Recommended degreaser?

[WmWatt]

The bike shop where I volunteer is populated by guys who want to save the planet so we use an environmentally friendly degreaser which doesn't cut grease as well as the petroleum based solvent I use at home. We use old toothbrushes to clean bearings and such and the toothbrushes soon get clogged with undisolved grease and have to be thrown out. I've been using the toothbrush I have at home for years.

Does anyone have a recommeded environmentally friendly degreaser which disolves grease well and fast? Fast because we don't leave things overnight in a bath. We clean parts on the fly and put them right back on the bikes with fresh grease.

Thanks for your input.

[zoe60]

I have never tried it but I have seen a lot of folks on here say that Dawn Power Dissolve is some really good stuff.

[mikemounlio]

MINERAL SPRITS will cut the grease fast. I got some eco friendly stuff at wallmart the other day. It looks like milk.

Not sure how eco friedndly it is but its cheapish and does a great job on actual built up old grease.

[mikemounlio]

I like to use oven cleaner let it soak a mintue pressure wash off then do a light spray with mineral sprits hit with a small tooth brush spray clean and boom any motor is totally clean in an hour or less.

[ryanprins13]

It would be pricey but would work very fast and you could use it sparingly. Go to an autobody shop and get some wax and grease remover. By proform or something. It may leave a slight residue so to get parts perfecty clean rinse in 99% isopropyl alcohol or virgin gunwash also from an autobody store.


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[1990new]

Here is a link to a very interesting article that may help answer your question.
https://cyclistsforsustainablebicycl...ag/turpentine/

Mineral Spirits is really the best thing I've found to cut the heavy grease on auto parts.
And I found that pieces of the useless leaf collection bag that came with my leaf blower makes
a great filter for cleaning up the mineral spirits for re-use.

[harpon]

Comet cleanser is inexpensive, and may not give the best wash- away result, but I've used it under hoods and after a few applications it penetrates the standing grease. I put it on ant colonies too, the ants don't seem to like being caked with bleached scrubbing goo.

[WmWatt]

HARPON: You shouldn`t use that on bearings because it contains an abrasive. Any residue will be bad for the bearings.

[Zman86]

I find that spray-nine works quite well.

[WmWatt]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've also taken a look on Internet generally. There seems to be quite a selection of degreasers here and there based on a small group of chemicals. As I said to our shop co-ordinator we tend to use it all up and don't pour any down the drain so I don't see much advantage in the eco-friendliness. The dirt and grease end up in rags which go into the garbage no matter what degreaser we use. The remaining critical issue, after performance, is the smell which he says has given volunteers headaches in the past from petroleum based degreasers, and I imagine turpentine would too if we were to use that. I seem to recall odour-free solvents on the shelf at the store. We have things to try. Thanks for the input.

[Greywolf]

Dishwashing liquids from all brands work real well, and nothing beats hot water. If I was to recommend any one thing for an operation like that - it would be to pirate an old dishwasher and run the drain to a 55 gallon drum with a feed-line under the water level of the barrel so that grease and oil would float to the top of the barrel and could be skimmed off and put in a container to take to a recycler (even an auto parts store that accepts used oil).

The same water could be used as cleaning water in the dishwasher if you have an RV water pump and an external oil filter (VW type) to recirculate it. Set it up so that colder water can be sucked out through a filter from near the bottom of the barrel - so:

Drain water goes from the washer into the top of the drum, about four inches under the surface. Source water taken out from about a foot above the barrel bottom so that sediment can fall to the bottom, and it should have a lid that lets you skim it off when it needs doing. This way cool water comes from low down, and hot water is on top and can cool by the time it reaches the siphon up pipe at the bottom, with me so far?

*You could also weld on a surface drain bung that lets the top inch or so of stuff run out a hose on the side. Put a valve on it and there ya go!

An external oil filter kit can be used to filter the feed water to the dishwasher, and if it's an old junk dishwasher - who cares if it gets messed up? It was on it's way to a landfill anyhow...

*An old oil pan pickup tube & screen can be used as a coarse filter inside the barrel

*Lot's of car service places get oil and stuff in 55 gallon or 25 gallon drums, so they will be glad to give away a few of them.

The dishwasher can be setup next to an exterior wall of the shop, and the lines to the catch barrel plumbed through the wall to the barrel which would be outdoors - making it easy to service and keeping the "NASTY" outside the shop.

Sound like a plan? Whatever detergent can be added directly to the barrel itself, so that the suds level can be controlled - you would be counting on hot water to do the work. Dishwashers even have a "DRYING" cycle, so the risk of rust is reduced.


"It's called RECYCLING, and it's good fer the planet..."


* The most expensive part would be the RV water pump, and the external oil filter kit

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=rv+water+pump&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=23050202&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_3lpa9ff8jt_e

~ I hope I helped you guys out, I used to work on RV's. That's why I know about them. If you know some folks at an RV service place they might even have a used one or one they got and didn't have to use that they can let ya have cheap!

Inside lines in auto and bike places - the "NETWORK" - have got me more parts and cool deals over the years than anything. Ya might even be able to trade services fer parts!

"IT IS GOOD TO BE THE MECHANIC !!!"