I don’t use Proofgrade for every project, I tend to save it for the special gifts and those that I need a finished and polished look. My main wood supply is non-proofgrade 3mm (1/8″) Baltic Birch Plywood from a local supplier or from Woodpeckers on Amazon, 3mm (1/8″) Basswood from Amazon, and 4mm (5/32″) Columbia Forest Products Maple Plywood from Home Depot. I like to add color to my projects, whether that be wood stain, acrylic paint, or colored with alcohol ink markers, therefore I need wood that’s unfinished and can accept the color into the wood grain. I love a beautiful grain!

Using unfinished wood in any model of a Glowforge, means you have to decide, mask or don’t mask.

I don’t mask my wood and instead opt to clean the char, or laser residue off after the cut / engrave is done. Masking, or covering the wood with wide pieces of masking tape on one or both sides, is essentially what Glowforge does on their Proofgrade material. It’s very effective at preventing the char, or laser residue from sticking to your wood, but masking can add up as an expense when you’re literally ‘burning’ through it.

I also never sand… It’s messy and time consuming, I need a quick and easy approach that will get the majority of the burn marks off.

Now I’ve been a Glowforge owner of one machine or another for 6 years. I’ve tried and heard about lots of different diy remedies for cleaning the laser char off the glowforge cut wood. I’ve gone ahead and done a head to head battle between the most common diy laser residue cleaning remedies. If you have a reliable char remover that I haven’t listed, please let me know in the comments and I’ll test it next!

DIY Remedies to Clean Off Laser Residue

White Vinegar 1 gal.

White Vinegar

Results: White Vinegar cleaned the char off completely without any ghosting leftover. Did smell a bit. Allow to dry in a vented area. Also cleaned the burnt sides the best.

WINNER !!!

White Vinegar Clean results
Simple Green Cleaner

Simple Green

Results: Simple Green removed most but not all residue, left ghosting. Allow to dry in a vented area.

Simple Green Clean results
glass of water

Tap Water

Results: Surprisingly, water alone removed most of the residue, but there was minimal amount of discoloration. However, water opens up the grain and leaves it susceptible to warping. Use sparingly and let dry thoroughly.

Water Clean results
70% Isopropyl Alcohol

70-90% Isopropyl Alcohol

Results: Alcohol & Alcohol wipes removed most but not all of the residue, left ghosting. We used to do this exclusively. Currently second to White Vinegar.

Runner Up!

Alcohol Clean results
mr clean magic eraser sponge

Mr Clean Eraser

Results: Surprisingly, Cleaned most of the char off. Annoyingly left a lot of white little pill pieces of eraser material to clean up. Also expensive for how much cleaner you get.

Mr Clean Eraser Clean results
LA Awesome Cleaner 1 gal.

LA Awesome

Results: coming soon!

Winners for Best Removal of Laser Residue

Glowforge Help

I’m Sarah!

Creator & Maker of all the fun projects!

I’m an ‘LOCD’ Laser Obsessed Craft Designer. My mission is to show you how fun & profitable owning a laser can be!

That beam of light changed my life! My products are carried in 300+ Stores, I sell at local craft shows, and more.

save this pin for later
How to Clean Up Unmasked Glowforge Wood Burn Marks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *