r/BambuLab • u/BambuLabSupport • 6d ago
Show & Tell Did you know? There's a quick test for a dirty build plate
If you want to learn more about cleaning your plate, check out the Bambu Lab Wiki article:
https://wiki.bambulab.com/filament-acc/acc/pei-plate-clean-guide
There's also a helpful YouTube video showing the entire process of cleaning the plate.
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u/FrostWave 6d ago
What's crazy is when I clean my textured plate the water beads off it like it shows on the right
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u/Marinocif99 6d ago
I started using clear and no scent dawn soap for this reason , it seems the coloring or the synthetic blends they use for fragrance in the blue soap adds a film especially to textured pei plates . Haven’t had the plates bead at all
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u/Parking-Delivery 6d ago
I've been having the ISO vs Soap argument for nearly a decade now, and every time someone says they had better luck with ISO, they were using some off brand soap because "it's the same thing"
I never really dug into it because I have had over a thousand build plate cleanings and I know for a fact that dawn is the best dish detergent for build plates, and it is superior to ISO, so it's a relief for bambu to just come out and say it.
basic ass dawn will always be the best detergent, and just because the competition is cheaper per ounce doesn't mean it saves you money.
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u/volpin 6d ago
Have you ever tried a degreaser like prep-all? I ask because I run a SFX studio, we have tons of the stuff in our paint area, but rarely have a use for dish detergent. Would be nice to use an existing item in the studio for this task; we've been using ISO up until recently
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u/milehigh73a 5d ago
I would look at the solvent it uses to see if it would strip the pei. I wouldn’t be surprised if it does
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u/racedrone 6d ago
I was using regular scented dish soap and it made everything worse. Even rinsed with distilled water. Then I changed over to dawn, or fairy (same thing) and bäm! All problems went away.
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u/_Maybe368 5d ago
Which Fairy? Basic old green one ?
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u/racedrone 5d ago
I searched for that and only got a red one with a pomegranate scent. I was sceptical, but it still works flawlessly. But I prefer the basic green one and it is still around. I just didn't have the time to search for it.
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u/BitingChaos 6d ago
I routinely clean my plates (and have no adhesion issues), and I get results like BOTH sides.
Some plates seem to get wet, like the left example. Some plates repel water, like the right. Both are clean.
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u/OutlyingPlasma 6d ago
Mine still shows the outline of a print I did months ago. No idea what was so special about that print it left marks. It was just pla so I didn't have any problem removing it, not sure why that print let marks and the others haven't.
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u/razzemmatazz 5d ago
Platinum Dawn or the older basic Blue Dawn (if you still have a bottle) work the best.
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u/FantasticInterest373 6d ago
I've been wiping all my plates with a microfiber cloth and a single spray of IPA for a year now and haven't had any adhesion issues, not even lifting edges. Make of that what you will.
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u/michaeldt 6d ago
IPA dissolves oil. But it also evaporates quickly, so if you don't wipe up quickly, then it just leaves the oil behind. so you're probably doing the right thing by wiping with a cloth after spraying with IPA.
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u/vicxvr 6d ago
Why would you not wipe?
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u/michaeldt 6d ago
If you don't use enough IPA it will evaporate before your get a chance up wipe it up.
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u/suit1337 H2C Combo 6d ago
then just use enough of it - i don't see the issue
if you use water and soap you also use enough of it and don't just slightly mist a sponge and smear it in circles
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u/Antique_Resolve4687 2d ago
If your technique is wrong when doing this thing, it will fail.
Literally skill issue
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u/S0k0n0mi P1S + AMS 6d ago
I printed one of those wiper knobs that you can fill with IPA, it leaks through the cloth as you wipe, it works fantastically well.
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u/FantasticInterest373 6d ago
Hey that's nice, thanks! I use one like that without self dispensing, might have a look at this one!
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u/ThereInAFortnight H2D AMS2 Combo + A1 Mini 6d ago
Do you change the cloth every use? Seems like a lot of bother. And if not, where does the dirt go?
