A suitable web cleaning method should achieve the required cleaning result under actual production conditions and maintain that result at an acceptable total operating cost.
This means looking beyond purchase price. Relevant factors include the substrate and contamination, production speed, installation position, energy use, consumables, maintenance, operator intervention, and production downtime.
Contact cleaning can be the right choice where contamination adheres strongly to a suitable substrate. Contact and non-contact methods can also complement each other. For example, non-contact pre-cleaning can reduce the contamination load reaching a contact cleaner, reducing consumable use and maintenance requirements.
The most useful comparison is therefore the cleaning result achieved under actual production conditions and the total cost and effort required to maintain that result over time.
See our label and narrow-web contamination control page for an example of this application-based approach.
