Cleaning Old Toolbox question

[leg17]

I have a couple of older items that I would like to clean but preserve the original paint and decals.

I do not want to strip and repaint. (kind of ruins things)

Any suggestions for degreasing and cleaning a crusty toolbox of old grease and oil while retaining the original paint and decals?

I apologize if this has been covered somewhere else.
Thanks
Tom

 

[DFB]

A WD-40 spray and/or water diluted simple green are the two things I most often use to clean up greasy oily tools and equipment with.

WD-40 in it own right can be a pretty decent glue/adhesive remover though I personally have never actually seen it harm paint but full strength Simple Green can and will lift paint if left unattended to long. Just use caution and common sense.


I'll be interested in hearing more bout some of the other options .


Off topic but tell ya Ruglyde tire lube works excellent on cleaning and restoring anything rubber.

On my motorcycles I simply use either S100 wash or Bike Bright to clean everything on them

 

[thin_concrete]

Simple Green works wonders for me. There are other citrus based cleaners as well that I’ve heard work well too.

 

[thin_concrete]

Oh, DFB is correct - Simple Green will strip paint if used at concentrate. If you use it, cut it at 8 or 10-1 and add more as needed. We use it at 10-1 for bathroom and kitchen chores.

 

[SweetD]

Purple Power cleaner from the Dollar Store works great. Seriously.

 

[Stuart in MN]

It's always best to start out with mild cleaners and only work up to harsher products if necessary. I'd begin with some kitchen dish soap and water and a sponge, and see there that gets you. It's designed to cut grease anyway.

 

[ZRX61]

Treat it like you would if you were trying to bring the finish back on a car. Purple Power will strip or discolor paint, Simple Green is corrosive ****.

 

[Elvisidal]

Liquid Wd-40 in a hand spray bottle and a micro fibre rag

 

[thehorse13]

I have more experience in cleaning old toolboxes than I care to admit. At some point or another, I've used everything mentioned in this thread.

Because you never know the condition or characteristics of the finish each time you take on one of these clean up jobs, the best advice given is to start mild and then progress to more drastic cleaners.

Start with soap, warm water and a plastic bristle brush. Regular Dawn (the blue color) works wonders. You'll be shocked at how much **** will come off with this. Once you're done, then you can determine if you need to move on to stronger products to deal with what remains.

 

[joecon]

You can use car wash soap works well also.

 

[tym]

I've used Prep-All wax and grease remover which is safe on fully cured paints.

 

[Zephyr20]

I use a lot of Simple Green

 

[RiseAbove]

I use KBS Klean when i restore my toolboxes. It doesn't seem to damage the paint, and from what i remember, the older Snap-On boxes were single stage paint, so are pretty easy to damage. Then i put on some Carnauba Wax afterwards with a micro fiber cloth. It seems to do a good job of protecting it and keeping the rust away from bare metal.

 

[BigChunks]

I just bought an old box from early 50’s I believe KR56, pretty good shape but dirty and greasy I’m curious if anyone else used prep all wax and grease removal, I want to keep it with the paint it has, I just want to thoroughly clean it

 

[Stuart in MN]

I just bought an old box from early 50’s I believe KR56, pretty good shape but dirty and greasy I’m curious if anyone else used prep all wax and grease removal, I want to keep it with the paint it has, I just want to thoroughly clean it

As suggested earlier, start out with mild cleaners (dish soap and water, say) and work up from there if you need to.

 

[BajaScout]

As suggested earlier, start out with mild cleaners (dish soap and water, say) and work up from there if you need to.

Dish soap with water gets my vote to try first.

 

[BigChunks]

Thanks, today I vacuumed the inside and did the dish soap and water, I couldn’t get all the grease out. I’ll probably need something stronger. Next I’m gonna take the drawers out and remove the slides and let them sit in evaporust for a day or so.

 

[BigChunks]

Thinking of getting some of the kbs klean on Amazon, I’ll have it in time to clean it next weekend while the slide are soaking then wax on Sunday

 

[old_smokey]

I picked up an old Beach cantilever box today and used brake cleaner on some nasty grease. My rag picked up a bit of red paint colour so that wasn’t a good option. Followed up with Dawn soap and I got 90% of the old junk out. I bet with a longer soak and a nylon brush it’ll be good enough







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[tym]

^ Nice box. Brake cleaner will eat paint for breakfast, so not a good option. I have safely used Prep All on plastics and paint without incident.

 

[rickhigginshtbr]

With brake clean, I only use that on stuff I want to be bare metal before polishing or painting. I've used it all too, even ATF on rust.

 

[old_smokey]

Sounds like I dodged a bullet then! I’m glad the paint stayed in place. I just picked up a faint bit of colour in the rag, sign enough that the cleaner was cutting into the paint


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[thehorse13]

I love brake cleaner when I'm going bare metal on box restorations. It's a cheap and highly effective paint remover.

You skirted disaster for sure. A lesson that didn't cost you this time.

 

[BigChunks]

So the KBS Klean worked great, I cleaned the outside, I ordered the drawer removal tool from snap on so next week I’ll clean the inside and have the slides sitting in evaporust for a couple of hours.

 

[Stadger]

S100. Google it.

 

[Toold_up]

S100 is just foaming glass cleaner in an aerosol can. I had a windshield replaced on my truck once and the installer sprayed some 3M aerosol glass cleaner and it looked and smelled just like S100.

 

[Toold_up]

I like to use dawn dish washing soap and warm water. If that's not working I use mineral spirits. 3 in 1 oil on a rag after it's clean, then PTFE spray on anything that moves.

 

[Stadger]

S100 is just foaming glass cleaner in an aerosol can. I had a windshield replaced on my truck once and the installer sprayed some 3M aerosol glass cleaner and it looked and smelled just like S100.

No, it's not.