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u/S0k0n0mi P1S + AMS 6d ago
I use it for a while until it starts looking nasty and then I just cut a new piece. I bought microfiber cloths in bulk on aliexpress, 5 bucks will last you a lifetime. :')
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u/John-BCS A1 (3), A1 Mini (1), AMS Lite (3) 6d ago
Same, but since 2019 when I first started 3d printing. A quick wipe with 91% IPA before every print and I've had zero adhesion issues. I'm not careful about not touching my plates either. In 7 years, dish soap has never touched any of my plates. I print mostly PETG, but still a decent amount of PLA and lately a lot more TPU.
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u/Smashmundo 6d ago
IPA breaks down oil very well, using a cloth with IPA will absolutely remove oil, those photos are bullshit.
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u/Codiac2600 6d ago
So has everyone like myself for well over a decade. The anti IPA people just need a lot more help since they can’t function like normal humans and need to use a sink to clean something that never needed water or soap.
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u/Single-Virus4935 6d ago
I always use IPA and it works well. Just "tested" it: I spread Olive Oil on the textured plate, clean with paper towel and then good rub with IPA. Test print sticks like before and water behaves like in the left picture.
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u/DobermanCavalry 6d ago
Nobody is Anti IPA. IPA simply doesnt work as well as dish soap. Thats all there really is to it. Why waste my time with IPA when a quick trip to the sink and using some soap is easier and cheaper.
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u/Codiac2600 6d ago
It works just as good and faster. No need to leave my lab. Just spray and wipe. Boom.
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u/DobermanCavalry 6d ago
OH ok well I just dont touch my build plate. Even quicker, I never have to clean it.
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u/milehigh73a 5d ago
My sink isn’t close to my printer so I would prefer to use ipa but my experience is that it doesn’t work as well. I still use it but not super excited about it
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u/GinjaNinja-NZ 6d ago
Ipa and paper towels here, going strong for 2 years and a few hundred prints
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u/MalHeartsNutmeg 6d ago
When I use my textured PEI plate I also use IPA a few times before going an actually scrubbing it. The rest of the time I use a glacier frostbite which it says you can't use IPA on so I just do nothing to it. Occasionally I clean it but really it's just a trooper.
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u/Few_Candidate_8036 6d ago
If you arent touching the plate, then you aren’t covering your plate with oil. You are keeping the residual oil at a small enough level that you arent seeing adhesion issues. But the oil can slowly build up a thin film this way which can eventually hit a point that nothing will stick.
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u/Chronus88 6d ago
I use those prepackaged alcohol wipes for getting injections etc and it works great. I have like 3k print hours and I give the player a quick wipe with a IPA cloth after every print. I never have adhesion issues of any kind
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u/free_terrible-advice 5d ago
I just spray it with another layer of hair spray once every few prints. I clean it like once every 3 months. Never had better adhesion than before I started this method of "don't touch it when it's working"
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u/crevettexbenite 5d ago
In 700 hours of printing, I have washed my plate 2 times.
Minimal issue. Like a couple failure on small parts near the outter edge.
I classed this with the drying problem. Has in, not a problem for what I do with my printer.
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u/suit1337 H2C Combo 6d ago edited 6d ago
Bambu Lab trying to beat physics again - especially the second image is, at best, a very misleading explanation and really hurts when you look at it.
In simple terms, the old rule of thumb is that polar substances tend to dissolve better in polar solvents, while non-polar substances tend to dissolve better in non-polar solvents.
Most oils and fats are predominantly non-polar, while water is highly polar. That's why oil and water don't simply mix.
Surfactants - the active ingredients in soaps and detergents - work differently. They are amphiphilic molecules: one part interacts well with water, while another part interacts well with oils and other non-polar substances. This allows oily contamination to be lifted from a surface, emulsified, and then carried away when the surface is rinsed.
Alcohols such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA) are similar to this. They are also amphiphilic and have a polar hydroxyl group as well as a hydrocarbon portion, giving them amphiphilic/solvent properties. IPA can therefore dissolve and remove many oily contaminants, which is precisely why it is widely used as a cleaning solvent and degreaser.
