I'm on a quest of sorts looking at non toxic cleaning agents and stumbled across this stuff called BioBrake, a non toxic brake and parts cleaner. I think I'm going to give this stuff a shot as I will be working in my basement more for the foreseeable future and would rather not use something with noxious fumes. It's a little spendy compared to your typical Brakleen, but may be the stuff I need for wrenching in the dungeon for the next 6 months to a year. What do you all say?
http://safesolvents.com/products/biobrake/
Thanks for posting this. I have never used this but Im ordering a can of it now, if it works that will be fantastic.
you can stink up the house or set it on fire without toxins
"extremely flammable" = nasty fumes = not for basement
You DO NOT want to use it in an enclosed Area !
But the stats look good.
http://safesolvents.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/msds-biobrake.pdf
Thanks for the heads up guys. I read the warnings minutes after I posted the thread. I suppose I'll clean bearings in the garage.
It was not clear to me me if this product is intended to be a non-toxic (or less unsafe) brake cleaner, or merely a formulation that auto repair shops could use with less government regulation. You might want to contact the manufacturer and ask that question, and ask for a copy or link to the correct SDS.
Always a good idea to check the SDS.
I did find a SDS for a similar (possibly same) product. The one I found is mostly acetone (75% or more), and also includes proprietary petroleum distillates, which can be anything from mineral oil to something pretty toxic.
Section 8 of the SDS will include exposure controls, but it can be a bit tricky to figure out what to do in some cases, as the amount of protection you need can depend on the amount of exposure. But if it says outdoors or well ventilated, I would chose outdoors.
If I had to choose, I would rather be exposed to a little acetone, than a little MEK or toluene, but a spray can of acetone ( plus a mystery petroleum solvent) is not my idea of a safe indoor product. Might be worth it to step outside to spray the stuff and let the parts degas.
Assuming that this is an acetone based product: In terms of product performance, acetone does work as a degreaser, but it evaporates rapidly. It does not leave a residue. Acetone can be nasty to some plastics (it will outright melt ABS, nylon is pretty resistant). It can damage painted surfaces, but is not supposed to damage properly anodized aluminum (haven't tried it myself). Acetone (especially vapor) is also very flammable, so watch where you point the spray. As a metal part cleaner for reels, I have no idea, but I do use acetone to when I want to quickly degrease metal parts that are not heavily coated, prior to cleaning for powder coating. I also use it to remove oily residue from plastics on my 3D printer bed. Works nice and fast.
Hope this helps,
-J
My main purpose for this stuff was to clean bearings. A friend of mine used to race RC cars and gave me his Bearing Blaster, a tool used to clean bearings with Brakleen. Previously, I just ran them in acetone for a couple of minutes in a small jar in my ultrasonic cleaner and let them air dry.
You could mount a squirrel-cage blower on your bench with a flex dryer hose going out the basement window for a cheap and temporary ventilation system. It is difficult to get comfortable and to concentrate when cooped-up with noxious fumes.
-steve