There are five kinds of contaminates that can get on the nip roller. In the article below, we’ll explain what they are and how to clean each one off the rollers.
The most common contaminates are adhesives. To clean off adhesives, all paper and film must be removed from the laminator. Be sure the laminator it heated up to operation temp. Run the laminator with the nip closed. This will heat the nip roller, making it easier to clean. Most of the adhesive will transfer to the chrome roller. With the nip roller hot, use imaging oil, odorless mineral spirits, or rubber roller wash on a cloth and wipe down the nip roller until all the adhesive is removed. Now clean the chrome roller.
The next most common contaminate is paper that has stuck to the adhesive on the nip roller. To remove this paper, you will need water and a sponge with a scouring pad on the back. Soak the sponge in water and then rub it on the paper, making sure to saturate the paper with water. Then flip the sponge over and lightly rub the abrasive scouring pad over the paper. Do not press too hard as you do not want to remove any rubber. Once the paper has been removed, follow the adhesive removal instructions given above. Scouring pads and other abrasive materials should never be used on chrome rollers as they will scratch the roller. A magic sponge eraser can be used as a safe alternative for both nip rollers and chrome rollers.
The third most common contaminate is a film wrap or part of a wrap. You must remove the film before any chemical will work. To do this, you will need a rubber roller cleaning block. As in the adhesive cleanup, run the heated laminator with the nip closed. This will get the nip roller sufficiently hot to activate the adhesive. Once the roller is hot, vigorously rub the rubber block over the edge of the film to peel the edge of it up. Once the edge is peeled up, you can try to pull the film by hand, working small areas at a time. You may have to reheat the roller several times. Once the film is off, follow the adhesive removal instructions in step 1.
Ink or toner is the fourth type of contaminate. To remove this, you will again need a sponge with a scouring pad, but this time, soak it with isopropyl alcohol. Apply the alcohol to the ink, then flip the sponge over and carefully rub the abrasive side over the ink. This should clean the ink off of the roller. Again do not press too hard! You do not want to remove any rubber.
Sleeking® foil is the last kind of contaminate. To remove this, simply apply some imaging oil or odorless mineral spirits to a rag and rub the Sleeking off the roller. If the foil is stuck to ink instead of adhesive, then isopropyl alcohol may work better.
CHROME ROLLER SUGGESTIONS
- Heat up the roller.
- Imaging oil or odorless mineral spirits on a soft cloth will remove adhesive from the chrome roller. DO NOT USE AN ABRASIVE SUBSTANCE!!!
- Isopropyl alcohol will remove ink. Do not do this while the roller is hot as the IPA will evaporate and cause burns.
