Best Practices for Mold Cleaning

Mold maintenance is a big part of the mold manufacturing process. So much so, it is part of MoldMaking Technology's tagline: Engineer, Build, Maintain. Toolrooms across the globe are faced with mold dilemnas that can often be avoided with a little TLC, namely proper mold cleaning. I came across some very useful mold cleaning tips from Slide Products that I'd like to share.

These fall into the following five categories: (1) heat can help or hurt the process as various cleaning solvents have different characteristics and work differently at different temperatures; (2) there is a wide variety of cleaner formulations with varying characteristics; (3) the requirements of offline cleaners are primarily to dissolve resins, grease, oil, mold release and sometimes rust; (4) use a mold polish/cleaning compound; and (5) online cleaners are used to remove mold release build up, plate out of resins and light rusting of the mold while it is still warm and in the press. For more on each of these five items click here.

For an end user approach to mold maintenance, read a March 2015 MMT article by John Berg, Marketing Director from MGS Mfg. that outlines their systematic approach to mold cleaning.