Static Control and Web Cleaning
The importance of keeping clean webs and sheets
By Andy Clarke, European operations director, MA Print Products (MAPP) W
hether you are a converter of sheets for corrugated boxes or producing millions of square metres of labels each shift, you
need to be aware of the importance of maintaining clean surfaces.
Non-contact systems provide a number of benefi ts for various materials and printing applications particularly heavily soiled and delicate surfaces, while contact cleaning systems provide high cleaning effi ciency, help eliminate static, are suitable for a range of diff erent materials and have minimal impact on production as they can be integrated seamlessly into existing production lines.
In corrugated, contact cleaning is well suited to preprint production, removing dust and debris from the printable surface. Where contact
cleaning is specifi ed, the quality and performance of adhesive rolls in an elastomer-based cleaning system are vital to eff ectively removing contaminants.
Corrugated converters should specify adhesive rolls that have a high adhesive coat weight and are manufactured from a carefully selected paper base that is tested for thickness, consistency and profi le to ensure a constant high wind quality. MA Print Product’s adhesive rolls are also made using paper that is highly moisture resistant to ensure stability during transit, storage and use. A specially formulated adhesive works with all elastomer roller-based contact cleaning systems. These adhesive rolls are available up to 1500mm (59in) wide and have 70 perforated, removable sheets with a high adhesive mass for maximum cleaning performance, at two to three times the eff ectiveness of competitive products. For packaging printers, the impact of a contaminated reverse side has potentially serious implications that directly relate to product integrity and consumer health, not to mention the impact to onward processes and an increase in waste produced.
This makes cleaning both sides of the material imperative, as contaminated surfaces can cause problems throughout the production of fl exible packaging constructions and result in poor print quality, subpar coating and lamination and, in some cases, machine breakdowns. Label printers can choose to clean the top side or both sides of a web, depending on the
application. For instance, a roll of material that is destined to come into contact with a bottle, jar or other vessel renders cleaning both sides of a web largely unnecessary, even when rewound, and the risk of contaminants transferring from one side of the web to the other is present. Only in the most extreme of circumstances will not cleaning the reverse of the web cause issues. However, when producing shrink sleeves or using increasingly capable narrow web presses with ever-wider widths to print fl exible packaging, it is something that should not be overlooked in order to ensure packaging and product integrity.
This makes it advisable to use web cleaning systems that address both sides of a web. By doing so, label printers are doing everything in their power to mitigate such risks and maintain a fully clean and ultimately usable web of material, whether rewound or fed immediately into converting lines.
For all converters, the need to clean webs boils down to an evaluation of the risk of potential contamination versus the reward of not dealing with it in the fi rst place. Bear in mind that not properly cleaning surfaces can result in costly production delays, machine downtime and potentially serious consequences for consumers buying and eating packaged foodstuff s.
A trusted supplier such as MA Print Products is able to advise on your needs and provide the solution suited to any printer’s needs.
32
March 2025
www.convertermag.com
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