Parts Cleaners in CA?

[Zeke]

Been doing an onsite search and a Google forum search and not seeing much. So, what are my choices for cleaning up all the works in an old South Bend lathe I just bought? The only "solvent" I can buy in CA is gas and that's no fun at all. Many of the parts need to be stripped of any oils before they go in the rust solution, Others just need the 50 YO crud dissolved to the point that I can use water based cleaners. That is unless you know of a killer WB cleaning solution for the gear box and apron ***'y.

I'm getting by with the non moving painted parts using detergents and elbow grease. Brake parts cleaner is too expensive except to wash out passages where new wicks and felts will be installed.

 

[FMB4]

LA's Awesome brand orange (citrus?) de-greaser has worked very well for me on more than a few medium jobs (Caravan and GMC Jimmy V6 head gasket R&Rs). I buy said at the $ Stores by the half gal.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Diesel fuel works.

 

[Zeke]

Yeah, diesel is coming to my shop. At least the flash point is lower. Same price as gas if not more these days. Once dirty hard to dispose of. But so was mineral spirits when we could buy that. Can't even buy freaking alcohol for a camp stove. Gotta use butane canisters. How is that better?

Oh well, I'm not trying to start a political discussion (Hello, Ryan), just find out what will clean up old, old grease and crud. Lots of crud.

 

[ZRX61]

Have the iron parts hot tanked at your local engine shop

 

[Firebrick43]

Lamp oil/deodorized kerosene has a lot less smell than diesel but alas is more expensive. I would imagine that CA allows that?

 

[quickfarms]

I use commercial floor stripper

are you shopping at consumer stores or do you have a commercial account?

 

[nadogail]

Guess you are going to have to try Hot Water and Lye Soap.

 

[Steve from Socal]

Kerosene or do they still sell nail polish remover AKA acetone? Been gone for over 10 years!

Steve

 

[nadogail]

For many jobs i use Goof Off, which i found is a repackaged industrial solvent. Home Depot sold it to me in gallon cans. It's strong stuff, lots of warnings.

 

[mogandave]

I think you can still get Gunk concentrate (Amazon shows it delivers to CA) and mix with the diesel so it's water soluble and rinses off nice.

 

[drmarkr]

Naptha isn't sold there anymore?

 

[alan camby]

Not a solvent but any luck with simple green or purple power? We can get the good solvents here but most don't want to pay the premium to dispose of them properly.

 

[mogandave]

Looks like Lowes sells mineral spirits in CA....

Gunk concentrate in mineral spirits is great.

 

[quickfarms]

Looks like Lowes sells mineral spirits in CA....

Gunk concentrate in mineral spirits is great.

It’s not the real mineral spirits

 

[FredWanaker]

You can still buy stoddard solvent, aka white mineral spirits. Less flammable than gasoline and less smelly than diesel or kerosene.

 

[sreeb]

Tractor Supply sells parts cleaner in 5 gal cans. I think it is naptha. From the website, it still seems to be available at my local SoCal store.

 

[Zeke]

Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't know we had TS in CA even though the closest one is an hour away. I'll ask at NAPA about Stoddard. Yeah, we can buy acetone for 18/gal. Gunk sounds pretty good as I could boil that.

 

[Walkers]

Have the iron parts hot tanked at your local engine shop

A hot tank in California, now That is funny!

 

[Walkers]

Tractor Supply sells parts cleaner in 5 gal cans. I think it is naptha. From the website, it still seems to be available at my local SoCal store.

I have been using the tractor supply solvent in my own parts washer and like it just fine.

 

[Bucko]

I know you mentioned the price of brake clean. I buy the generic at Walmart and its usually half the price of the name brand.

I'm so glad I left California 15 years ago, its amazing how different the rest of the country is. My wife just came back from a business trip out there and was blown away at the price of EVERYTHING!

 

[Docbentley]

Just make a drive to Nevada or Arizona and purchase acetone, kerosene, mineral spirits, etc.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

Acetone. Not classified as a VOC (IIRC).

 

[slidehammer]

Been doing an onsite search and a Google forum search and not seeing much. So, what are my choices for cleaning up all the works in an old South Bend lathe I just bought? The only "solvent" I can buy in CA is gas and that's no fun at all. Many of the parts need to be stripped of any oils before they go in the rust solution, Others just need the 50 YO crud dissolved to the point that I can use water based cleaners. That is unless you know of a killer WB cleaning solution for the gear box and apron ***'y.

I'm getting by with the non moving painted parts using detergents and elbow grease. Brake parts cleaner is too expensive except to wash out passages where new wicks and felts will be installed.

It might be New Coke, but whatever is in the solvent sold as "odorless mineral spirits" works great for me.

I find that for jobs like this one, more volatile solvents like acetone and brake cleaner don't work that well. They tend to thin out the top layer of gunk, spread it around, and evaporate. They're more effective toward the end, once the parts are nearly clean.

 

[ZRX61]

A hot tank in California, now That is funny!

Every engine shop has one. There are two near me. It's just detergent & hot water. We haven't outlawed soap yet.

