How to clean the dust surface of silicone tube

Silicone tube

There are many simple ways to treat the dust surface of silicone tubes. The simplest way is to put the silicone hose lying flat in a clean environment with the circulation of air to weaken the adsorption value, the longer the silicone tube is placed, the weaker the adsorption capacity, which is why for a period of silicone hose dust-free, while the new silicone rubber tubing is on the side of the dust-suction.

Therefore, for manufacturers, the storage environment requirements for silicone tubes are quite strict, no matter from any process of silicone, we should avoid sticky dust. Once the adhesion of too much dust will seriously affect the quality and delivery efficiency, so if the silicone tube which has been covered with dust, must be cleaned.

Dust treatment method one: Alcohol Wipe is one of the more extensive methods, the advantage is affordable and easy to operate. The silicone hose pipe surface after an alcohol wipe will be much cleaner, but at the same time, alcohol will stimulate the adsorption value of silicone and lead to the silicone sticky dust speeding up again. so it is suggested that after wiping with alcohol, it needs to be quickly packed into a clean and sealed environment, for example, PE bags, cartons, etc., Do not re-exposed to dust environment. And alcohol is one of the dangerous chemicals that need professional training before the user can use it.

Method two: Wipe with white gas. white gas in compression molding, liquid silicone rubber injection process is used frequently. the advantage is that white gas cleaning ability is very strong, especially for silicone products, a small drop of white gas is excellent when wiped with an absorbent cotton cloth. However, it should be noted that white electric oil has certain corrosion properties but is quickly dried by air, therefore, the operator needs to wear gloves when using white electric oil to wipe the dust on the surface of the soft silicone tubing, and can not wipe the silica gel tube for a long time because it will corrode the surface of the silica gel tube and lead to the increase of the positive and negative tolerances of the product size. So we should wipe and dry the silicone tube using white electric oil.

Method three: Just Place in water. after the dusty silicone tube cooled down, put it into the clean water and add a small amount of bleach, a few minutes later, we can directly wipe it. The advantage of this method is that it is easy to operate and does not have extra cost. Most important, the silicone tube should be cooled down completely,  otherwise, it will cause the product tolerance reduction to the lower limit. As it needs extra time to dry the silicone tubing by mechanical or natural air-drying, it will affect the product delivery.

Method four:  with Matt surface. The glossy product has a strong adsorption value, while the matt surface is not. The matt surface touches rough, the advantage is that these rough surfaces effectively insulate the enhanced adsorption value, but the glossy surface looks more shiny and beautiful.

Method Five: Coating with anti-dust oil. This is the best way to protect silicone tubes from dust, and after coating the surface touch smoothly.  But it is difficult to spay even as the silicone tube is circular, which leads to the coating cost being expensive. and the coating is not environmental.

Method Six: Quickly air-dry. silicone pipe dust absorption mainly occurs in the product which has residual heat. Quickly air-dry is suitable for the products which have to be second vulcanized, such as food-grade and medical silicone tubes. It is also suitable for regular silicone products. We can use high-power electric fans to speed up the cooling, then the dust adsorption ability of the silicone tube is weakened.