Lancaster County (Pa.) Weeklies is getting more productivity from its singlewide press after it commissioned a new cleaning system from Baldwin Technology Co. Inc.

The publisher added a Tower Clean automatic blanket cleaning system to its Manugraph DGM Inc. 440 press in January, according to Wayne Fauzer, press manager. LCW is the first U.S. publisher to install the system, which Baldwin introduced to North and South America last year.

Fauzer said Tower Clean eliminated the need for crews to manually wash blankets, reducing the operation from three hours each day to fewer than five minutes.

The system consists of a solvent applicator, brush units and a pumping station. The applicator applies a low VOC solvent to the web, which is then brought in contact with the blanket. As the web reaches the blankets, on impression, ink is removed and carried away by the paper, Baldwin said.

The brush then removes lint and any remaining ink. The equipment, Fauzer said, requires about one gallon of solvent to clean all five towers of LCW’s press. It can be used on both singlewide and doublewide presses.

LCW prints the Ephrata Review, the Lititz Record Express and a number of other specialty publications, including the Lancaster Farming Weekly, a 280-page publication with a print run of around 70,000.