Abraham Bosse described the various cleaning methods used in his time. In order to clean a plate after use it was heated slightly and then a bit of oil was poured on the surface and the plate was rubbed with a clean piece of cloth. If the ink resisted an oil cleaning the next step was to boil the plate in water mixed with ashes and soda. The plate was then well rinsed and dried by heating since a wiping could have picked up a particle of ash in the water which would scratch the plate. Printing type is cleaned with a brush and a solution of soda and potash followed up with a generous rinsing.
Display faces, on the other hand, are cleaned with benzine.
The rollers are first scraped with a knife to remove most of the ink resting on their surface. The next step is to clean with petroleum making sure not to flood the roller. See blanket . They may be cleaned by putting them into powdered resin and then into a solution of soda lye diluted in four times its volume of water. The wet sponge can then be rubbed on a clean wooden board until all traces of ink have disappeared.