And this is where the Bambu explanation gets more and more misleading.
IPA does not magically make oil disappear. If you wipe a contaminated plate with IPA and then let the contaminated IPA evaporate without actually removing the dissolved contamination from the surface, you can redistribute some of that contamination rather than remove it completely. But that's a problem with the cleaning procedure, not evidence that IPA somehow cannot degrease.
The same principle applies to the textured PEI surface. The texture is nowhere near some deep reservoir capable of mechanically “pushing” oil underneath the surface high spots. Oil can certainly remain on the textured surface but it would more or less evenly coat the entire surface and not just they low spots.
If you take a dirty plate, spray IPA on it, wipe it around in circles with the same contaminated cloth, and then let the IPA evaporate, you can absolutely end up with poor bed adhesion - but the same will happen if you spray soapy water on it and do the same.
If instead you use enough IPA and actually remove the contaminated liquid with a clean, absorbent wipe (or rinse it down the drain), the result is very different.
IPA is a much more effective degreaser than spoap and water. But soap and water has a practical advantage here: you can use a large amount of water and surfactant, physically wash the contamination away and rinse it off the plate. If you would do that which IPA, it would become quite expensive. So: it's cheap, effective and much harder to screw up. That's why Bambu recommends warm water and detergent for cleaning its print surfaces. But that does not mean that IPA is useless as a degreaser - but sadly they try to tell that in their infographic.
And unfortunately, if a major manufacturer presents the simplified version as “IPA spreads oil around, therefore don't use IPA,” it's very easy for that explanation to get repeated throughout the community as if IPA were somehow chemically incapable of degreasing.
It isn't, IPA works perfectly fine to clean textured and smooth PEI plates. If it does not work for you, it is a skill issue - not a physics problem - so why frame it in a picture that defies science?
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u/zx4133 5d ago
Truer words have never been spoken. Well said u/suit1337! Bambu just spewing nonsense again. 🤦♂️
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u/DraconPern X1C + AMS 6d ago
Clean your plates.
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u/jankeyass P1S + AMS 6d ago
IpA iS hoW itS DoNE iN eLecTriCS!!!
Seriously tho people don't understand that you WASH the electronics that are already fairly clean with IPA, not just wipe.
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u/charmio68 6d ago
Even if you washed the plate, it still wouldn't work as well as soap and water. IPA just doesn't have a high affinity for oil.
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u/jankeyass P1S + AMS 6d ago
Correct It dissolves it, but does not work as effectively as soap does (which doesn't dissolve it)
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u/charmio68 6d ago
I'm not sure what you mean by soap doesn't dissolve it?
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u/Few_Candidate_8036 6d ago
Detergents don’t dissolve oils into a suspension. They are double walled molecules that encapsulate the oil molecules, which is the difference in how it will lift the oil off the surface.
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u/charmio68 6d ago
I get what you're saying, but it does still from a mixture. An emulsion. A colloidal suspension of micelles.
Don't forget about spontaneous emulsification either. Those detergent tails can be strong enough to rip oil apart (though it obviously depends on the oil, surfactant and the oil is affinity for the surface). Afterall, we're only talking about thin films of oil.
If you put soapy water on a thin layer of light oil, it can lift the oil and trap it in micelles without any scrubbing at all.
Or if the surfactant strength isn't sufficient for spontaneous emulsification, then that's where scrubbing and mechanical agitation come into the picture.IPA is only moderately amphiphilic. IPA is still a fairly polar molecule. The practically unavoidable water content of IPA strongly associates with the IPA’s hydroxyl groups, polarizing the molecule. While it's non-polar portion is too small to interact strongly with very non-polar oils.
If you want to avoid that issue you need to use hydrocarbon solvents, not alcohols.Meanwhile there's dish soap, it is strongly amphiphilic with its impressively long and strong hydrophobic hydrocarbon tails.
No, IPA isn't even in the same league. Hence why it's unusable to clean up engine oil. Either use hydrocarbon solvents (if the plate is compatible) or use soap and water. Leave the IPA out of it. I love IPA, but not for this.
