How often and what do you use to clean your laser?

Written By Crista Pineau

I have a Glowforge Aura and an Xtool M1. The Glowforge is by far easier to clean than the M1. I clean the rails on the Aura every day that I use the laser. It seems to help with it not slipping while it’s cutting. When I got it originally, the ribbon cable in the back of the machine would get caught on the edge at the upper left-hand corner. This would then cause the line cuts to get out of whack. I had to hold up the cable about 30 seconds to lift it up. I eventually started placing something "(my lens wipes box) under it to hold it up when not in use and that seemed to have fixed the issue. I haven’t had to really do anything with that cable now.

What I use to clean my lasers:

  • 91% alcohol

  • Alcohol wipes for the Aura rails or alcohol and paper towel

  • Tub O’ Towels

  • Zeiss lens wipes

  • Cotton Swabs

  • Hard Bristle Crevice Cleaning Brush (for the Aura side rails)

  • Miniature vacuum to clean up the little bits in the tray

  • Handheld brush/dust pan

Items used to clean the laser engraving machines: Zeiss lens wipes, Tub O’ Towels wipes, 91% isopropyl alcohol, crevice brush, cotton swabs and miniature vacuum cleaner

Today I decided to clean the fan on my Aura. I didn’t think it had been that long since I last cleaned it but apparently it’s been a while. That’s a lot of Q-tips.

I don’t have a set schedule for cleaning the Aura but I do think it’s important to keep it clean. You may need to clean it more often if you use materials such as MDF. For the Aura it is not recommended to use MDF but I think that is mostly if you use the Aura filter. If you vent out the window and use an inline fan, you can get away with not cleaning it as often. Every day that I use the laser, I unplug the power and clean the rails. Unplugging the power allows free movement of the laser head. I was using alcohol swabs but it’s cheaper just to use a corner piece of a paper towel, dab some alcohol on it and then wipe down the two rails that the laser head sits on.

Do you have any tips and tricks you would like to share?

Crista Pineau
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