I bought some to see what it could do to the hard to remove grease in the engine bay of my 93 Crown Vic. I can say this stuff removed grease that other products like Simple Green and Gunk foamy engine brite couldn't even touch. When you spray it on you gotta rinse it off quick, especially if you sprayed rubber hoses or vacuum lines. Also, try not to inhale any mist or get any in your eyes. I accidentally inhaled a small bit of mist and it hurt my lungs. I wonder how quick this stuff could dissolve human skin?
Anyone use Castrol SuperClean?
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Yeah,
Its a VERY, VERY strong heavy duty degreaser. I accidentally used it without gloves and the skin on my hands looked like if I got sun burned.
My hands were peeling for the next week.
Its a VERY, VERY strong heavy duty degreaser. I accidentally used it without gloves and the skin on my hands looked like if I got sun burned.
I'll stick to Simple Green. My stuff isn't that dirty anyway.
SuperClean works well. The generic purple stuff from Wally seems to be the same and costs about 1/2 as much.
I used it full strength to spray down a DETROIT DIESEL that hadn't been de-greased in over 700,000 miles prior to pressure washing. It worked very well.
I use it at half-strength on the DODGE 318 a couple of times yearly.
Simple Green and the like don't compare.
I use it at half-strength on the DODGE 318 a couple of times yearly.
Simple Green and the like don't compare.
It will also take off paint sometimes... so be very careful with this stuff.
Kestas
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I use it regularly. It's smells and works like Easy-Off Oven spray, except without the foaming action, so I guess it's a lye-based cleaner. It not only works on degreasing under the hood, but I use it on the kitchen oven as well.
The analogy to Easy-Off is a good one & I've certainly learned to be careful with SuperClean whenever I use it. It will quickly corrode & spot aluminum, so keep this in mind when spraying around the engine compartment.
The zinc plated bumper spike on one of my larger chainsaws had exhaust staining and hard, dried pine sap deposits. Removed the bumper spike plate from the saw and a short session with SuperClean and a nylon bristle brush made it look new again!
The zinc plated bumper spike on one of my larger chainsaws had exhaust staining and hard, dried pine sap deposits. Removed the bumper spike plate from the saw and a short session with SuperClean and a nylon bristle brush made it look new again!
Our snowmobiles get dirty as h3ll, oil leaks, grease spray, belt dust/grime, tree sap, road salt.
Tried everything from simple green, fantastic, this that... Bar none Superclean best removes the material off my chassis.
About the only chemical that is better is CH50 that HVAC technicians use to clean aluminum heat exchanger coils. [not particularly recommended unless you are prepared to do some surface polishing.]
You can't leave superclean on aluminum for a long time as the acid etches the surface. Don't let it dry.
Here is a pic of after some superclean and a bit of mothers polish.
Tried everything from simple green, fantastic, this that... Bar none Superclean best removes the material off my chassis.
About the only chemical that is better is CH50 that HVAC technicians use to clean aluminum heat exchanger coils. [not particularly recommended unless you are prepared to do some surface polishing.]
You can't leave superclean on aluminum for a long time as the acid etches the surface. Don't let it dry.
Here is a pic of after some superclean and a bit of mothers polish.
That's the Castrol "Purple" cleaner, right? I use it for lots of stuff outside, been using it for years. I've always been afraid of leaving it on aluminum for any length of time, suspected it had a lye/strong alkaline component to it. After reading the posts above, it seems that I may have been right!(cause for my suspicion- it made my hands feel super slick, like back when I tried tanning a deer hide almost 40 years ago.
)
These days I usually keep some in an emptied Fantastic or 409 spray bottle, diluted a little with water- say 75%-80% Castrol Cleaner, 20%-25% water. For most of what I do(except heavy-duty degreasing), that seems to work better than 100% cleaner.
These days I usually keep some in an emptied Fantastic or 409 spray bottle, diluted a little with water- say 75%-80% Castrol Cleaner, 20%-25% water. For most of what I do(except heavy-duty degreasing), that seems to work better than 100% cleaner.
I like SG also. A few ounces and the rest water, and pretty much a clean surface, though I did have to scrub a few times. The Super Clean was just too harsh for my skin.
The MSDS says it has 5-10% 2-Butoxyethanol plus 1-5% sodium hydroxide, and 1-5% sodium metasilicate pentahydrate, as well as other stuff. pH listed as 13.0, and 11.2 for a 2% solution. Highly alkaline. Where I once worked we had some temporary hourly workers who almost passed out cleaning shower walls with a similar product that had the 2-Butoxyethanol(aka Butyl Celluosolve if I recall correctly) in it. Definitely do not want to use in a confined space. Pretty stong stuff for a consumer product.
Kestas
Staff member
Technically speaking, it's not acid, but alkaline. They're opposite each other.
Simple Green has the 2-butoxyethanol in it too, <6%, and has a pH of 9.3; Oil Eater also has it along with sodium metasilicate, both at < 5%, it doesn't list pH.
I bought some "small engine tuneup" a few months ago and it also contains
~5% 2-butoxyethanol according to the MSDS. Guess it's good for cleaning the inside of engines as well as the outside.
~5% 2-butoxyethanol according to the MSDS. Guess it's good for cleaning the inside of engines as well as the outside.
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