The installation of Baldwin Jetstream 1000 systems at French newspaper printer La Voix du Nord has revolutionised web cleaning on the company's two MAN Colorman 35s and 80-page tabloid format KBA Express presses. The three presses produce around 3.3 million newspapers every week, the largest title being La Voix du Nord - the daily average of 390,000 copies makes it France's third biggest regional newspaper. Other newspapers printed at the Lille site include Nord Eclair, Nord Littoral and La Voix des Sports. "The investment in the Jetstream technology was primarily intended to make washing blankets by hand superfluous," says production director Philippe Ceugniet. "In the past, a six-strong team of cleaners was kept busy every single morning. Despite the high costs this entailed, intermediate cleaning was still required during the long hours of production on a Saturday. However, since introducing Jetstream we have been able to largely dispense with manual washing." Jetstream overcomes the single most important cause of dirty blankets in newspaper printing - paper fibres and dust that build up with ink on the blankets. Baldwin has installed 15 Jetstream units at La Voix du Nord, each with a working width of 1,620 mm. Jetstream is a revolutionary approach to improving print quality, productivity and profitability on a web offset press, whether for commercial or newspaper applications. The special aerodynamic nozzle, positioned close to the web surface, works via a combination of vacuum in the cleaning module and a high velocity air flow, which moves along the web surface and into the cleaning module. The airflow breaks the boundary layer on the paper and forces the particles that were trapped in this layer into the cleaning module. Removal of dust and other debris is aided by an ionizing bar, which eliminates static electricity. The compact system requires little space, maintenance is minimal and one module will clean both sides of the paper web just prior to it entering the first set of printing cylinders. "We liked the simple operating principle, freedom from maintenance and low energy consumption of the Jetstream system," says Mr. Ceugniet. "In addition, the only consumables required are the central filter elements that have to be replaced from time to time." The efficient removal of web dust also reduces dust deposits on press components, as well as the build up of paper fibers and dust on ink rollers, thereby increasing the variety of newsprint the company can use. Philippe Ceugniet expects that it will now be easier to print on newsprint he has so far avoided because of its tendency to dust. "As well as the reduced costs of personnel, we expect to save around 20,000 litres of wash chemistry per year, not to mention the enormous quantity of cleaning cloths. Jetstream also eliminates disposal costs of cloths and is kinder to the environment," he says.