How do you Keep your tools clean

[nissan_crawler]

I noticed that most use WD40 or brake cleaner or some other organic solvent that gets readily absorbed through the skin with ill health effects that I would rather not care to experience. How about simple green or a citrus degreaser? I understand that these products might not cut it for heavy grease and grime. I feel that the nasty stuff should be used sparingly and with latex or vinyl or whatever gloves.

I pretty much wear gloves whenever I'm dealing with that stuff. Ask the old mechanics who used to clean up with MEK and Toluol about wearing gloves. Oh wait, they all died of liver cancer, never mind. I probably burn through a 200 count box of gloves every 3 weeks at work, and I only work 4-6 days a week.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

That's fine as long as you're willing to rinse it off with water. Those cleaners are very corrosive. Simple Green will remove the black oxide finish right off the tool if it's in contact too long; don't ask me how I know that.

Handy to know, for some sockets i want to remove the industrial finish off.

 

[jimvannoy]

I wipe em down with a rag as I use them. If they are really dirty I'll squirt some carb cleaner on them and then wipe them down. I try to keep my tools very clean because I use them to reassemble freshly painted and/or new parts on custom cars and restorations

 

[stricht8]

That's good to know. I guess I'll stay away from simple green.

That's fine as long as you're willing to rinse it off with water. Those cleaners are very corrosive. Simple Green will remove the black oxide finish right off the tool if it's in contact too long; don't ask me how I know that.

 

[foul_ball]

If it's chrome, usually a dry paper towel to get the oil and grease off. For black oxide and other non-plated metals, I like to wipe 'em down with some air tool oil on a rag or spray them with my PB Blaster Corrosion Stop.

 

[idubvdub]

I can't thank you enough stricht8, as although I knew brake cleaner wasn't friendly to the body I didn't know wd-40 was close to, if not just as bad. Didn't know/remember that brake cleaner and (esp. wd-40)was absorbed though the skin.
Merkava: thanks for the tips on using simple green effectively w/o messing up your tools in the long run (soap and water after use)
This info has def. caught my attention to searching out alternative methods to my usual routine. If anyone has any other idea's I think it would benefit us all if you shared them, no matter how stupid they may seem.

 

[ZRX61]

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but Simple Green is banned in a lot of aviation shops because it's so corrosive..

 

[idubvdub]

Not in this thread anyway. Thanks for mentioning it as, at least I didn't
know that.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but Simple Green is banned in a lot of aviation shops because it's so corrosive..

There is now a version of simple green that is safe to use on aluminum and other aircraft parts, I think it is called Extreme Simple Green.

I just wipe my tools with a shop rag. At work, we use alcohol for many cleaning chores, and if my tools get too cruddy or have Skydrol on them, I will spray them with alcohol and wipe them off.

Charles

 

[eschoendorff]

To clean my tools, I just wipe them down with an oily towel and then wipe them again with a clean towel. Works real well (even on my soft grip tools) and my tools aren't corroded (except some impact stuff, but that's soaking in some ATF right now).

 

[jhn9840]

Wipe them down with a shop rag. Spray them down with wd-40 when necessary.

Over 50 years ago, a fellow that was my age now, said to me, that you can tell the quality of a shop and the mechanics by the way they keep the floor clean, and the tools clean and put away in there proper place. He also said that a good mechanics tools could be wiped across a white cotton shirt, and not leave a mark. I have always remembered that, and even though my shop floor is not cuttered with debris from a car that I am working on, and the tools are oily and dirty, when I am finished with the job, I will clean all the tools, put them all back into the boxes, and then sweep the floor. My garage is filled with lots of clutter, in an organized way. I know where everything is, and that is what is important. What I really need is a bigger shop, and less in it......

The guy who taught me more about mechanics and welding than anyone else as a young man had the same theory about a clean shop and tools. In all the years I was associated with him I can never remember any one being seriously injured working in his shop.

jhn9840
John

 

[eschoendorff]

Wipe them down with a shop rag. Spray them down with wd-40 when necessary.




The guy who taught me more about mechanics and welding than anyone else as a young man had the same theory about a clean shop and tools. In all the years I was associated with him I can never remember any one being seriously injured working in his shop.

jhn9840
John

Whenever I worked on a project with my dad, he always insisted that we clean up as we go along... keeps things from being cluttered, keeps people from tripping and helped us to stay focused.

 

[ZRX61]

I just wipe mine clean with a cloth, no need to oil them as I live in the desert where it is drier than a popcorn fart so nothing rusts