Re: Restorers, hobbyists, what are you using in your parts cleaner and...

Posted by Fish'n Jim On 2014/7/1 20:40:23

Always best to scrap off excess before trying to clean, you'll use less cleaner. I keep "big" cardboard sheets in the garage and use as catch mats. You can pick it up and use like a funnel to the trash. Just throw out when they dirty.
If you mixed with water, you will indeed suspend the oil with any detergent. That's a detergent's job. You can "fill up" the detergent and it won't hold any more. It's hard to tell before it's too late. The oil likes the brush more (oleophilic) than the water so it can "pull" the oil out of the detergent water. They actually use that to regenerate some systems.
For home water based grease cleaning I also like "DAWN" dish detergent. You can use it straight and it will take oil stains off concrete. Wear rubber gloves, it deoils the skin too.
Purple or Super Clean are pretty much the same. Spray the uncut cleaner on first, work it, then rinse it. Repeat, if needed. They supply with a refill spray bottle.
The 2 butoxy compounds are typically conjugated ethers and are good solvents/water soluble with not much vapor pressure. There's a whole class of these compounds. They're fairly easy/cheap to make.
They sell commercial washer cleaners in bulk.
Some shops use hexane under trade names for degrease/brake cleaner but it's highly flammable and don't recommend except in the spray cans. Kerosene will work for heavy aged grease deposits. Paint with a stiff brush and rag off. Wear respirator and adequate ventilation - best outside. Depose of the rags properly. Follow up with a water based cleaner.
The halogen cleaners are the best, most expensive, and worst to handle and dispose. That's what they use in large vapor degreasers/tanks. They don't leave residues.