OK, you're gonna need some things:
A heat gun, A wire brush, Bandaids, A stiff drink
this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2025
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I heated up the nozzle separately in some boiling water and scraped off almost all of it. Then I put it back into the hot end and heated it up to 200 C, took it back out and q-tipped off a lot of the rest. There's still some but I'm running a print right now and it's working fine.
A SWAT team ready to mobilize, street level maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, 12 Jammy Dodgers and a fez.
Mr. President, that man walked in here with a big blue box, and three of his friends. And, that's the man he walked past. One of them is worth listening to.
Does he look tired?
It's the second random post in which I find you randomly throwing Doctor Who quotes. They're so on point every time, love that :D
Think up every swear word you know, because you're gonna need them all.
If the head is all metal, soak it in acetone
Blow on it really hard.
A wire brush. Handheld, not attached to an electric grinder or something like that.
Cheap wire brushes should be available in most hardware stores. I know that ours carries them in the paint section.
Remove the nozzle and hold it with pliers or something.
Lick the frosting off...
Mmm... Microplastics
Use a knife and carefully scrape off what you can while cold. Heat to printing temp and wipe off what you can. Cool down and clean with acetone if need be. Edit: do this only with metal pieces. Disassemble head if need be.
Nuke it from orbit.
It's the only way to be sure.
What type of filament is that?
Maybe try a heatgun to soften it. I'm not sure, might damage the plastic casing.
PLA
PLA basically doesn't dissolve in any (readily available consumer-grade) solvents. Your best bet is going to be to take the entire unit as far apart as you can until it is metal only components, heat it with a heatgun to make the PLA soft/melt, and brush it all off with a brass cleaning brush.
Hrrmm. Does it still print? Personally I'd go with hope it kind of burns off over time with normal use. Others may disagree...
I have heated it up just until plastic becomes malleable and used a damp cloth. I have also used a soft wire tooth brush to remove
Microwave
Metal piece with many pointy pieces and neodymium magnets in a microwave? The sparks will damage the item and the oven. And won't melt the plastic
I just bought a new heating element when that happened to me.
I might go back with some acetone now after reading others' comments.
Not for PLA