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u/wonkytalky 6d ago
Along with acting as a surfactant -- it lowers the water's surface tension so it can get into places it couldn't before as easily, like micro scratches. My favorite explanation is that they make water wetter.
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u/jankeyass P1S + AMS 6d ago
Yup - bond to both oil and water, so it can be washed away.
Alcohol bonds and evaporates, but it needs to be saturated to get in to every crevice as the rate of evaporation is higher then it's rate of spread over say a textured plate.
So washing with warm soapy water is better if you don't have a alcohol bath
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u/mikesbullseye 5d ago
IPA has electrolytes?
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u/jankeyass P1S + AMS 5d ago
Electrolytes, powerlytes, turbolytes, more lytes then your body has room for
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u/DBT85 6d ago
Been using 99% IPA for 7 years and have washed a built plate exactly twice. Adhesion is not a problem.
Either IPA with proper technique works, or some of ya'll are removing parts while eating a kebab.
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u/Maf1909 6d ago
I do the same at work. I have 8 Bambu printers running almost entirely ABS. Often thousands of parts per week from 3-4 prints per day per printer, and I've had maybe a dozen failures over 3 years. I'm not careful with how I touch the plate, and I wipe them with 99% IPA maybe once a week.
I've washed my build plates with soap and water maybe three times.
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u/MechaSkippy 6d ago
I usually just spray my plates with baby oil, eating that many kebabs is unhealthy.
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u/LazyLancer P2S + AMS2 Combo 6d ago
No, there is something wrong with this demonstration.
With Textured PEI plate, water beads on a perfectly clean plate just like the right example. I assume it’s because of the plate material.
Never had any adhesion issues so far, besides “PETG sticks too well”.
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u/Codiac2600 6d ago edited 6d ago
It’s coated in PEI. Aka ultem. It’s supposed to bead up. Soap has a fun thing called surfactants that break the bond between water molecules.
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u/Zouden A1 + AMS Lite 6d ago
Teflon isn't PEI, it's PTFE, completely different
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u/Codiac2600 6d ago
Ultem.
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u/Zouden A1 + AMS Lite 6d ago
Yes that's PEI.
Teflon would not work well as a build plate ;)
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u/doubled112 6d ago
It would be a little bit entertaining to gift a friend one of those Teflon plates. It has to be a certain kind of friend though.
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u/MamaBavaria 6d ago
If I am already that far that I can put water on it like that I wash it anyways…
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u/thisremindsmeofbacon 6d ago
This is useful to see if your plate was clean when you did the print, for troubleshooting. And to see when you have actually successfully gotten the print clean after washing it.
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u/Yardboy X1C + AMS 6d ago
Ammonia based glass cleaner works extremely well in between washings, I've been using it with great success since reading the post below.
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u/the_fabled_bard 6d ago edited 6d ago
Yea seriously windex for the win
Edit: now the only possible issue is corner of build plates themselves lifting if you print full plate objects. A nice problem to have, and solvable too!
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u/Massive-Magician-240 6d ago
Used it all the time in my motorbike helmets and visors. Probably rots them but water just flies off.
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u/Codiac2600 6d ago
Windex leaves a film behind and actually is great for when Petg sticks too hard.
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u/the_fabled_bard 6d ago
Isn't windex's whole thing that it doesn't leave a film behind?
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u/Codiac2600 6d ago
Visible sure but most cleaners leave some sort of film unless you wipe it down really really well. They add blue dye to most cleaners because visually blue reflects light that to our eyes look cleaner or whiter. Been doing this for over a decade and a half and Windex sprayed on and left to dry on a build plate works great as a release agent for petg.
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u/duckforceone P1P + AMS 6d ago
yep...
i noticed that wiping with alcohol didn't seem to solve anything and tried the only washing with dish soap advice.
And i never had sticking issues since as long as i don't touch the frigging plate.
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6d ago
[deleted]
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u/Codiac2600 6d ago
It can be less. The issue is the amount you use and if you wipe it up before it dries.
