What Do We Like for Cleaning Oil Off of Things?

Thanks to some recent adventures in blowby, every inch of my Merkur's engine bay is covered in oil.  I'm not so concerned about the paint in there, so the metal surfaces can get cleaned with just about anything, but for cleaning oil off of things like wiring and various plastic bits, what should my go-to chemical be?

Dawn dish soap diluted........spray on let sit .......mist off

At the suggestion of Dusterbd13 I've been using Super Clean lately. It used to be Castrol Super Clean but apparently someone else bought the product from Castrol and dropped that part of the name. O'Reillys carries it. I've been happy with it. 

Super Clean or Zep 50 are super strong degreasers. They will dull any raw metal bits, especially aluminum, but sounds like that is not a concern of yours.

My FIL is a chemist by trade and this has come up a couple different times: Dawn. Dawn is almost always the answer. I don't know if Dawn Ultra is better or if the normal Dawn is what you actually want... I should ask him. I've only notice normal Dawn at the Dollar Store.

I had an almost identical issue in our Lemons turbo Civic.  We used liberal amounts of simple green, old dish brushes, and plenty of water.  It cleaned up pretty well.  Having a warm water pressure washer would be even better.  I also don’t feel as badly about flooding my driveway and yard with simple green. 

Ill try try adding some Dawn next time. 

Dawn works well.  So does CRC Brakleen.  I go through way more  brake cleaner than I probably should, but it works so well....

Thanks for the suggestions guys.  Brakleen, Acetone, and "Mighty Boss" from TSC have been the answers for metal, but they scare me on 30 year old wires- I'll try Dawn and see what happens, and if that doesn't do the job move on to Super Clean.

I use Dawn and hot, hot water in a pesticide sprayer; then hose off.

I'd be less worried about brake cleaner than superclean on old wires.

Always start with something mild (i.e. soap and water) before moving up to harsh cleaners or chemicals.

Non-chlorinated brake clean is my jam for this kind of thing.  It's pretty mild against rubber/plastic.  Great for cleaning motorcycle chains and not harming the o-rings that keep lube in the links.  

I'd like to try Dawn first just to see how it goes.  

I will add to this.

Blue Dawn cleans all of the things.

Not palmolive, not Dove, nothing except BLUE dawn.

My neighbor was dying her hair the other day and dropped the bottle of dye.  It was everywhere.  She called me in a panic and said "Bring some of the degreaser or chemical stuff you have in the garage".  I came over with a big bottle of blue dawn.  She was furious and was telling me she wasnt joking.  How could I bring over dish soap....

 Cleaned all of the dye up and it didn't stain anywhere.

That's all we use for hand washing and cleaning parts.  The E36 M3 is magic.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

Thanks for the suggestions guys.  Brakleen, Acetone, and "Mighty Boss" from TSC have been the answers for metal, but they scare me on 30 year old wires- I'll try Dawn and see what happens, and if that doesn't do the job move on to Super Clean.

Acetone should scare you on just about everything. Dawn and Simple Green are generally safe, try those first and move up from there.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Acetone is great!  Takes everything off of everything, I keep it around for welding or epoxy prep.

 Again a big squirt of Dawn you don't have to go crazy 1/8 cup in 2 gallons of very Hot water, Not ultra the blue stuff and a good bug sprayer put the soap in the water not the water in the soap much less Sud's ing.

Classic blue dawn dish soap, purple power and easy off oven cleaner have all worked well for me. Easy off cant be left on aluminum for long periods. 

OK.. How do I get gear oil off a floor?  The auger gearbox for my snow blower is leaking....  How do I know.. It was bone dry when I filled it and it has puddle of 90W under it.

First get it off the floor, Zip Zorb, Sand, Dirt, and rags then pour some Blue dawn on it and after awhile srub it in then wipe that up. use as LITTLE water as you can.and then some Hot Water with dawn in it then some more zip zorb or sand or dirt .  Repeat

Last time I cleaned my engine bay I got the motor up to operating temp, shut it off and covered the alternator with aluminum foil. Then I sprayed everything down with simple green and closed the hood to let it get warm and steamy in the bay. After about 20 minutes I popped the hood and used a plastic scrub brush and sponge to everything I could reach and then rinsed with a garden hose. Worked great. Afterwards I sprayed the plastic and rubber bits with something like armour all to bring the luster back to them. I never use the stuff on tires but it works great on plastic covers. 

In reply to EastCoastMojo :

Aerospace 303 works great on underhood plastic and rubber after cleaning.

Funny, the one thing not mentioned to use is "engine cleaner" like the stuff in a spray can.  It's mostly kerosene but it does clean up oil, a spray of degreaser after you rinse off the engine cleaner and your good.

Because we are CHEAP.

jimbbski said:

Funny, the one thing not mentioned to use is "engine cleaner" like the stuff in a spray can.  It's mostly kerosene but it does clean up oil, a spray of degreaser after you rinse off the engine cleaner and your good.

I actually bought a can of the spray on GUNK gel degreaser the other day. It did an OK job but I don't think it did an appreciably better job than Dawn and water in a spray bottle. Plus good lord the smell.

when it comes to old wires and rubber, if it doesn't hurt your skin, it won't hurt the car.