Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Tip of the Week...How to Clean your Stencils!

Hello my Dear Stamper Friends:

Today, I would like to share with you how I clean my Stencils...
If you are like me ...that I like to have my supplies "Clean"...well this tip is for you!

I know there a lot of people who don't care to have them "stained, " which is Ok too...
it is just a matter of preference!...
Your stencils will work just fine as long as you are using only inks or paints...



Very simple: use any type of FLAT surface to place your stencil, it can be any tray...I use a baking sheet. This is important as the stencil remains flat and you will NOT ruin any of the design...
Tilt your tray, scrub it with a fingernail brush very gently with MILD HAND SOAP and run it through WATER and that's it!


Updated on May 2014:
NOTE: When you are at your Desk  (not near a sink) , clean the stencils with baby wipes..then take them to the sink and do the step explained above!



If you want to get rid of tough stains:



I used my stencil with a "Magenta" color, an acrylic "Golden" paint and the stencil looked like this after finishing my project...the hand soap did NOT took care of the stains.

So I rubbed "Stazon " cleaner with my fingernail brush on the tray, then run it through water and here it is the result...


After this step,   I used mild hand soap to get rid of the chemicals from the "Stazon cleaner", (which it is a very "Strong" chemical and not advisable to leave it on any surface)...and Voilà!
Almost as new...although my fingernail brush absorbed the color and stayed all stained :) , this paint was very strong...!!!

Updated on May 2014:
if you forget to clean them and the stain is DRY.
Here I used "Viva Inka Gold" metallic rub and I forgot to clean it...
The "before" with the stains dried



clean it with "Stazon"...(this cleaning step will works as well if you use "Archival Inks", specially when using Black...clean the stencil with "Stazon" and it will look almost as new!
The "after" result



As I said earlier if you do not care for stains, you can leave them like that and this will NOT ruin the results of your stencil designs... BUT

IMPORTANT: the only time that you MUST clean your stencils, if you want to re-use them is when you are using glues or molding pastes...if you do not clean them right away these products will ruin your stencils...so use the steps from above...

*Remember to DRY them as well:


place them flat on a paper towel, roll on top of them, the whole roll of paper and they will be ready for your next use

OK my friends, hope all is well and see you soon

Did you enjoy this post? 
You might like these too: 

1-Stencil Tutorials
2- List of Crafting Tips
3- My 1st Challenge "Throwback Thursday"



SUPPLIES:


19 comments:

  1. Thanks a lot for your tip, dear Bibiana! Fortunately, Staz on cleaner is a "must" - I will try it sucessfully later!
    Viele Grüsse, Andrea
    P.S. I love your stencil!!!

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  2. merci pour tes conseils!!
    bisous
    coc♥

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  3. What a GREAT idea! I thought I was the only person who wanted my stencils clean!

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  4. Brilliant tip Bibiana, i love to keep all of my things as clean and tidy as i can possibly get aswell x

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  5. Eileen L. said..

    Planning on trying some stencils since Ive never used any and will definately remember this tip, I like my things clean also. Thanks for your tips.

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  6. I have to have my Stencils clean, as well,as my blending mat.
    Clean mine in a similar way.
    Thank you for sharing this I am sure many will use this information.

    Patricia xx

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  7. Thanks for the tip, Bibi! CHA was wonderful! Lots of great, new products coming our way!

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  8. I agree....clean is the way to go! When I use acrylic paint with my Gelli Plate and stencils, I use 70% alcohol to clean the ones that mild soap and water don't touch. Thanks for the Stazon tip!!!
    Jan

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  9. Merci pour tous ces conseils Bibiana ! Bises

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  10. Thank you for these tips. I'm going to be buying some stencils as I just signed up for an on-line class.

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  11. Thanks sooo much for the great tip here, I too like to have all my stuff nice and celan anytime I get my hands on them, but not always quite easy with 7 granddaughters, who all wants to play with it too, which I ofcause also love, so sometimes, it is needed with a little more than normal quick cleaning on the tools too he he.

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  12. Hi Bibiana,
    sorry I haven't been round much lately. Been getting family, and commission cards done before my operation. But sadly my op has been cancelled due to my blood pressure not being right.
    Love your fab technic for cleaning stencils. Thank you for sharing this with us.
    Lots of crafty love. Jenny L.

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  13. Such cool tips Bibiana especially now when stencils are so popular
    Cheers
    Dr Sonia

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  14. Gracias por todos los consejos tan útiles, a retener!!!

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Thanks so much for visiting my blog!...AND Thank you for taking the time to comment on my post today...It keeps me motivated!
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me, I will be more than happy to answer them.
THANKS again, Bibiana