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Home / Craft Storage and Tips / How to Clean And Restore Acrylic Stamping Blocks

How to Clean And Restore Acrylic Stamping Blocks

October 20, 2016

How to Clean and Restore Cloudy Acrylic Stamping Blocks

As a stamper, I use my clear acrylic blocks almost daily. And I try to wipe them down and keep them clear- but then something weird happens over time. They get cloudy!

I wonder why that is? I’m sure there is some chemical explanation. But the cloudiness isn’t just on the surface- it’s actually INSIDE the acrylic block.

Before- cloudy and gross!

Before- cloudy and gross!

I use these blocks as palettes and polymer clay- but lately I’ve  been running out of blocks that I can use for stamping. And while they are not super expensive, I hate to spend money to replace things that could be fixed? So I set out to fix them!

I did a little bit of searching, and I found a person that fixed her acrylic cutting pads with heat. I also found a video where a lady made her blocks clear with a heat tool, but mine were WAYYYY worse. So I decided to try it out.

Here’s an edited version of the live periscope that I did demonstrating how to use a heat tool to clear them up!

And VOILA! Clean and clear. There is still some minimal crazing, but my friend Darryl (@Cutterpunk) said that basically you re-anneal the acrylic with heat, which clears up the cloudiness. And if there are still ink smudges, you can use Staz-on Cleaner to take that off.

 

After- clear and usable!

After- clear and usable!

Not a great pic of me, necessarily, but you can see that the block is clear and restored. It’s not perfect, but I just saved myself a few bucks-and we know that a dollar saved is a dollar earned to go spend on new crafting goodies, right?

I hope you enjoyed this tip- please considering sharing this with your crafty friends or pinning the tip for later. And leave me a comment if you try it!

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Posted in Craft Storage and Tips | 8 Comments

Comments

  1. Sharon Gullikson says

    October 20, 2016 at 13:47

    Has it stayed clear?

  2. Sharon Gullikson says

    October 20, 2016 at 13:50

    Do you have the video about fixing cutting plates? I would love to see it. A lady at a craft show said I should put my pad in HOT water in a jellyroll pan, and it will straighten out. It did work once, but not the next time I tried it. The lady at scrapbooking made simple said we should (she got her info directly from Sizzix) cut on the concave side to even it out. I try to remember to do that. The bowing has been pretty severe before…

  3. Dorothy says

    October 20, 2016 at 16:27

    Great tips! FYI, your link to the cutting pads leads to a ruler on Amazon, nothing to do with acrylic plates. I’m very curious how that would work.

  4. Rosemary Paul says

    October 21, 2016 at 03:28

    Mine has yet to do that! I recently had to do mine because of ink & glue residues.
    First Goo-Gone, which took off some of the ink, then fusion ink cleaner, then hot soapy wzter. They look great again, but now I will definitely be watching out for clouding!
    Thanks for the warning
    Are your stamping pads a name brand? Maybe they have a warranty that could get you new ones?

  5. barb macaskill says

    October 21, 2016 at 09:54

    Great tip!! Thanks for sharing it!

  6. Lara Hanson says

    October 21, 2016 at 19:14

    By heating the blocks do. U have any warping or anything?

  7. Susan G says

    October 22, 2016 at 11:50

    That clouding thing is so weird. I have, like, a huge bunch of acrylic blocks. I use them every day. I have never had that happen to my blocks (just lucky???). I wonder what chemical/technique you’re using/doing that causes it. I will definitely remember your heatgun save if it does happen. Thanks for doing the experimenting for all of us. Love your posts and videos.

  8. Sara says

    February 13, 2017 at 20:20

    Hi! I found that using the Novus2 cleaner that we use to clean the MISTI, works for this problem also. I didn’t have very good luck with my heat tool, maybe I don’t have a very good heat tool, but the Novus 2 worked.

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Hi! I’m Jenny, the co-host of Hands On Crafts for Kids on PBS and the Head Dummy behind CraftTestDummies.com where you’ll find craft product reviews, tutorials, and craft industry news.

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Jenny Barnett Rohrs is Head Dummy and Pied Piper behind CTD, which focuses on reviews, tutorials, and craft industry news. Jenny has appeared on HSN, Scrapbook Soup PBS series, and is currently the co-host of Hands On Crafts for Kids on PBS.

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