Parts washer solvent

[csmutty]

What do you guys with parts washers use as a cleaner/solvent? Simple green has been recommended so far. This will be used to clean motorcycle parts (obviously).

[eboos]

We used to use Safety Kleen in the military. It was harsh on the skin as it would extract the oils and dry out. Whatever you use, wear some good gloves.

[Ray-Ray]

Simple green is awesome on heavily greased parts or calipers. Safety Kleen is awesome as well. We used that in the military and still use it today. But over all I think I like simple green the best. It really depends on what you wanna clean

[BluGixxer]

Depends on what your cleaning, greasy chain and sprockets I would try to get safety kLean, if you can't get that, not really recommended but diesel fuel works great , or paint thinner (flammable) but after a week our so and some greasy parts paint thinner settles down a bit and has a little less fumes. That is what I have in my parts cleaner, its about 5 yrs old now . Do not use gas (very bad) (boom)
Walmart has "purple stuff " by the gallon and 5 gallon jugs, wear gloves and protect all open sores and cuts it has some sort of acid in it , gloves and protection highly recommended , works great, and is biodegradable like simple green but more potent/harsh, and a little more cost effective,about $20.00 for 5 gal can be watered down.

[csmutty]

Depends on what your cleaning, greasy chain and sprockets I would try to get safety kLean, if you can't get that, not really recommended but diesel fuel works great , or paint thinner (flammable) but after a week our so and some greasy parts paint thinner settles down a bit and has a little less fumes. That is what I have in my parts cleaner, its about 5 yrs old now . Do not use gas (very bad) (boom)
Walmart has "purple stuff " by the gallon and 5 gallon jugs, wear gloves and protect all open sores and cuts it has some sort of acid in it , gloves and protection highly recommended , works great, and is biodegradable like simple green but more potent/harsh, and a little more cost effective,about $20.00 for 5 gal can be watered down.

That purple stuff sounds perfect. Now I assume that I would rinse the parts in water after using the cleaner to prevent the acid in the cleaner from eating away at the parts?

[BluGixxer]

Yes, rinse and repeat rinse, always test on a spot before washing whole part, it will damage paint if left on, it is very strong stuff.
Do not drink.it its not a bahama mama

[Tricky Mike]

I've tried most over the counter (walmart, autozone , etc) ended up going with mineral spirits. Been pretty happy thus far.

[lrrs182]

Simple Green, Purple Power and the other water based cleaners are fairly equal, all use the same ingredients, different coloring DO NOT use on polished aluminum!!!!!!! will instantly make it white
If you want a low budget solvent and can keep it covered and out of confined areas with open flame ( your basement) Kerosene is great. It is really clean diesel fuel. Diesel fuel leaves an oily residue. Kero is "drier" and doesn't leave the oily residue. When you are done with it, run it thru a paint screen and into your fuel oil tank. Any oil in the kero from the cleaned parts actually raises the cetane of your fuel oil. BTW, do you know the difference between diesel fuel and home heating oil? Taxes and red dye to make it harder to get away with putting #2 home heating oil in your truck.
Keep a plywood cover over your parts washer. A cheap plastic laundry sink from Home Despot. is a great parts washer

[csmutty]

Simple Green, Purple Power and the other water based cleaners are fairly equal, all use the same ingredients, different coloring DO NOT use on polished aluminum!!!!!!! will instantly make it white
If you want a low budget solvent and can keep it covered and out of confined areas with open flame ( your basement) Kerosene is great. It is really clean diesel fuel. Diesel fuel leaves an oily residue. Kero is "drier" and doesn't leave the oily residue. When you are done with it, run it thru a paint screen and into your fuel oil tank. Any oil in the kero from the cleaned parts actually raises the cetane of your fuel oil. BTW, do you know the difference between diesel fuel and home heating oil? Taxes and red dye to make it harder to get away with putting #2 home heating oil in your truck.
Keep a plywood cover over your parts washer. A cheap plastic laundry sink from Home Despot. is a great parts washer

Cool thanks. Looks like I will try purple power and mineral spirits.