I've heard mixed opinions about using Pinesol to clean gunky parts. Has anyone here used it successfully? Unsuccessfully? Just curious since I brought some parts inside to work on since the garage is 10 degrees F lately. (So no kerosene)

-Erika

We sometimes use "Dawn" dish washing liquid as a degreaser..(diluted with water). 

(ever see the TV commercial where they are using Dawn to de-grease the little duck that got stuck in the oil spill?)


I guess Pinesol is similar.  Smells nice if you like pine...but reminds me of the restrooms at school...

I've heard...  avoid "simple green" as it can be corrosive to aluminum............

Cookie

Quote from: Erika on January 26, 2014, 08:22:45 PM
I've heard mixed opinions about using Pinesol to clean gunky parts. Has anyone here used it successfully? Unsuccessfully? Just curious since I brought some parts inside to work on since the garage is 10 degrees F lately. (So no kerosene)

-Erika

I soaked my gunked up and corroded carb bodies in Pinesol overnight. Gave them a quick wash with Dawn and then rinsed thoroughly with water. Then blew out all the passages with compressed air. The carb bodies came out looking like new!

+1 for the Pinesol treatment!

I buy drums of lacquer thinner for my paint guns and use it also in my parts washer to clean parts. Runs me about $40 for a 5 gal drum. Not as cheap as pinesol but then again I can't use that to clean $600 paint guns either. 

Now with even more pine scent? Yeah, I just made that same trip to Home Depot...

I cut it with warm water and used it to clean the chain. It seemed to work OK to me, and had the whole sidewalk smelling so fresh/so clean.

(bracing for improper chain cleaner shaming)

I always use dawn, usually I cover parts with it, let it sit for a while depending on how bad it is and than let it sit in water and scrub. I cant justify a parts cleaner so a used dish pan or 5 gal bucket, stolen sos pads from the kitchen, stolen scotch brite pads.

Simple green is great for plastics and steel but you have to wash it off quickly.

Isn't Lacquer thinner flammable??

Probably not so good for a parts washer?

Certainly wouldn't want to use indoors (in  a house in winter) due to strong odor and chance of fire.

Although Kerosene is also flammable, is it low volatility and better as a parts cleaner.   IO think most parts washers are supposed to use some "natural, non flammable cleaners"

I can remember, as a kid, working in a bike shop (bicycle)...the owner of the shop was washing down an old bike with a tub of gasoline and rags.

A customer came in and saw this, and said to the owner, "You really should not be doing that".. The owner replied, "hey buddy shut up, you don't know anything about the bike business."

The customer said, "Well maybe that is true, but I do know about the "fire business"...and handed the owner his card which read...."town fire inspector"...oops!


Cookie

Quote from: weedahoe on January 26, 2014, 10:09:02 PM
I buy drums of lacquer thinner for my paint guns and use it also in my parts washer to clean parts. Runs me about $40 for a 5 gal drum. Not as cheap as pinesol but then again I can't use that to clean $600 paint guns either.

Yeah, lacquer and gas are both known carcinogens.

Your better off using a little elbow grease and dawn, my wife is super sensitive to any thing with fumes so I'm always keeping an eye on any thing that can hurt her.

I have used Simple Green with great success. Works great to de-grease my hands after wrenching too. 

Quote from: twocool on January 27, 2014, 06:03:42 AM
"hey buddy shut up, you don't know anything about the bike business."

The customer said, "Well maybe that is true, but I do know about the "fire business"...and handed the owner his card which read...."town fire inspector"...oops!

 

Just be careful on aluminum parts...from Simple Green web site...




Aluminum - Is it safe to use Simple Green® on aluminum?
When used with caution and according to the instructions, Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner has been safely and successfully used to clean aluminum. Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, Crystal Simple Green® Cleaner/Degreaser, Simple Green Pressure Washer Concentrates, and Pro Series™ Simple Green® Automotive Cleaner have been used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times for unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green® product residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation.

Quote from: 89500inPA on January 27, 2014, 10:25:16 AM
I have used Simple Green with great success. Works great to de-grease my hands after wrenching too.

There are many cleaning solutions you can use in parts washers but lacquer thinner is the best. I used to use mineral spirits but it did not work as good

Lacquer thinner...

Effective?  probably

Safe?     Unsafe in so many ways!  (Fire, explosion, brain damage, cancer, etc)

Cookie

Quote from: weedahoe on January 27, 2014, 09:41:14 PM
There are many cleaning solutions you can use in parts washers but lacquer thinner is the best. I used to use mineral spirits but it did not work as good