Parts Washer Solvent suggestions

[stevieb49829]

I need 20 gallons to fill a parts washer. I know there are a bunch of different solvents I could use. What do you use, and why? Typical steel parts to be washed of grease and grime, particularly engine parts. steve

 

[J Hamilton]

We have mineral spirits in ours

 

[Lyndon - AB]

It's not cheap, but I'm partial to Walter Bio-Circle L or Bio-Circle Ultra. It's effective, and isn't hard on the hands. Also, no fumes, just a slightly citrusy smell. I think, if I remember correctly, it also eats oil residue and turns it into a floating film that can be skimmed off, so you don't need to replace it very often. I haven't run it long enough to reach that point yet.

 

[redtom]

I always used mineral spirits. I have an oil distributor near me that will let me bring a drum and sell me bulk.

 

[Stephen Newell]

Do you have the owners manual for the washer? Not knowing if the washer has an explosion proof motor it's difficult to say if flammable solvents can be used. If the washer is made for flammable solvents you can't do much better than gasoline however you would need to do it outside away from structures and wear chemical gloves. Naphtha and Mineral Spirits are also pretty good. You can also use water based cleaners but they take more time to use.

 

[caterpillar guy]

IF you can find it Sttard solvant works well and will work well with fuel oil or gas mixed as you use it.

 

[JD Dave]

Mineral spirits solvent is pretty safe to use, reasonably priced and washes well. Some of the more agressive cleaning agents get nasty to use and recycle.

 

[Michael Soldan]

I use half diesel fuel and half mineral spirits. Plain mineral spirits is too hard on your hands.

 

[T.R.K.]

If you use some 'environmentally friendly' fluid, be sure to read all the fine print! The other mechanic made us change from Mineral Spirits to some water based stuff. About three weeks later, I opened the washer to find the aluminum basket that had been in there forever-At least the 15 years I have been around it-was just about eaten competely up. It even ate the tin off the parts washer brushes! Just the handle and bristles were floating in there.
It also doesn't seem to remove oil from surfaces.

 

[jimg.allentown]

I find that mineral spirits does the best and safest job on grease. I have been using it for a long time.
I recomment against naptha. Naptha is also known as white gas or coleman fuel. Highly flammable. Same with any form of gasoline.
Low odor mineral spirits also leave the least fumes and the least toxic fumes of all of the solvents I know of. You might want to look into Safety-Kleen. They will rent you a parts cleaner and service it at intervals of your choosing. They just wheel in a new drum of solvent and put the parts washer on top of it. When they service it, they bring in a new barrel of solvent and switch the washer and pump onto the new barrel and take the old one away. When I worked in dealerships, that was what we used in the shop. I suspect that their solvent was also mineral spirits.

 

[Ted in NE-OH]

Be sure to wear chmical gloves as most petroleum fluids can cause cancer. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[Old560]

I get what ever tractor supply sells. Works just fine. Washer sits out side and has a lid but solvent seems to evaporates after a couple years.

 

[cjunrau]

My old boss used coconut oil. Work good enough for me.

 

[rustred]

varsol. you cant wash dirty oily parts in oil. using diesel is very hard on your skin and is a poor cleaner. gasoline works pretty good. but is dangerous.

 

[teddy52food]

When I worked on automatics I had a barrel with ATF in it. I would soak the case in it while I resealed the rest of it. It was best overnight. Most of the outside crud would soften up & could be brushed off easily or use the pressure washer on it. I used #1 fuel oil in the parts washer.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I cheat I let the cleaner set for an extended period like a few months and pour off the top with out the dirt and crude then let the rest set for a few days to let the crude settle and pour it off to a nother container then scrape the sediment out and put in furnace with the wood not more than a cup full of dirt and no disposal cost. seems to work well and the waste is burned with little to no quantity to dispose of. I am using solvent from probably 20 years ago it has accumulated some fuel and gas i'm sure in it over that time. Works well for me and I just use a 5 gallon pail for it with a few inches in the bottom. IF I need more for bigger jobs I get it out. Like I say just let it settle out. I scrape about a half inch or so out of the bottom of the pail when I do it every year.

 

[NDIHC]

We always used Stoddard solvent or Stanisol. Worked great but was a little hard on the skin if you were in it a lot.

 

[Tim PloughNman Daley RIP]

The guys nailed it; plain old Mineral Spirits is an excellent solvent, cleaner, degreaser. I've used it 50 years now. For really rusty parts, electrolysis works wonders to remove oxidation down to to bare metal without destroying the patina. Plain white vinegar will also clean down to bare metal but you have to soak the tool/part for weeks, the longer the better, to see results. Some use a 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone too. There use to be a company that sold mineral spirits in 55 gallon barrels under the name SAFE-T-CLEAN. When I worked at Valenite Modco Tools, we had a cleaning room with a drum and flush pan for washing parts. Since those days I've always bought Mineral Spirits in 5 gallon pails for my own shop. It has many uses. By the way, MS is the same stuff they put in Charcoal Lighter Fluid and Paint Thinner, and is also the main ingredient up to 98%, used in all snake oil products sold as wonder cleaners. Examples are STABIL, MMO, Sea Foam, Star Tron, Techtron, and every fuel additive product sold. Don't believe it? Do your own homework then. For every product sold in the US you can seek out the MSDS (Material a Safety Data Sheet) label for it and it'll list all the ingredients and safety issues related like flammability and handling. Now, Mineral Spirits is a great thinner and is a petroleum based product so it will not harm any internal engine or hydraulic systems. That's why these products use it. Many guys swear by it in their engines though none have ever given actual data and facts to back it up, only give their opinions. Oh, I put STABIL in all my tractors at the end of the season for winter, is a common testimony, based on opinion. Now, I didn't say those products DON't WORK. Thinner out the fuel can help system remove certain junk, but whether it helps your engine run better has never been proven to me so don't write me letters. I was in Manufacturing Engineering with the BIg 3 for over 35 years and this research was just one of my many duties. If you don't need 5 gallons, only just need a small job cleaning parts, a can of charcoal lighter fluid will run about $5 and if a little bigger job, a 1 gallon can of paint thinner will run $10-$15 now. I keep a plastic spray bottle of it so when I work on carbs, governors, distributors, and such I can spray down the outside of the unit and blow off with air before pulling unit off. Save a lot of grief handling dirty greasy parts at removal.


Tim Daley (MI)

 

[stevieb49829]

Thanks, Tim. I did a bunch of digging on the brand names that were suggested here, and you are right - almost all are just a variation of mineral spirits. Sounds like the way to go. Now the search is on for the best value, since I need at least 10 gallons for the way this parts washer pump is set up off the bottom of the tub. I may lower the pump a bit to use less solvent, because its unlikely I'll be getting it very dirty very quickly. I mostly hand clean parts with a small squirt bottle of Naphtha and a brush, before the final cleaning anyway. Thanks to all who have helped with this discussion. Steve

 

[Hemmjo]

I use kerosene or mineral spirits. I have an old fuel funnel with the brass screen I use to filter and reuse it. Let it set to settle the particles, then pour it through the funnel. I also have some coffee filters I use when I want to get it really clean. I use the old stuff to clean really nasty parts then some fresh to rinse them if necessary.

Rubber gloves are good also!!!!