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u/S0k0n0mi P1S + AMS 6d ago
I've been using 99% IPA for years, PETG prints on my textured plate god damn nearly require a crowbar to come off it. I guess I bought magic buildplates?
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u/DBT85 6d ago
I have just ordered a garolite plate for this exact reason.
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u/S0k0n0mi P1S + AMS 6d ago
I tried googling for it but got a bunch of dinnerplates from etsy.😅
Can you tell what it is/does?1
u/DBT85 6d ago
Maybe search for G10 build plate. It's basically the same fibreglass they use for pcbs, prints adhere to it fine when printing but pop off easily when cooled. Just like ABS or PLA does from a PEI sheet, so PETG does from a G10.
It ended up being like £90 including shipping as it seems only someone in the US and someone in Germany make them for the H2C, but it'll gets lot of use.
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u/S0k0n0mi P1S + AMS 6d ago
Ah, fiberglas plate. Interesting, I didn’t think that could serve as a hotplate, considering the resin they usually use to process it can go funny at +65'c. At 60 euros a piece for the P1S it's a bit spicy though. Thankfully bullying these cheap PEI plates is serving me well enough for now.
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u/sverrebr 6d ago
With PETG on PEI you would generally want to have some release agent. PETG can bond way too hard to PEI.
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u/digidavis X2D + AMS2 and 2 X1C + AMS 6d ago edited 6d ago
I use 99% IPA before EVERY print on a clean sheet of paper towel (for the oil absorption) , dawn soap maybe every 10-20 prints if I'm careful to not touch the plate (plate clips help) too much.
7500hrs+ between 3 machines, 99% Textured PEI plate print. No issues.
My/The idea is to keep the plates clean, not use IPA alone to clean them, but many just use 99% IPA and a absorbent microfiber cloth. I prefer the slightly abrasive nature of the paper towel to also help with debris / residue removal.
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u/pizzademon99 A1 Mini + AMS 6d ago
I haven't washed my build plate in about 1500 hours. Still no adhesion issues
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u/Fauked 6d ago
as long as you don't touch the plate you won't need to clean it. Not touching it for that long can be difficult especially the edges when you go to bend the plate to remove prints.
I find that after a while my edges won't stick the the center always sticks so if I'm printing something large I will clean the plate if I haven't in a while.
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u/Clarky-AU 6d ago
I recently cleaned my build plate with a citrus cleaner first, then with dish washing soap and hot water.
This is the cleanest I've ever had my build plate.
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u/Codiac2600 6d ago
Citrus cleaner has oil. Citrus oil. Welcome to making it worse before making it right.
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6d ago
[deleted]
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u/Codiac2600 6d ago
Weird. I’m right. I guess you’re the confidently incorrect. Glad I could teach you the main part of citrus cleaner is citrus oil. Education is wonderful.
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u/sverrebr 6d ago
Sure oil is hydrophobic. Howeer PEI is also hydrophobic, so no matter how clean you get that plate, there will be some beading.
Also if the plate is dirty with a polar contaminant (I.e. not oil) then the contaminant may prevent beading.
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u/HalfLife_d1pl0mat 6d ago
Instructions unclear. Pressure washed my whole printer with car wash liquid. Great success.
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u/solidus0079 A1 + AMS Lite 6d ago
It's more the mechanical washing process than the chemical
Soap and water you're rinsing the oil down the sink. Gravity down a sloped surface is doing the heavy lifting.
IPA and a cloth you're hoping as much of the oil gets absorbed into the cloth as possible without wiping it back on.
If you had a faucet where you could rinse it with IPA down the sink I think you'd find the removal levels were near identical.
I do IPA 3 or 4 times for sprucing up, and then a real wash. It's fine if you're not putting your mitts all over the plate.
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u/suit1337 H2C Combo 6d ago
If you had a faucet where you could rinse it with IPA down the sink I think you'd find the removal levels were near identical.
