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.
Ultrasonic cleaners also frequently show up in resale shops, especially after the winter holidays…
I used a Harbor Freight coupon and it was on sale so I ended up paying maybe $50. This one also heats up the cleaning liquid and you can set a timer. The large removable basket is great for jewelry…
I recognize that color! Saw the same when cutting what appeared to be clear acrylic:
This particular material was pulled from a ‘too-cheap-to-ask-questions’ bin at a local plastic purveyor. Totally looked and felt like acrylic, but apparently there was something else going on.
Perhaps the plastic we’re cutting/engraving isn’t actually acrylic… polycarbonate?
That would be my guess as well from the color.
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