Soaking greasey parts

[alantani]

another no vote on the gasoline.....   

[Shark Hunter]

Never considered gas. It stinks too bad and very dangerous to use.
I have used simple green and it works very well.
I have an Ultrasonic Cleaner, but still haven't used it.
My limited time usually ends up with a can of brake cleaner and a tooth brush in the driveway.
Quick, effective and evaporates quickly.

[Midway Tommy]

I would never use gasoline for anything other than running a combustion engine!

I bypass most of the of the advertised cleaners and mainly use lacquer thinner in an enclosed glass jar to clean unpainted metal parts. I'll occasionally use acetone or xylene, too, though, and I do all of them in the house (finished basement). I use them carefully and have no concerns whatsoever. I figure if I want my parts completely clean I might as well use the best degreaser out there, and that's what all three are, degreasers. I go with Original White Goop to degrease painted and plastic surfaces because there is absolutely zero chance it will harm either finish, and with a little tooth brushing it cleans great! After the Gooped parts are clean I wash them in a warm water & Dawn and then thoroughly dry them.   

[Bill B]

Mineral spirits and Purple Zep are my go to's for degreasers.....Bill

[Bryan Young]

WD-40 for greasy Parts. Most parts are then soaked in Dawn Ultimate dish washing liquid and hot water (1:5)  mixture and places in the ultrasonic cleaner.

[Noviceman]

Thanks Bryan and all who replied....Appreciate all the help....and advise...


Jim from WI

[thorhammer]

Jim, you have good advise here; lighter fluid also works for bearings. My main add is be VERY vigilant if you drop aluminum parts in Simple Green...depending on the finish it may discolor it....I ended up with a purplish Daiwa Sealine that went in gray. Taking the advice of the forum, I now use 50/50 Simple Green overnight for grease, white vinegar is great on corrosion as noted above. final wipedown with Penn Cleaner when assembled, but WD or whatever is good at that point.


John

[gstours]

  My experiences with an aerosol automotive carb cleaner has been good/excellent.  The little straw and pressure sorta blasts out crud and dried stuff after softening a while with a quick hose down.  Dries very fast and seem to be leaving the parts squeeky clean.
   As always protect your eyes and fingers as these chemicals can hurt you.   There are many ways to clean parts,  use what you got and dont replace what does ent work for you.   As mentioned wd-40 is a pretty good spray solvent and not hard to find.  Acetone is preferred by me over Lacquer thinner......   Gasoline might be all you got.   Use with caution outdoors,  then evaporate it on news paper and towels till gone. 
    Years ago I had a supervisor that claimed (with no proof ever) that gasoline would cause bearing failure to trucks and automobiles!
         Never ever heard that down on the farm?    Or ever since.?

[Three se7ens]

I used to use AvGas (blue 100LL) for degreasing bearings when working on aircraft.  But Id never use regular gasoline for any cleaning. 

I use WD40 for things that can be wiped, and for things that get soaked, I use a mixture of kerosene and Gunk SC degreaser. 

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/gunkproducts.php

Its the most effective thing I have found at cutting grease.  Stinks like hell, and lot even legal in over a dozen states.  Dont even think about it without wearing gloves, and a respirator isnt a bad idea either. 

A general warning on lacquer thinner and acetone.  Most rubber seals will be susceptible to damage from at least one of these two.  Even exotic grades like Viton are not compatible with either acetone or lacquer thinner.  EPDM is compatible with both, but it is not common unless specified for a particular chemical or UV resistance. 

[Dominick]

As a teenager just getting into old cars I used to use gasoline to clean bearings.  Most everyone I know used gasoline to degrease bearing and other auto parts.  They even had brushes that were impervious to gasoline to use to brush the parts.  It should have been the first hint to not put your hands in a bucket of gasoline if they made a brush that was impervious to gasoline.  Needless to say we would use gasoline to clean off our hands and arms of dirt and grease after using it for cleaning parts.  One of the gasoline stations (I think Mobil) used to sell white gas which is what we used.  I am still alive and do not believe that what I did had any effect of my health although I would not do it again and I would caution anyone I saw doing that.  Oh! and I also rode a bike and motorcycle without a helmet.  Dominick

[handi2]

I used the Gunk too for a few years. Diluted with mineral spirits. That mix scares the grease off parts. I use a SS colander inside a parts cleaner. Just swirl the parts around with that mix and they are clean.

The only reason im not using right now is because I'm out of it.

[Tiddlerbasher]

Dominick - reading your mini epitome just so reminded me of my youth - didn't know my memory was that good

[Noviceman]

Dominick...bet you drank water from a hose also......lol...

[bluefish69]

Dominick

I did everything you did & still do some. HF still has the brushes to clean parts with gas - I have 2 new ones. Sunoco sold the White Gas  - we used it in the Coleman Lanterns.

NO Motor Cycles   only Pedal Bikes

Mike 

[Rancanfish]

And we didn't have motorcycle licenses either!  I do now, but I didn't then.