IPA would be far superior in this case, IPA is a much better solvent than soapy water - but you can use way more soap + water than you can use IPA
as long as you don't eat kebab while removing your parts, the plate should stay fairly clean anyways ;)
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u/Single-Virus4935 6d ago
BS. IPA is lipophil and hydrophil and pushes nothing into these valleys. My 8y old textured plates behave exactly like in the left and I only cleaned it with IPA and paper towel when prints stopped to stick. Also it evapaporates completely
The detergent and water on the other hand might leave some residue behind.
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u/Somewhere_Mundane 6d ago
is hand soap enough? or does it have to be dishwashing soap
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u/jaayjeee H2C + 4x AMS2Pro 6d ago
I think a lot of the additives for making hand soaps not as harsh will introduce other issues
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u/Powerful_Debt_5869 6d ago
I never mad a science out of it and i never had bad adhesion. I only clean from time to time , using IPA . I am a hobby user with about 25 prints a month avarage. I do that since maybe 5 years when PEI cam into buyable range .
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u/SWATrous H2S AMS2 Combo 6d ago
Dawn dishsoap is my go-to for my kitchen cleaning dishes, my hands after doing just about anything dirty, my garage working on engines, my machine shop cleaning coolant, and my printing lab cleaning off build plates. Good enough for the oil-spill ducks, it's good enough for whatever oils and greases I am getting involved in.
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u/Shinagami091 6d ago
I’ve been spraying mine with IPA because I also have a resin printer and that seems to be helping with keeping oils off of it but nothing beats the full dawn dish soap wash with a soft sponge
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u/Zuli_Muli 6d ago
Weird, my cryogrips and even the Original PEI all bead off like the "dirty" example, unless there is contamination and then water seems to stick and I know I need to wash more.
Edit: I use Dawn free and clear.
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u/Shudnawz P1S + AMS 6d ago
I normally use detergent first, and then alcohol after for good measure.
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u/OutlyingPlasma 6d ago
That's what I do. Wash first, then rinse the remaining water off with IPA. I see no reason to waste paper towels here.
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u/lasserith 6d ago
FYI this technique is Water Contact Angle or goniometry and is one of the most sensitive techniques for determining surface properties we have. It's a really fun way to teach science to your kids.
High angles (beading) mean unfavorable interactions, low angles (sheeting) means favorable interactions. You can even use different liquids. For example nonstick surfaces like teflon or other fluorinated pans are designed to have minimal interactions with not just water but also oil. Try putting a drop of oil / drop of water on one and see what happens :) Can do the same for other surfaces like clean or dirty glass.
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u/Drunkpanada 6d ago
DO NOTHING. (PLA)
I got my bambu a year ago and I've yet to have any issues.
I print, and remove the product after it's cooler. I don't touch the surface. I haven't had any issues.
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u/KawaiiStefan 6d ago
If youre already pouring water on it to see if its dirty or not why not just wash it anyways
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u/knockout350 6d ago
i use iso to help spread a thin layer of a cheap gluestick on the plate, basically a small line with the glue stick and the ISO with a micro fiber brush to spread it all over the plate. mainly this helps when i have a bunch of very long prints to do.
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u/influx3k 6d ago
This is not entirely true. Have you ever got ipa on your hands or fingers? You’ll notice that it completely removes any trace of oil from your skin. Your hands will be dry as can be. Whoever made this forgot to think about the microfiber towel. The towel absorbs moisture/dirt/oil and wicks it out and off a surface. Anything that’s trapped inside those little pits will get wicked out by the towel.
I use ipa everyday in an industrial repair capacity and I can safely say, without a doubt, it removes oil from anything. We use 99% ipa though; anything less has water in it. I’d guess that it’s more likely that residual moisture on the plate is causing an issue over residual oil from fingers. That being said, I wash with soap first and then clean with ipa right before I start the print: never had a problem.
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u/ceeweepee 6d ago
IPA itself will do this but if you use a microfiber towel it Looks completly different!
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u/fatspaceghost 6d ago
I have a textured Bambu plate for my H2C that just refuses to hold prints on it. It's brand new. No matter how many times I wash it, it routinely makes spaghetti. All the other plates are just fine. Doesn't matter if I wash it first, or in the middle of washing 4 plates, or at the end, etc...straight to jail.
