What cleaning solution?

Cigarette lighter fuel - That brings back memory's of BAC Weybridge and VC10s. The wings were placed in a huge jig that could be rotated and tipped about their axis. One wing at a time was placed into this jig, half filled with "Ronsonol" and rotated and tipped for a few hours, drained, dried and then a "slushing" solution (a bit like thinned down Bostik) pumped into them, rotated etc, emptied and dried. All highly volatile and dangerous ! This process was carried out to make the wings fuel proof.

For that purpose white spirit should do, I use exxsol D60 which smells a bit better, it will dissolve most greases, oil and gunked up dirt with the help of a nylon brush. If I want a residue free surface after cleaning with D60, I wipe with isopropyl alcohol. And if a residue free surface is critical then I wipe with aceton or MEK.

Just a word of warning to anyone using brake cleaner as a degreaser who doesn't already know this. It often contains either Toluene, Xylene or both. They are extremely flammable.

I was the MD of an industrial chemical company and stored both products on site in bulk storage tanks. Our agreed strategy with the local fire brigade in the event of a fire was to firstly ensure all staff were accounted for and then stand back and watch the place burn to the ground!

An alternative to using hydrocarbons for degreasing is to use a heated alkaline bath (such as caustic soda) followed by a thorough rinse. The bath can be as simple as a pan on a stove or electric ring - but not an aluminium pan!

This is frequently used for the cleaning of metals before plating. Specialist suppliers such as YouPlate and Gateros can supply the chemicals in powder form for home use. GP1 Cleaner

Edited By Graham Stoppani on 04/10/2020 07:58:12

Edited By Graham Stoppani on 04/10/2020 07:59:20

Thanks chaps for all your replies. As a bit of background I should have said in my original post that my immediate need is to clean up the parts of the water pump for my Merryweather Fire King. This has two double acting cylinders that I lapped with grinding paste. The pump bodies have eight ball valves and an internal rabbit warren of holes, many of which are plugged which prevent direct access for cleaning.

So I have decided to use white spirit as I already have a gallon of the stuff.

Bob