Let's start some controversy: best degreaser?

Javelin said:

Dish soap.

 

Second dish soap.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Ive sworn by superclean for years. But it doesn't seem to be as good as it used to be. Maybe it is.

Interesting you mention this, as I’ve said the same thing in the last year. I used to swear by super clean, now it’s not nearly as potent. 

Blue dawn.

Unless it is somethi g that needs to absolutely be removed right now...  the  brake cleaner.

The reason you use water with some of these products is because a lot of these compounds have a section of their molecule that likes water and another section that likes grease and dirt.  Therefore,  the soap will cling to the dirt and get washed away by the water.

A 401 CJ said:

RevRico said:

Simple green 99% of the time, Dawn Ultra the other.

Purple power used to be one of my favorites then it started messing with my skin, so I stay away.

I found a really old squirt bottle of P.Power in my late grandmother’s basement.  Purchased in ‘98 or ‘99.  Wow that stuff is good!  Much better than any of my current degreasers.  Maybe it gets better with age?

More likely that they just took the really powerful chemicals out for health reasons, so the old stuff is chock full of nasty unhealthy stuff, albeit nasty unhealthy stuff that cleans well

So, its not just me that thinks that degreasers are getting weaker. Good to know.

Seems for a readily available spray bottle solution, were pretty evenly split over greased lightening, super clean, and purple power. Is there any real difference in effectiveness or safety?

Nuclear options are not what im looking for. If its that bad, my pressure washer comes out, or ill get the tool justjim linked *may anyway*. 

Im looking for the everyday stuff. 

I’m not sure how it would work on really heavy grease, but I love LA’s Totally Awesome cleaner. I get it from  Dollar Tree and was turned onto it because it’s one of the few things to take off the black streaks that form on trailers after sitting out for a while. It’s a cheap everyday cleaner for sure. 

I'm a Simple Green user. It isn't death to your hands, and doesn't really seem to touch paint even when it is not diluted. I spray it on, let it sit a little, then scrub with some of the soft-bristle grout brushes and wash off and it does the trick.

without a doubt, varsol and stoddard solvent are the best.  Difficult to find, so I use Simple Green or Mean Green. 

FIRE

chaparral said:

Gasoline, but be careful to avoid sparks around the fumes. 

Reminds me of the old drag racer saying: "Gasoline's for washing parts, alcohol is for drinking, nitro is for racing."

I am a fan of Krud Kutter for general-purpose, all-around, everyday use.  Much better on skin and the environment and it cuts through a lot! 

Dish soap, many brushes and children.

Have the children do the work for a modest payout. You'd be amazed at how clean things can get when you're barely paying somebody else to do it and it doesn't matter how long it takes. Be sure to provide the children rubber gloves and clothes that can be thrown away.

Many years ago at my fathers garage, the standard cleaner was an open bucket of gasoline.

What I use depends on the level of "grunge" I have to remove. 

The last item that I needed cleaned was an axle out of an old car that had a leaky pinion seal for what seemed like most of it's life. Then it sat for 27 years. I scrapped off  what I could and sprayed  it with oven cleaner and let it work while I set up my pressure washer. With the axle on jack stands I went at it.  A few minutes later I had removed about 99% of the grunge, exposed minor rust, and barely removed any paint that was still there.

I call that a win!

I use Simple Green most of the time , 

And depending what it is hot soapy water , 

Anyone using an Ultrasonic cleaner ?

californiamilleghia said:

I use Simple Green most of the time , 

And depending what it is hot soapy water , 

Anyone using an Ultrasonic cleaner ?

For carbs and other things. And my solution of choice for said ultrasonic cleaner? Lemon scented Simple Green. I keep a gallon just for that, and dump it back into the bottle when I'm done. The HF Ultrasonic does a fantastic job with it. 

Im planning something similar with the hf tumbler before sending the hardware out for plating. 

In reply to Curtis :

Steam cleaner ?

Shell DG#2 Degreaser.  Proprietary mix sold in 55 gallon drums.  Water based and biodegradable.  Almost useless unless cut with water and then will dissolve most any grease or oil.  Not to be confused with oil dispersants, this is the stuff you use to clean industrial internal combustion engines and the messes they make/accumulate.  Never found it available in a retail package but it was like green gold when restoring old British roadsters.

Simple Green always felt too simple and too green for me.  Just didn't get the job done.  I suppose it's safer than some options.

A proper degreaser should promise ecological armageddon and be covered with warning labels.  Greased Lightning is what I've got on the shelf right now.

iceracer said:

In reply to Curtis :

Steam cleaner ?

Yup.  I don't own one anymore, but that thing would make brilliant things happen.  I once stripped a frame down to bare metal with one of those, used it to strip down a trailer-mounted generator, cleaned sidewalks (you should see it work on old gum)

At 4600 psi, you could crank it up to 250 degrees (the most it would do) and it would strip anything down to bare substrate.  I actually used it to cut holes in asphalt to dig for bollards once.  If you properly clean something with that, there is zero prep before paint.  I used it to clean an engine bay and when I painted it a few hours later, there were zero fisheyes.  I had an intake manifold that I thought was corroded beyond help so I hit it with that to prep for paint.  Once I was done, it looked like a fresh casting from the factory.

Everyone should own one.

Curtis said:

If I ever get to build my garage, I'm gonna have a lift and a Steam Jenny, and never work on a dirty car again. 

I work at a class 1 railroad, and we go through cases of Spray Nine and Pensolv PB2000. Of the Pensolv, my one buddy said, "That E36 M3'll clean the clean off of clean!"

Hot water pressure washers are amazing. 

I stick with purple power since it cleans well and is a good price. Simple green and superclean are nice but too expensive. I keep a cheapo insecticide pump up sprayer full of some dilution of purple. Comes in very handy. 

Otherwise i have a few cans of chlorinated brake cleaner for nasty stuff. Used oven cleaner too, its good. 

Im a dollar tree fan. I take my 3 year old son there and let him load up on toys. He calls it the “green store”. I’ll look for the totally awesome cleaner there. Worth a try for 1$. 

All this talk of using gasoline reminds me of the '80s and before when there weren't all these specialized cleaning supplies we have today -- when people used gas, turpentine, vinegar, bleach, paint thinner and propane torches for everything.