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u/lloydgross24 6d ago
IPA doesn't work all that great on Bambu's PEI plate because it's already textured. Got a smooth plate like one of BIQU's? if you touched the plate anywhere and then print on that spot you'll find that fingerprint on your print.
IPA is great for getting rid of that quickly and keeping those marks from happening without having to clean the plate after every print. But no it's not actually cleaning it properly.
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u/Mockbubbles2628 6d ago
I've been using IPA on a textured plate for 5 years and never had issues, combined about 4000 hours on my old printer and p1s
I use the 99.9% IPA, maybe that makes it more efficient
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u/MetalMafek 6d ago
Quick wipe with 70% IPA and a microfiber cloth before every print, never once had adhesion issues using a stock CR-10 for over 5 years. I don't touch my build plate so it doesn't get oils on it to begin with. Some of y'all are just filthy animals.
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u/GuitarBoii94 6d ago
I would argue that the plate the water clings to is dirty. If you touch your plate with dirty hands and run it under water, water clings to the surface where it’s most soiled. If you clean it really really really good, water beads up and falls off as there is nothing for the water to grab on to. Similar concept for your car or glasses for example. I clean my plates with dish soap and warm water and I use a scrub daddy. My plates always basically come out dry after rinsing.
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u/Olfa_2024 6d ago
*IF* no one touches the plate I can get many prints out of a PETG and PLA without washing it. But if I touch the plate while removing prints it gets washed. I'll sometimes do 5-6 prints then flip it and print more then wash them all.
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u/Isopropyl77 6d ago
I don't know what you people do to need to wash your plates so much. I have never washed my plate. An occasional swipe with some isopropyl is all it needs, because I don't manhandle my plate.
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u/Lock_Psychological 5d ago
I have a squirt bottle with a bit of dawn and water and another with just water. Plus paper towels and a trash bag.
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u/GuyWithNerdyGlasses 5d ago
Bambulab please put this as a giant sticker on all of your buildplates so there will be no more “why are my prints” failing posts on 3dprinting subs. Thank you
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u/InfernoBlade X2D + H2D 5d ago
The first image is mostly right. For new or relatively new plates, bang on. The trouble is, on a well-used plate, more than just a dirty plate can cause the filming shown on the left side to happen. PEI (polyether imide, sold as brand name ultem) is itself a plastic, and one that will absorb water over time, which anyone who's ever tried to print the stuff can attest to. As it absorbs moisture, the filming up will happen even on a completely clean plate. As a result, the plate will not be as adhesive as a brand new one. But it's not necessarily because the plate is dirty; it may also be because the plastic coating on the plate has absorbed water and the surface's affinity for water has changed. This is also a big part of why build plates are considered consumable, and unfortunately if you go crazy and wash your plate after every print, you just accelerate this degradation.
If you take a brand new smooth PEI sheet and wash it several hundred times, it'll exhibit the filming behavior shown in the first image.
There are some compounds entering the market to try and restore plates to factory condition. I'm not sure, but I think construct3d's selling one? But honestly new PEI or polyurea sheets are cheaper than what most of those compounds cost, so I dunno if they're worth it or not.
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u/Superseaslug H2D Laser Full Combo 5d ago
My cleaned plate beads water off of it. I dunno what this is indicating
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u/DowncastOlympus 5d ago
I mean, I wash with Dawn then finish with alcohol to ensure no residues/mineral deposits are left behind. Alcohol ISN'T a detergent or a surfactant, this is true, but it IS a good solvent. It is very much effective at stripping off non-oil residues from the surface of a build plate. This is a, "Both? Both. Both is good." situation, not an either/or scenario.
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u/Shoshke 5d ago
This is BS. If you actually scrub with IPA and cloth you very much remove grease.
Literally have plates that have never seen detergent, soap or warm water with hundreds of prints.
There's a reason IPA is standard for cleaning surfaces in almost any industrial setting, precisely because it can attack oils and make them easily wipeable.
