Thanks for all the replies, I haven’t found the time yet to test each of the suggested solutions, but I will report back with what has worked.
This is of course a fairly common set of questions and recommendations about PEI plates but you’ve put more thought and care into your question than most people do.
I’m by no means an expert here as I’ve never had an adhesion issue, but thought I’d say a couple things:
- I use the little square alcohol pads that are used to clean the skin before you have blood drawn to clean the plate. I’ve done that since my plates were new and have never had an issue.
- The common theme I’ve seen hundreds of times around a change to the PEI plate adhesion is that someone has washed it with soap. As others have said, soap has all sorts of different formulations, so additives seem very likely to be the culprit. This likely could also affect the other unused side.
- We often set out to clean the PEI plate, yet I wonder if this is the wrong thought process. The plate seems to be made of a Teflon like non-stick surface, so cleaning it well and scrubbing it will potentially make it even smoother and less sticky. I think we should think of it as a process of removing any unwanted material but without any scrubbing, buffing to decrease adhesion.
For you, I’d suggest just buying a new PEI plate and moving on. You have potentially opened the door to experimentation and testing that may lead to countless further issues and frustration.
Why Bambu recommends cleaning with soap and doesn’t itself provide the surface appropriate cleaner is beyond me. It would even be another revenue source.
I have had my P1S for about a month and all went well with plate adhesion. MY printer runs most of every day. I print a lot of plaques (150mm x 200mm) and business size cards (6 up) thickness will range from 2mm to about 5mm. after about 3 weeks things start come loose, so I washed the plate with dish soup and water which solved the problem for a short time. I have been around 3D printing for about 10 years using glass to print on, some where in the early. days somebody told me to use AQUA NET unscented, extra super hold hair spray. I pulled out a can I’ve had sense 2020 and just DUSTED THE PLATE. I been printing for 3 days (just blowing off the plate) with no problem with only the 1 dusting. Amazon has the spray (make sure it is the purple can).
Right there you have my PEI hardship case - where I converted the business card into a key chain. (Since even I do keep all business cards, but I’m one of the very few and the ones I keep are actually the ones from people who wouldn’t need a card, like I only give one if they ask me).
The information on the key chain is then printed in fine letters on the PEI textured plate and then outlined. The PEI plate really has to deliver that the letters hold… because the key chain is also very small and handy.
And by the way, on the back of the key chain is a regionally known attraction - Since I don’t assume that everyone is interested in me (as quickly as you acknowledge the facts you will find solutions ;-), but everyone still has a key somewhere where they still need a key chain and everyone feels connected to their region 
And as a small side note: Than better you desin the key chain, than quicker you’ll have companies out of your zone who pay a littel more than Makerworld… 1000 + key chain have a very large regional reach… especially if the kay chain stands out and people really love it, so you have to choose a regional landmark that touches hearts and you have to implement it with a lot of passion.
Just use 600 sandpaper like they recommend, fixed my adhesion issues after 900 hours of use, now good as new if not better. No amount of soap and scrubbing helped before this.
Also, if you want to make sure of perfect adhesion every time and better sticking, one spray of 3Dlack sorts it out for several prints or more. Stuff has been a game changer for me.
Recently I was able to procure a cheap bottle of acetone, so I gave it a try today. Just gave it a light scrub with acetone, then rinsed with water and the adhesion is perfect again.
PS: Dishwasher did not work. For future cleaning I will try out different soaps/the glass cleaner suggestion or maybe buy something made for cleaning 3d print beds.
I said it many times now and for many months but it seems those replies are never seen LOL
Let me try once more :
PEI CAN be be cleaned using Acetone but we should not do it as it affects the material.
The reasons for our plates loosing adhesion in almost all cases comes down to residue, nothing more, nothing less unless there is severe physical wear and tear.
Now: What sort of unwanted things might land on our plates?
Almost anything you can imagine…
Ideally we would always wear gloves but we don’t…
Ideally there would never any dirt or grime land on the plate but it does…
Ideally we won’t leave smear marks or fingerprints but we do…
If you clean things a lot you get a hang of what works for what.
Cleaning the plate with soapy water is always a good FIRST step, especially if liquid glue or gluesticks were used.
The soap binds to water on one end of the molecule and to dirt and SOME grime on the other end.
Making sure we actually remove things rather than smearing them around.
But soap can’t remove everything, especially not if you don’t use the right sopa and type of sponge.
Alcohol, be it ethanol or Isopropanol are SOLVENTS - means they don’t remove things they dilute them.
To use them wisely we have to use a clean and preferably lint free cloth.
Thing with alcohol in the pure forms we use it that some of the worst contaminants are only affected very little.
A far better second step is to use a good, streak free window cleaner - the ones with a little bit of ammonia in them work best here.
For a smooth plate you can use anything lintfree, including a paper towel, for a textured PEI plate I recommend using microfibre cloths.
Try not to let the window cleaner dry on the plate, prefer to dry it while wiping with the cloth for best results.
I still am on my first textured PEI plate and it has seen around 100 rolls of various filaments with no signs of wear or lack of adhesion…
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I had the same problem. I solved it by applying this glue once every 10 prints.
Works like a charm. No longer need to clean the plate AT ALL!!!
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Your answer wasn’t lost on me and I will definitely give that a try in the future, it just sounded like a lot more work than the acetone solution. To be honest I was really fed up with cleaning that plate and didn’t want to go through that procedure today. Nothing worse than spending an hour cleaning that thing, waiting for the bed leveling and then having nothing stick to it anyway.
But with acetone you really damage the plate with each application.
The window cleaner is no big hassle at all.
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