25 August 2015

How to clean your acrylic blocks!

I realize there are many different types of inks out there. Dye ink, pigment ink, water based ink, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on! One of my absolute favorites is StazOn Jet Black ink. I use it for E V E R Y T H I N G. It is super juicy (and somehow manages to smell like juice, if you’ll believe it!) and creates great crisp lines. It’s perfect for when you want to stamp an image and color it in with markers, watercolors, etc… whatever you fancy.

However. If you’re like me, you’ll notice that StazOn (or any other difficult ink) tends to stain your stamps as well as your acrylic blocks. I understand that this staining does not affect performance of either the stamps or the blocks, but sometimes you just want a crystal clear block, right?! After all, that is the purpose of the clear stamp/clear block system... so you can see right through to where you're going to be putting the stamp!




WHAT?!


So, I have found a solution. This one actually comes to me from my little 7 year old who taught me that most ink or paint can be removed this way. I have never tried StazOn’s ink or stamp cleaners, and I do not know if my method would be safe for stamps… but here’s how you can clean your acrylic blocks:


You will need:
  • Cotton balls or q-tips
  • Nail polish remover (the one in the pic has acetone, I am not sure if acetone-free works, but feel free to give it a shot!)
  • Dirty nasty filthy inked up acrylic blocks :P

Step one: Open Nail Polish Remover Cap
Step two: Apply nail polish remover to cotton ball/qtip
Step three: Scrub Acrylic block until clean




AND VOILA! 
Here is the finished product. Look at all that clear see-through goodness! 



I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you rush straight to your inky blocks and clean em up good and right. (For the record, I do not know how nail polish remover would work on stamps. I mean, I'm sure it would remove the ink... but I do not know if it would damage them in the long run. Does anyone know?! Has anyone tried it?!)



See you all soon!

Chey :) 










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