# cleaning sanding belts



## OCG (May 17, 2009)

What do you folks know about cleaning sanding belts with household ammonia high presses water rinse ?

Occie


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

hi occie .

i have never heard of that .

only the rubber ' erasers ' .


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## mark88 (Jun 8, 2009)

like patron said…grab a rubber cleaning block..works like a charm


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## cstrang (Sep 22, 2009)

Yep, the rubber cleaning block is the quickest and easiest thing to do.


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## Dez (Mar 28, 2007)

I clean the strips I use on my drum sander with a 50 - 50 solution of lacquer thinner and mineral spirits. I make enough to put in a coffee can so it will cover the rolled up strip and let it soak overnight, then after I let it drip dry back into the coffee can I put it back on the drum sander and run the crepe rubber cleaner over it. 
Works great and I have cleaned some belts at least four times.
Not sure how that would effect the glued joint belts though.


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## KayBee (Jul 6, 2009)

Rubber cleaning block, crepe soled shoes or something similar. Won't belts tend to delaminate if they get wet?


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## jackass (Mar 26, 2008)

*The handle of an old toothbrush works too.
Jack*


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## rtb (Mar 26, 2008)

sanding eraser blocks get the at rockler or harbour frieght AND they don't smell.


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## OCG (May 17, 2009)

i will check yours out also Dez.
hi Dave P and glad you are doing well Mark
Jackass, (wow its nice to be able to call in a friendly tone) i used all my used tooth bruses on my babdsaw.

I bought this information about the ammonia treatment from a guy on ebay for ten bucks.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130262128697&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

he shows pictures of cleaning big $80 belts the size of fifth five gal drums. 
the pictures showed it working like a charm. i would post the pictures but i feel 
it wouldn't be fair. the add said he would give me a full refund it i don't feel i got my money worth.
I'm haven't made up my mind about the refund.
and don't try to sell a bridge or two…............. 
Occie


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## bruc101 (Sep 13, 2008)

On my Performax I use the cleaning blocks. On the wide belt I take them off, carry then outside and spray 409 or whatever is the closest. I soak the belts with it and let it soak for a few minutes and then hit them with a pressure washer. Works like a charm and have used regular isopropyl alcohol which cleans as good as anything. Just be careful if the belts are cloth backed. I know some guys that carry their belts to a pressure car wash and do the same thing, another uses the old rubber bumper guards off cars.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

here is a write up i did on this , its my news letter and its the forth article , but i will caution you , to do it out side , and also caution you that even the vapors from the acid will rust any metal, it can cause rust on your tools if you do it inside your shop …so be careful .. but on the really tough stuff it sure works well..check it out http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs034/1102675987548/archive/1102784169386.html


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

It's hard to imagine anything easier,faster, or more reasonably priced than one of those rubber sanding eraser blocks….it literally takes a few seconds, and they only cost a few bucks. Works well on any sander.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

i agree, but on drum and wide belt they dont remove the burns, reason for my post


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## sigwood (Apr 25, 2013)

I have a delta drum sander and used an 80 grit belt. It also gummed up and burnt the wood I was sanding. I tried the rubber block with little success. I then talked to the guy that works TOOLs at the local hardware store. He recommended to TURN THE POWER OFF and take a wire brush and hit the gum buildup at a 45 degree angle with the bristles. This action causes the gum buildup to flake off. It took about 5 mins to go all the way around drum. The grit did not look any worse for wear. I tried it out on a 16" wide soft maple board and it worked great - no burn marks.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

I know this is a very old thread but I do have a good method for removing those burn areas on drum sander paper (crepe blocks won't touch them!) I roll my paper up and put it in a quart jar of Simple Green, leave it for 24 hours, and spray off with hot water. That usually gets it clean but if any crud remains, a brass brush will loosen it where it will rinse off.


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## xraydav (Jan 2, 2013)

Simple Green and water 50/50 makes a great lubricant for sharpening any blade on DMT stones. So buy it for the sharpening and use it also for cleaning the sanding belts..


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## OliverArts (Apr 16, 2013)

Many many years ago I worked in a furniture plant and we use to clean our large sanding belts using a solution of mineral spirits and a pump sprayer like you use for pesticides. We would run the sanders with the dust collection on…spray the belts and they would clean up great…probably wasn't the safest practice but it did work.

Knowing what I know now….I wouldn't do it again.

With ammonia I don't know. Wouldn't hurt anything to try it.


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## RogerM (Oct 31, 2011)

Simple Green and crepe rubber cleaning blocks work wonders for my drum sander.


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