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What's the best eraser for ink on mylar
Posted by David Bowden on March 16, 2015 at 11:42 pmI know I’ve done this before but it’s been a long time ago.
I have a electric eraser with white eraser but it won’t even make the smallest dent in the ink. Also tried #2 pencil with red eraser and won’t budge.
Anybody got any tips or idea’s ?
Jeff Opperman replied 9 years, 1 month ago 20 Members · 24 Replies- 24 Replies
Magic Rub
Good luck.
The yellow imbibed eraser, possibly Pentel brand.
White eraser & spit. But old ink is really tough.
I use a pocket knife to scrape off the offending ink
> I know I’ve done this before but it’s been a long time ago.
>
> I have a electric eraser with white eraser but it won’t even make the smallest dent in the ink. Also tried #2 pencil with red eraser and won’t budge.
>
> Anybody got any tips or idea’s ?Uhhh, have you tried flipping the mylar over? 😉
The yellow embibed ink eraser is the ONLY way to go. Do not forget the eraser shield. It acts as a heat sink. Otherwise you will make a glazed mess of the tooth of the mylar.
A giant bottle of Dietzgen Paper Coat comes in handy too. And a large bottle of rubber cement thinner to clean the mylar when you are finished.Fingernail polish remover. When I first started drafting I used it a lot.
An exacto knife and some careful scraping works sometimes.
I use a white eraser and wet it on your tongue. Then use an eraser sheild and the ink rubs off very easy.
Art and Dave are correct. The trick is to no remove the matte finish on the mylar. Try a spot on the edge and you will see it turn slick. If it happens to be a brown color sepia, that image is on the back and needs a pink eraser.
For small changes:
X-acto knife with curved blade. Scrape off the ink.For medium jobs:
Green eraser in an electric eraser is the toughest you are going to get. It burns the matte finish off thoughFor large jobs:
Water and a soft scrubby and moist towel. Tape off the edges so you don’t wipe away to much.Thanks guys
The eraser shield I have…30 years old…but still have.
Yes, one of the first things I tried was turning the mylar over…just in case
Couldn’t find my exacto knife but for some reason this just doesn’t seem like a job for the exacto. I sent this drawing months ago to a reprographic shop to make the mylar and the ink almost seems embedded into the mylar. Maybe it’s the type of mylar ?
The original request from the planner was to erase one small line and a couple of words…but to make things worse this plat had to be sent to Calif. for signitures and the notary stamp smeared in a couple of places including right in the middle of the dedication language.
BTW: What is Magic Rub ?
Tomorrow I’ll look for the yellow imbided thing, does it fit in the electric eraser?
Soft white vinyl with not grit, also wet it.
Sometimes ammonia solution, the kind you buy in the grocery store, will work very well especially if it was done on a HP DesignJet. The other solution that usually works, if ammonia does not, is denatured alcohol. If a large enough area, use a Q-tip. On a small area, I’ve used cotton wound around a toothpick. Older drawings may require some soaking time or reapplication before the ink begins to dissolve. What I liked about this method is that it essentially did not destroy the mylar matte and left it suitable for additional inking.
” I sent this drawing months ago to a reprographic shop to make the mylar and the ink almost seems embedded into the mylar.”
A reprographics shop made the mylar? Did you send them your drawing file or the original drawing for a mylar copy?
If you sent the drawing file then you will be able to make the change. I know of no ink jet ink that is certified as archival quality, so your task is “doable”.
If you sent a drawing, there’s a chance that a good repro house mad a mylar photo copy. If so, forget the eraser. None of those mentioned will work. The X-acto is your only option.You mentioned that it looked like it was embedded, you might not be dealing with ink at all, it may be a photographic reproduction.
If the ink is not the good old drafting ink, go to Menard or some hardware store and get a product called “Goof Off”. You can find it in the paint department.
Then take a Q-tip and the Goof Off and try it on an old peace of Mylar to make sure it won’t melt through. I have used it even on carpet and it works.If this is actually ink on mylar then good old spit and a white eraser will do. I don’t recommend using the machine unless there is a very large area that you want to work on.
Use a metal shield or some other heat sink to prevent damage to the mylar and lots of lube. If you need to work on the surface after removing something use a “Pounce Powder” or something like that to repair the tooth of the mylar.
If this is a photographic mylar (you cannot feel the linework) that we used in the old days, there is a two-step process to remove the image of the printing. K&E made a kit called Erasing Fluid for diazo coated polyester film. Step one was the green liquid which removed the line and a clear fluid for cleaning up the image. This probably dates me and I bet you cannot find these chemicals anymore since I believe that process is long been replaced by a photostatic process. Sometimes the image was on the reverse side of the mylar. That was done so we could add to the front side if we needed to, the process didn’t take ink too well. There was also a one-step process for eradicating sepia images something that only a few of us would attempt.
Around here many municipalities still require a mylar image of the plat even though the recorders don’t want it. Code still applies until they change it. We have been submitting “Xerox Mylars” for some time. If you find a mistake or need to make minor change on them I have been successful with a red stick in my eraser machine and a bit of spit and a heat sink like a shield or something under the mylar. Be sure you are working on the proper side; you should be able to feel the linework. Keep moving the eraser or you will burn a hole in it!
I started with ink on linen! And you didn’t make any mistakes on that medium because there was no way to hide them. Ever.
Good luck with this.
Dan
My old boss use to say don’t erase in the field book as he was erasing.:-)
Why not just line through the unwanted lines? My 2 cents, Jp
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