Best solvent for soaking caked on grease

[Sumo91]

Hey guys, I have a 1942 Hendey lathe I picked up earlier this year, and I've slowly but surely been getting it cleaned up. The amount of caked on grease is absolutely absurd. I just got my parts washer going again for the smaller parts, and have been using PSC 1000 solvent in it, and it doesn't even touch this stuff. I've tried soaking parts in mineral spirits for several days. Nothing.

I bought a can of Berryman Chem dip, and soaked some parts for 2 days, and it seemed to remove all paint and made the grease wipe off with my finger. Which was great since I plan on stripping all the paint off anyway. I was looking at the 5 gal cans of Chem dip, and they're pretty pricey. I found some 5 gal cans of brake cleaner for about 80 bucks, and thinking of going that route, but I've never had bulk brake cleaner to soak parts in. Would this work as well/better than the Chem dip for soaking?

I mainly need it for small/medium parts that will fit in a 5 gal bucket. The larger parts of the lathe will be scraped/cleaned by hand.

 

[RooflessVW]

The trick with grease is to use a lighter distillate to soften it before using your degreaser.

I like to soak stuff down with WD-40 or a penetrating oil and then remove that with a degreaser or alcohol.

 

[Sumo91]

The trick with grease is to use a lighter distillate to soften it before using your degreaser.

I like to soak stuff down with WD-40 or a penetrating oil and then remove that with a degreaser or alcohol.

I've tried this. It doesn't do anything to this grease/crud. I've used wd40 and kroil. This stuff is so hard and thick that some of it has a hard time coming off with a punch and chisel. 1/4-1/2in thick in some places. That's why I'm looking for suggestions on a good soaking solvent. Purple power and simple green also haven't provided any results when soaking at full strength.

 

[ripcord]

Boiling water followed by a dunk in kerosene?

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Heavy Duty EZ OFF oven cleaner.

 

[ripcord]

Like BlueOvalFitter mentioned, a caustic lye based solution will do it. That's what is used by machine shops in their hot tanks. You could put your parts in a bucket and soak them in a lye based product like Drano. This obviously is a bit dangerous. Use a hdpe plastic bucket with a lid to keep the fumes in and do it outside in a place where kids and animals can't get to it.

Wear protective gear! After soaking, wash the parts with lots of water.

This will take all paint off, too, and will damage aluminum parts.

 

[Sumo91]

Appreciate the replies everyone. I've tried easy off, and it works pretty decent. But not feasible for lots of smaller parts and requires lots of scraping and wire brushing afterwards, and the fumes mess with my asthma. I've read about Lye and TSP soaks with hot water, the only problem is that I don't have water at my shop yet to rinse parts off, or any burners or pots to heat them in.

I'm mainly interested in the 5 gal buckets of brake cleaner or other solvents at the moment, I need something I can dunk the parts into, let sit for a few days, pull them out, then rinse them off with my parts washer. So far the Chem dip has been the only thing that's fit this criteria, but it's around $300 for a 5 gal bucket.

Does anyone has any experience with bulk brake cleaner that isn't in an aerosol can? Does it evaporate the same? Clean the same? Etc.

99% of the parts are cast iron or steel. Some brass, but that's all being cleaned by hand.

 

[Greasymechtech]

Steam it off. Use the wife's bathroom steamer she bought off the infomercial.

Penetrating oil is what I would use.

You are also required to post pictures of this piece of machinery in order to satisfy the curious minds.

 

[Sumo91]

Steam it off. Use the wife's bathroom steamer she bought off the infomercial.

Penetrating oil is what I would use.

You are also required to post pictures of this piece of machinery in order to satisfy the curious minds.

Unfortunately the wife doesn't have one of those lol I've tried penetrating oil and it doesn't do anything. And I'm sure a bucket of it would be crazy expensive.

I'll post a couple photos. Also a before and after picture of the small cross slide. It was one of less dirty pieces. I cleaned up the entire compound slide and the ways. It's coming along pretty good. There's alot of little stuff I want to take off and clean up. Once I get it powered up and see how she cuts I'll make a decision on keeping it or parting it out.

 

[ripcord]

What about calling a machine shop and asking about how much they would charge to run the whole lot through their hot tank?

 

[brianl703]

Does anyone has any experience with bulk brake cleaner that isn't in an aerosol can? Does it evaporate the same? Clean the same? Etc.

Look at the SDS for the bulk brake cleaner you intend to use and see what solvents are listed.

MEK? Acetone? Toluene or Xylene? All good, it'll work like regular brake cleaner. Note that you can buy almost all of these solvents in a gallon can from any hardware or paint store. (Unless maybe if you're in California..)

 

[Chris142]

How about a bucket full of gas for the small stuff? Steam clean the bigger parts?

 

[Sumo91]

What about calling a machine shop and asking about how much they would charge to run the whole lot through their hot tank?

I've called around and most want $100+ and can't fit many parts in the washer. Not alot of machine shops around here have the hot tanks anymore, it's either ovens of heated high pressure washers. I have too many parts to clean and can't run back forth to the machine for $100 bucks a load.

 

[Sumo91]

Look at the SDS for the bulk brake cleaner you intend to use and see what solvents are listed.

MEK? Acetone? Toluene or Xylene? All good, it'll work like regular brake cleaner. Note that you can buy almost all of these solvents in a gallon can from any hardware or paint store. (Unless maybe if you're in California..)

I'll check into that. Didn't think to check the SDS. Thanks for the good advice.

 

[Sumo91]

How about a bucket full of gas for the small stuff? Steam clean the bigger parts?

I can give it a shot. Gas just might work. I don't own a steam cleaner but I'll look into getting one if they're cheap enough

 

[Snagglefoot]

You can get Super Clean for less than $20 per gallon. I find it’s tough on grease but doesn’t strip paint.

 

[SHOZ]

I've found diesel fuel and dawn soap work good. If you can't stand the smell maybe mineral sprits and dawn. It's just washes off with water too.

 

[High Performance Lubricants]

You will be happy with D-limonene. Safe, not only will it melt grease it will melt Asphalt as well. I can give you some at the open house.

David

 

[Sumo91]

You will be happy with D-limonene. Safe, not only will it melt grease it will melt Asphalt as well. I can give you some at the open house.

David

Isn't that the main ingredient in citrus cleaners? I've always had good luck with citrus based degreasers. Citrol comes to mind. I've never used it for soaking parts though. Never thought to use it that way honestly.

 

[High Performance Lubricants]

Yes. However most are microemulsions where the d-limonene content is less than 5% solubilized into water and surfactants. This is not what you are looking for. D-limonene is actually flammable with a flash of less than 120F. You can light your charcoal with it or melt asphalt.