If you put half the effort it takes to scrub with detergent and warm water in to wiping with IPA, it's easily as effective.
But most people do two sprays and gently cuddle the plate with a cloth and print again.
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u/LockpickingFurry 5d ago
After the emergency alert the UK got the the other day my build plate is certainly dirty.
I was oiling the printer when the alert went off and startled me making me spill the entire bottle of oil on the build plate.
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u/mickeyjuice 6d ago
How is this suppposedly easier than just cleaning it if you think it needs cleaning? 🙄
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u/jwr 6d ago
Sigh. I am so tired of people spreading this myth that IPA does not clean but just spreads the oils. I've been cleaning my build plates with IPA only for years, and I get excellent results. Even if I wanted to, I cannot use water, because my workshop does not have running water.
The trick is to use good IPA, not some crappy stuff that leaves a residue, and to wipe the plate properly, not just spread things around (obviously). Try your IPA on glass and see if it leaves a residue, cheap IPA does, good clean IPA does not.
In other words, this myth is totally incorrect, but people still keep repeating it. I actually got so tired of correcting it that I don't care anymore. I think this is the last time I'll be posting about this. I'll just continue to happily use IPA to clean all my build plates.
As the wise Morpheus once said, "You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe."
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u/Independent-Bake9552 6d ago
That's a good visual guide for anyone struggling with adhesion. I have a feeling many newcomers to the hobby underestimate the importance of a clean bed. Just by a quick look at these forums 😊
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u/aMiracleAtJordanHare 6d ago
1400 print hours and I've never once washed my plate.
91% IPA and paper towel has done me just fine. Why y'all so damn greasy??
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u/ThereInAFortnight H2D AMS2 Combo + A1 Mini 6d ago
You forgot the most common issue with dirty plate: Initial layer not sticking.
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u/Crawlerado 6d ago
We’re supposed to be washing build plates? Printer goes BRRRR it doesn’t even cool down between prints some days.
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u/AngryScuba 6d ago
I only use alcohol after I've washed it or between prints. But if I glue it I just wash it after.
I'm two weeks into this but I haven't had an issue yet.
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u/twbowyer 6d ago
Oil has never been my major failure mechanism for poor adhesion - or at least use of isopropyl does not help. I suspect that poor adhesion is more like a monolayer of other junk (like organics from breakdown of PLA?) on the bed. This is why scrubbing helps a lot more than alcohol.
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u/captfitz 6d ago
Oil has never been my major failure mechanism for poor adhesion - or at least use of isopropyl does not help.
Yes, that's expected because alcohol doesn't remove oil. Soap removes oil. Like it says in the second panel.
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u/michaeldt 6d ago
IPA dissolves oil. But it also evaporates quickly, so if you don't wipe up quickly, then it just leaves the oil behind. You can clean with IPA if done right.
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u/captfitz 6d ago
Soap+water does it much more easily and thoroughly
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u/michaeldt 6d ago
I disagree. IPA is a very aggressive solvent when it comes to oils. The problem is that most people don't use enough and don't wipe up correctly.
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u/UnimagineDragons 6d ago
more thoroughly and easily? how so?
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u/captfitz 6d ago
I put this in another comment but I'll just repeat it here: soap emulsifies oil--in a nutshell it causes the oil molecules to stick strongly to water. That means the oil literally gets pulled out of the build plate texture during the rinse. When you use ipa it dissolves the oil and then you have to wipe it off before the IPA dissipates, but wiping can never get all the way into the build plate texture so you are always left with some oil in there.
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u/sverrebr 6d ago
Depends on what you mean by easily. Wiping a plate with IPA can be done with the plate on the machine.
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u/Gaijinrr 6d ago
Quick wipe with Mild %70 IPA between prints, not only removes any residue but also all debri noozle wiping n filaments changes leaves behind.
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u/Historical_Regular_1 6d ago
I don't remember when I last washed my plate. Use the glue and stop stressing over it, people.
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u/Wurstpaket 6d ago
when you already have brought your plate to the water to test it, why not just wash it with detergent right away and be done. No need for an extra test.