 

[nadogail]

Doesn’t any one remember the novelty song grandmas Lye Soap?

 

[Zeke]

Just make a drive to Nevada or Arizona and purchase acetone, kerosene, mineral spirits, etc.

At $5 gallon for the 600 mile round trip would be a bargain. Might buy another lathe chuck.

Yeah, IDK about lye. I've used various caustics over the years and they can be damaging. Funny though, I read quite a bit about the active ingredient in orange oil. In concentrate that is some nasty stuff.

 

[Bruce 993 SEA]

Back in the day, one of the guys used 50/50 gasoline and Mr Clean.

I think it took the flammability and calmed down the smell. You could also wear a NIOSH mask to keep the stink out. The gas smell does soak into your clothes.

 

[Firebrick43]

At $5 gallon for the 600 mile round trip would be a bargain. Might buy another lathe chuck.

Yeah, IDK about lye. I've used various caustics over the years and they can be damaging. Funny though, I read quite a bit about the active ingredient in orange oil. In concentrate that is some nasty stuff.

That is what gloves and safety glasses are for. I would question anyone using anything else either without at least gloves and safety glasses. On the plus side, the lye itself is safe to pour on the lawn. Of course the stuff your cleaning might not. Also lye/water and a battery charger makes for excellent rust removal, paint removal, and degreasing all in one go!

 

[Zeke]

That is what gloves and safety glasses are for. I would question anyone using anything else either without at least gloves and safety glasses. On the plus side, the lye itself is safe to pour on the lawn. Of course the stuff your cleaning might not. Also lye/water and a battery charger makes for excellent rust removal, paint removal, and degreasing all in one go!

I do strip paint from hardware like hinges and knobs in an electric frying pan with TSP. Hard on the pan, but it does the job. The thing is, it's shallow and I have to watch it closely or it will boil off the water and dry up. I'm working on using a deeper vessel and using an electric heating element below. I just happened to have found one last week that needed a very small repair. Now working great. So with some garage sale soup pots I'll be in business.

Thanks to all.

 

[Firebrick43]

I do strip paint from hardware like hinges and knobs in an electric frying pan with TSP. Hard on the pan, but it does the job. The thing is, it's shallow and I have to watch it closely or it will boil off the water and dry up. I'm working on using a deeper vessel and using an electric heating element below. I just happened to have found one last week that needed a very small repair. Now working great. So with some garage sale soup pots I'll be in business.

Thanks to all.

I do it in a 5 gallon bucket or a 20 gallon horse rubber bucket

 

[greg13]

U Haul and get out, soon they will ban the sale of gas too.

 

[Firebrick43]

U Haul and get out, soon they will ban the sale of gas too.

No you will just have to purchase carbon credits, because no one will abuse that right?

 

[BillK]

Every engine shop has one. There are two near me. It's just detergent & hot water. We haven't outlawed soap yet.

That is not a "Hot Tank" That is a spray washer and yes almost every engine shop has one. What is normally considered a "hot tank" is a headed tank of caustic solution that you soak blocks in for several hours. They work much better than the spray washer but the cost of getting rid of the dirty solution is getting cost prohibitive. Heck, I pay almost $600 just to have my spray washer pumped out every 3 months and it only has "soap" and water. Its what ends up in the soap and water that makes it expensive.

We got rid of our hot tank almost 30 years ago and bought a bake oven and steel shot blaster. Never looked back.

 

[BillK]

Zeke,
The water based solvent that Safety Kleen uses in thier water based machines works pretty good. I does have to be heated or it doesnt work worth a darn. Otherwise it works as good as the solvent based machine. I have one of each.

 

[FredWanaker]

I haven't used a Safety-Kleen service in years, and I know they were sold, but they did use Stoddard Solvent for many years. It is flammable but less than something like gasoline. If one is going to use it, do so outdoors or is a shop with lots of air flow. The parts washer should have an automatic fire shut off like the Safety-Kleen ones do. Stoddard solvent will not work well in a modern water based parts washer. I have a friend whose shop boss insisted they use a cheap electric HF type waster-cleaner based pump to replace the special fire proof one that came in a parts washer made for flammable solvents. When it blew up he was thrown 50 feet and suffered permanent injuries.

 

[Walkers]

Every engine shop has one. There are two near me. It's just detergent & hot water. We haven't outlawed soap yet.

Ahh, there is where you are wrong. Hot tank solution is caustic soda, not just soapy water. It is difficult to find an engine builder in Arizona who still has a traditional hot tank, since the EPA has outlawed them.

 

[Nutria]

I usually experiment: denatured alcohol, long soaks in Simple Green, paint thinner, oven cleaner, etc. I usually start with Less Nasty and work up to Full Nasty as need be.

 

[ZRX61]

Ahh, there is where you are wrong. Hot tank solution is caustic soda, not just soapy water. It is difficult to find an engine builder in Arizona who still has a traditional hot tank, since the EPA has outlawed them.

Caustic soda = Lye = soap

 

[sreeb]

Just make a drive to Nevada or Arizona and purchase acetone, kerosene, mineral spirits, etc.

Can you get denatured alcohol in AZ?