as long as it is specifically ā€œdish soapā€ or ā€œdegreasing soapā€ with no other additives (like ā€œfor softer handsā€). The need for the soap is to remove all greases/oils from the build plate that interferes with adhesion. You don’t want to add ā€œconditionersā€ to the plate either.

All that being said, I use dish soap for cleaning when it gets bad, but I use IPA 99% for quick cleaning sometimes between prints.

1 Like

Do you remember the guys who rate your profile badly for layer adhesion issues, because they always use soap to clean the plates? Yeah, me neither…

This research just explains what I myself experienced and I thought this to be too interesting to just keep to myself. I literally wanted a reasonable explanation for soap having a much better effect for cleaning some of my plates than IPA.
I did not have to clean the BIQU Cryogrip Frostbite built-plate more than a few times for some reason. And for this built-plate IPA should not be used as according to the manufacturer.
Little did I know, this would be insulting to the church of IPA… :grimacing:

I think what it really comes down to is doing what works for you. I’ve had nothing but issues with IPA so I steer clear of it. Others swear by it. It really doesn’t matter as long as whatever you use works for you.

3 Likes

The paper does makes sense. I’ve been using the same plate for almost a year. About every 5-6 prints I just take it to the sink, spray on some Dawn Power wash, rinse, dry and put back on. Takes 5 mins. Never used alcohol. Most of my adhesion issues at the beginning was because I hadn’t adjusted the settings for the filament. Once I got those done I don’t have any issues.

The specification of ā€œfat-freeā€ or ā€œglycerin-freeā€ dishwasher soap is crucial for optimal results 232425. Traditional soaps often contain added fats or glycerin as moisturizing agents for hand care

Lye based soap creates glycerin when saponifying the oils, and usually people don’t add fats after, they just use slightly more than necessary to react with all the lye (called the ā€œsuperfatā€). So whether they added glycerine or not, there’s likely still some in the soap. Some people will do a 0% superfat, but I usually do at least 1% even for my harsh dish/tub/toilet soap (potassium hydroxide, coconut oil, and citric acid/potassium citrate) to be sure I don’t end up with any unreacted lye floating around. But it sounds like even then the glycerine will cause problems?

Just some extra soap nerd info in case anyone’s interested :nerd_face::soap:

1 Like

Thanks for the info bill

I had an issue that both dawn and greens degrease would not resolve.
As soon as I cleaned with IPA the problem was resolved.

I’ve never been one to use IPA, as I find it’s more of a hassle than cleaning my build plates. Always the same process for me: squirt some original Dawn dish soap, hand or plastic brush scrub to get into the microgrooves, rinse off thoroughly, pat dry with paper towel.

Now, the one thing I do differently and adhere to (lol) religiously is that I have separate textured PEI plates for PLA and PETG. This keeps me from having to clean my plates more than once every couple months, as I rarely have contamination trapped in the texture that affects bed adhesion.

2 Likes

Oh, that sounds like it would solve most problems right there. I find that PETG (probably depends on the brand) can leave behind a nasty residue. Understandably, PLA does not play well with it. I find myself needed to wash my plate between PETG and PLA, but separate plate would really make sense.

Yeah, I have some Silk PLA’s that just embed themselves into the texture and ruin every print after them until I get it to stick to a base layer and eventually get pulled out. Decided to stop trying to fix the problem a couple years ago and got separate build plates for everything. Well worth the $50 to get 2x PLA and 2x PETG AliExpress build plates.

1 Like

Ive read an article explaining how 70% Alcohol is more effective than 99%. Something to do with breaking down oil, Its also what is used in hospitals as cleaning agent. The reason people like 99% is for cleaning electronics but a build plate having no water content is irrelevant and acually prefered

1 Like

I have a motto I live by: believe nothing unless you can test it yourself. In the case of 70% IPA vs. 99% IPA, try this simple method - let’s call it the glass test. Note that this is an observational test, not a quantitative one, but for our purposes it’s enough to challenge the notion that 70% has any real advantage.

Take a clean, streak-free sheet of glass and place a strip of masking tape down the middle. Grab two paper towels - I prefer Bounty for its minimal fiber shedding. (In my day job, we use it to clean anti-glare screens over more expensive options like Kimwipes - but I digress.)

Soak each towel in a generous amount of each IPA and wipe down the separate sides of the glass. Let it air dry. Then hold the glass up to the light and check for visible residue.

You might get lucky - some 70% drugstore brands perform better than, say, Amazon Basics. But you’ll often see visible contamination depending on the brand. I’m betting those contaminants are part of the ā€œother 30%ā€ supposedly made up of distilled water. But is it? Then what’s all the residue?

The point is: 99% IPA is… well… 99% IPA and 1% other. That ā€œotherā€ might be distilled water - or it might be something else.

As I said, don’t take anything as gospel just because it’s printed. Test for yourself. Then test again. That’s the only way to know with confidence. The scientific term for this is ā€œempirical evidence.ā€

The bottom line: if there’s residue on the glass, there’s residue on your build plate - and that residue is being cooked onto the surface. What it actually is, without analysis, is anyone’s guess. But if you’ve got the option to use a cleaner product with no discernable residue, why wouldn’t you?

1 Like

99% tends to disolve and seal grease at the surface after evaporating

70% seems to be the optimal concentration for denaturating fats

70% alcohol, being a dilution of absolute alcohol, contains water which is essential in the denaturing process of proteins.

same reason why only water or only soap isnt effective at cleaning, you want both in solution.

Nonsense. I use dish soap and iso. I give my build plates a thorough scrub with dish soap to condition them from time to time, probably two or three times a week, depending on volume being printed. Immediately before every print I squirt two or three doses of iso and buff it try with a microfibre cloth. Iso is a decontaminant, used throughout the electronics industry as an efficient cleaner.
In may this year my 12 month anniversary of owning an X1C passed, and the most noticeable change I’ve noticed about my build plate is that model are very easy to remove. Many just fall off.
My isopropyl is 100%

I can corroborate these findings through my own experience. I started out cleaning the plate before each print with alcohol because alcohol is always recommended for removing hand oils in any other instance (other than 3d printing). It worked OK for a short time until I had a bed adhesion issue at which time I asked experienced folks here who recommend dish soap. I have used Dawn Powerwash since then. I clean the plate after maybe 10 prints and I never touch the plate surface with my fingers or hands. It has been 4 months now with zero bed adhesion issues.

1 Like