How do you store funnels & keep them clean?

ksJoe · Jan 17, 2009

For those out there who use your funnels once every few months... What you do to keep your funnels clean since they attract so much dust with a coating of oil on them.

Up until a few weeks ago, I had been just wiping them out each time. But I have some clean 5 gallon buckets laying around from painting the house last summer. So now I put them all in a bucket and put a trash bag over the top of it. I would use the lid, except a couple funnels are an inch too long. When I get around to it, I'll probably replace my long straight funnels with long flexible ones. Then I can use the lid, and hang the bucket out of the way. I've also got some misc. scraps of hose from flushing the transmission in there too. I think its going to work pretty good.

Any other ideas?

ZZman · Jan 17, 2009

We are supposed to keep them clean? I barely wipe the old oil out of them. Oh NO!...............

Nyquist · Jan 17, 2009

I fill them with shop towels, put them in a plastic bag, and put them in an old Mobil 1 case box. They come out clean every time.

HTSS_TR · Jan 17, 2009

I had been wiping them clean after each use, then store them in grocery plastic bag upside down. They came out clean each time I need to use them again.

ksJoe · Jan 17, 2009

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I had been wiping them clean after each use, then store them in grocery plastic bag upside down. They came out clean each time I need to use them again.

Thats the kind of thing I had been doing, but then I get slimy mess on the shelf.

John_K · Jan 17, 2009

Blast em with throttle cleaner.

John

ChiTDI · Jan 17, 2009

Ziplock freezer bag for clean engine oil funnel. Works great.
Should have used it on a funnel with an 18" hose for ATF. Grabbed it out of the box one day and it was loaded with black "ball bearings". Ant colony !

wirelessF · Jan 17, 2009

I clean my long funnel for the ATF w/ brake cleaner after use to remove the residual ATF, then hang them on a nail.

When it's time to use it, I clean it with brake cleaner to remove airborne dirt and cobwebs.

Eddie · Jan 17, 2009

+1 NIQUIST. clean WITH PAPER TOWELS AND INTO A PLASTIC BAG LIKE A WALMARTS BAG. Ops sorry about caps

The Critic · Jan 17, 2009

I blast them with brake or carb cleaner.

wavinwayne · Jan 17, 2009

I use a funnel so rarely that I usually just wipe them down with a shop towel before I use them.

The_Jeff · Jan 17, 2009

I'm with wayne, who wants to pull a icky funnel out of an icky bag?

I have two oil drain pans, plus buckets I use for antifreeze... one pan has the fancy built in funnel etc and the other is very basic no frills. Right no the no frills one holds my funnel collection and even an old small engine carb I was letting "air dry" so it wouldn't pollute the groundwater etc.

StevieC · Jan 17, 2009

I put mine in a Freezer size ZIP-LOCK baggie and then take out when I need it again. Keeps it oily and dust-free.

youdontwannaknow · Jan 17, 2009

what about those hand pumps for filling differential fluid ? are those one time use only ?
The stale oil residue in the internals and tubing of the pump doesn't look good at all. I was too hesitant to use it and just bought a new one.

George7941 · Jan 17, 2009

I bag them up after use, using which ever plastic bag fits. Sometimes it is a small black garbage bag for the large funnels.

There really is no need to use strong chemicals like brake cleaner on a funnel if you keep them clean in the first place. If you tie up the bags closed, they won't get any dirt on them.

1sttruck · Jan 17, 2009

Since a funnel could be used for engine oil, atf, coolant, etc., I wash them soap and water and dry them after each use.

Klutch9 · Jan 17, 2009

i just wipe em down and toss 'em in a big box after each use. when it comes time to use them again, i just wipe them off with a rag, or sometimes ill pass some water through them, then wipe them down. good to go

tom slick · Jan 17, 2009

I wash mine meticulously using only a citrus based detergent and distilled water. Then I dry them: first with a high quality waffle weave microfiber cloth, then with a level 3 clean room grade lint-free cloth. Once clean and "dry" I put them under a 10 micron vacuum for 25 minutes to boil off any latent moisture or left over chemicals missed by the previous steps. lastly they are placed in a 5 layer gas-proof bag that is purged with nitrogen and hermetically sealed. To keep things kosher all funnels are separated into individual bags so an ATF funnel doesn't get contaminated with fuel additives, etc.

just kidding

I wipe them out with a rag when finished, toss them in a small bucket in a cabinet, then wipe them out again before use.

I do like these, they seal on both ends.

image stolen from http://www.mcmaster.com

crinkles · Jan 17, 2009

up on the shelf. then wipe down before use. not rocket science! it's a funnel! you can get disposable paper funnels or make your own (have had to do that for MIL when she ran out of petrol)

paulo57509 · Jan 17, 2009

I clean them after each use with either Castrol Super Clean or a shot of starting fluid.

When it comes time to use them, if they need cleaning, a shot of starting fluid removes the dust bunnies.

How do you store funnels & keep them clean?

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