what do you use to clean acrylic ?

[shabtek]

acetone is really no good, isopropyl no good. is their a safe solvent?

 

[soliloqueen]

How dirty is it? Acrylic is really chemically weird. You should use a plastic cleaner or just dish soap if it's mildly or moderately dirty. If it's severely dirty, kerosene (the fuel) or other oil-derived solvents (hexane, naptha etc, but not gasoline) are used because they dissolve the dirt and react slower with it and don't cloud it due to its bizarre makeup. I would suggest starting with dish soap and plenty of warm (but not hot) water before moving on to the more industrial solutions.

 

[shabtek]

not really dirty, buffing compound residue and oils from touching, ill use windex or lighter fluid next time

the reaction to acetone is really weird, it seemed inert wiping down the surface of acrylic turret board until some crept down into the drilled holes and the material crazed into fractal/crystals, I hope to salvage the part as it seems structurally sound

 

[soliloqueen]

windex

no, even worse. that has ammonia. use dish soap

Edit:
apparently they have reformulated, but i don't know that I trust it

 

[Script]

+1 for dish soap / hand soap.

 

[Tim Campbell]

Well if you read manufacturer's recommendations you will find that diluted ammonia is the only recommended cleaning agent that is not harmful or leave residue.

This crazing is caused by stresses stored in the acrylic while machining. When any solvent is applied these stresses are released as cracks. If you heat the part to the same temperature as it was subjected to while machining this will greatly reduce or eliminate crazing.

 

[soliloqueen]

Well if you read manufacturer's recommendations you will find that diluted ammonia is the only recommended cleaning agent that is not harmful or leave residue.

This crazing is caused by stresses stored in the acrylic while machining. When any solvent is applied these stresses are released as cracks. If you heat the part to the same temperature as it was subjected to while machining this will greatly reduce or eliminate crazing.

depending on the acrylic ammonia can etch it, but it's unlikely to cause functional problems

 

[Tim Campbell]

depending on the acrylic ammonia can etch it, but it's unlikely to cause functional problems

In more than 20 years of working with acrylic I have never seen this happen. I see that online some info states this but it I believe they must be refering to undiluted ammonia which is very harsh.

I have found some commercial acrylic cleaners that are sold by manufacturers contain large amounts of alcohol which I would never use.
Windex is not recommended because it can contain alcohol.

To err on the side of safety of course mild soap can be used but remember that soap leaves residue and can be conductive.

You have sparked my interest now on detrimental effects of ammonia on acrylic and since I have lots of acrylic on hand and a 25% ammonia solution I will do this empirical test and report back here about the results.

 

[soliloqueen]

What makes you believe this? In more than 20 years of working with acrylic I have never seen this happen. I see that online some info states this but it I believe they must be refering to undilute ammonia which is very harsh. Do you have some example of this? "depending on the acrylic" What different forms of acrylic? Or do you mean other forms of plastic?

I have found some commercial acrylic cleaners that are sold by manufacturers contain large amounts of alcohol which I would never use.
Windex is not recommended because it can contain alcohol.

To err on the side of safety of course mild soap can be used but remember that soap leaves residue and can be conductive.

my experience is with watch acrylic crystal where they're unbelievably thin, optical clarity is critical and formulations can get weird, so my knowledge is probably super overcautious. you probably know better than me. everyone says the etching can get visible on very thin, very transparent acrylic but i've never actually tried it

if it does happen, maybe it just doesn't happen appreciably for your purposes. AFAIK the etching isn't functional. it's microscopic etching on the "surface finish" scale. it basically "fogs" the acrylic. if you're working with thick acrylic and not using it for optics, you don't need to care

 

[wave]

I always use ammonia based solutions on my PMMA.

 

[Tim Campbell]

Well I can say unequvically that my acrylic piece after being submerged for more than 5 hours in an ammonia solution so strong it would burn your skin is not only unharmed by the soution. it is VERY clean hehe