Abstract: A device for removing soil particles from the plate cylinder of an offset printing machine extends over the entire length of the plate cylinder and engages the plate cylinder in the region between the ink transfer to the rubber cylinder and the dampening for cleaning the plate cylinder in a manner which is safe for the operator, is rapid, and is fully efficacious, while generating minimal rejects, and comprises a plurality of pneumatic cylinders disposed distributed over the entire length of the plate cylinder, having piston plungers which are non-rotatable and bear corresponding elastic wiping implements on their free ends. Adjacent wiping elements have a reversed orientation with respect to each other and laterally overlap, and the excursion length of each piston plunger is slightly greater than the distance between the forward edge of the wiping implement in the retracted position and the surface of the plate cylinder.