Silkscreen pcbs

[Mgt280y]

Good morning, does anyone know the best way to clean up the solder side of a prefab board after soldering always have a bit of flux and looks grubby I pickeded up an aerosol of the napkins pcb cleaner but it makes the pcb sticky don't know if it's the silkscreen disagreeing with it ?

[smallbearelec]

Acetone works. However, take care not to have your soldering iron on nor any open flame in the area with the can open.

[Electron Tornado]

Alcohol also works. See the video at the 4:00 point.

[GGBB]

Acetone works - but it will also leave the board sticky if you don't remove the acetone well enough - I think it eats the silkscreen. I find 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol to be as effective as acetone but with less (not none) tendency to leave the board sticky. Alcohol is a lot friendlier of a chemical so I'm not as concerned if it gets splashed around a bit, plus I can use an old toothbrush to apply it. They key with both is to use just enough to remove residue quickly, and then soak off all the excess right away.

Another thing to try is just a stiff dry brush after the flux residue has completely dried - a lot of it will flake off so there's less to clean up with alcohol.

[LiLFX]

99.9% isopropyl alcohol. While acetone may work it also acts as a solvent to soldermask, silkscreen, ABS, and a bunch of other stuff. I'd avoid putting acetone on a board.

[davent]

If it's a small little ooze of flux around a solder pad or eyelet, solder lug etc.,  i pop it off with a dental pick once it's hardened. Then a stiff little dry brush to remove the dust.

dave