I worry about damaging the over-mold, some of these solvents are excellent adhesive removers or can damage plastic.
My thoughts exactly! My cordless tools go from mechanical work to woodworking so I try to keep them clean as possible. I agree that I would be very careful with solvents around plastic as some will damage plastics.I use some random brand of “orange citrus” cleaning wipe from Home Depot. When your Milwaukee red / white impact looks like it’s a Porter Cable gray/black color scheme, it makes things 90% better. Yes, it does rub off the white color on Milwaukee tools, but then it wasnt very white before I started cleaning.
I tend to keep tools cleaner if they have multiple uses … I don’t like getting car grime on wood working projects, nor do I like getting wood dust into my automotive projects.
Wait, Wait…When wife is not home I throw in 2 dish washing pods in the machine and put in all the tools to be washed and they come out new.
Agree. I use a clean, dry paper towel to work out what I can and leave it at that.I don't clean them, they will be dirty again real soon.
Works great and then wipe with paper towels. Good enough on your bare hands, so it's fine on the plastics.I've started using Tub O Towels... they work reasonably well, with the primary caveat being the "detailing" aspect, ie difficult to get into knicks and crannies
Non-chlor brake cleaner will typically be ok, but of course test it first. Chlorinated tends to cloud and craze many plastics.
I never cared for the brake cleaner route, it just never seemed efficient. At least the Tub O Towels stay wet (vs rapid evap) and they work well(ish)