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You’ve printed up several versions of your latest lino print and you’re ready to move onto the last step – cleaning linocut blocks and tools, but how? You have a couple options – one of which I prefer. I use water soluble inks, either water-based or an oil-based ink that cleans up with water. These methods won’t work for oil-based ink that requires solvents.
Remember that you won’t get your blocks back to their original colour. Lino ink can stain permanently. When you clean, your aim is avoid leaving a layer of ink on your blocks.
Wash with soap and water
This is the main method I use to clean my blocks. I find it gets my lino block cleanest. It’s inexpensive, not wasteful, and easy. Here’s the method:
- Drizzle some liquid dish detergent directly on your lino block. Do not add any water at this point.
- Using a soft nail brush, fully mix the ink and soap.
- Now you can use water. Rinse the ink and soap away. You can continue using the nail brush to speed this up and ensure all the ink washes away.
Watch me demo how to wash linocut blocks on my YouTube channel.
It’s as easy as that! I usually test with a clean hand to make sure no ink remains before I set it aside to dry.
Wipe with baby wipes
It can be as simple as grabbing a few baby wipes and wiping your lino plate clean. The advantage is you don’t run the risk of getting the hessian backing of your lino plate wet, which can cause curling. The disadvantage is that it takes quite a few baby wipes to clean your plate, which can be quite wasteful. I’ve used the Kirkland Signature brand from Costco to help reduce costs.
