Haven’t had the chance to try dish soap, you mean in the cleaner, or as a surface protector? I do use paper under the acrylic, and that helps shield it from the heat of the honeycomb.
@shop Yes, all my pieces will fit in the cleaner. You are right that there is a size limit.
BRB, off to try some dish soap.
Yeah, I’m thinking for small intricate things this would be fabulous - not having to worry about dropping them constantly!
this might be disastrous. like if you put dish soap in a clothes washer. that much agitation would create and incredible level of foaming.
My sister did that once. I learned from it. Just a drop is all I’ll use.
OK, I’m back. The dish soap helped the top surface stay clean, but the inner cuts are still yellowish. The ultrasonic may not help with this type of acrylic, but it’s a winner for clear. I’ll report back when the new cleaner arrives.
I wonder where the brown is coming from? Additives to the acrylic?
Seems to me paper under the acrylic is carbon, and that smoke may redeposit.
Perhaps the think to do is elevate acrylic for flashback prevention instead of a back masking?
Like here:
So possibly dish soap both sides and elevate and see how that goes?
I always put dish soap on both sides of acrylic. I like the way it makes more of a smooth edge rather than a ridge on the cut lines. Then I just lay it on brown paper (like painters use to cover windows). I haven’t tried elevating it. Guess I thought that it would still somehow cause flashback by bouncing off the bottom.
I own this one and I have been very happy with it. You will be able to use the cleaner a 2nd time. Get yourself an empty milk jug for the old cleaner. I do not dilute this cleaner.
I clean eye glasses, jewelry, paint brushes and lids for tumblers. I take the lids apart and the silicon rings also get cleaned. After the ultrasonic cleans them, I rinse the tumbler lid parts with clean water.
I think I got it from Harbor Freight, they don’t carry that model anymore. It’s a cheap unit–very low-end. Perfectly fine for cleaning dentures/glasses/jewlery, etc. The shape of the unit and inner basket will determine the size of parts you can immerse.
The replacement I’ve ordered on Amazon, I selected because it was cheap. If you see jaw-dropping prices, it’s either industrial or professional level. That is serious overkill for what you need.
i have a cheap one off of amazon, too. same purpose, mostly cleaning jewelry and watch bracelets.
I have a couple of ultrasonic cleaners, one specifically for cleaning silicone tags I make on my glowforge. I’ve used many different types of cleaners in the ultrasonic cleaner, including Dawn and it has never foamed or bubbled too much. I still don’t feel like I have found the perfect solution.
Yes, I think this is it. Inclusions in the acrylic lend an iridescent effect. These edges go yellow the worst and refuse to lighten up. Can’t wait to get the new ultasonic so I can see if it will remove that residue.
hadn’t even thought about it for silicon. i’ll have to keep that in mind next time. altho, if i’m going to clean GF stuff on it, i’ll probably get a second one so i’m not putting nasty, stanky stuff in the machine i clean our jewelry in. 
Yep, exactly. I use the other one for my teeth retainer so you can imagine why I don’t put anything else in that one.
I’ve been planing on getting one to clean my air bushes.
Good choice. Also, keep an eye out for the metal-mesh coffee filters, of any size. They make great small-parts-cages. I used to use them for rings that had lots & lots of small stones.
New ultrasonic arrived today. I made similar cuts in the iridescent acrylic. One I immediately cleaned, the other left plain as the control. I used glass cleaner, a toothbrush, and a dab of Dawn dish soap in the cleaning.
It helps a great deal, but it’s not perfect. There will be a yellow-brown dinginess at the edges and in score lines. Still, much better than before. Plus, the ultrasonic gets everything else nice & clean.
$90 is a bit steep if you just want to play around with this technique. TEMU.com offers ultrasonic cleaners from under $2 to $40 and shipping is free. The really inexpensive ones are pretty much sized for cleaning eyeglasses, but there are several sizes offered.
BTW, TEMU.com sells pretty much EVERYTHING!!! It’s all shipped from China but usually takes less than 2 weeks to arrive.
to be fair to @JimmyWayneWestie, the one she linked is significantly larger and could hold much larger pieces. but yeah, there are lots of less expensive options if you are ok with smaller. and even more if you’re willing to buy from china on aliexpress and wait for slow boat shipping.
