The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest fluid for parts washer

My community is having an upcoming Tox-away day where they will accept hazardous stuff including solvents and stuff like that. So today I drained the fluid out of my parts washer, to give to them. My old fluid was mineral spirits with some sort of flash arrester in it. At least that's what the petroleum distributor who I bought it from told me. I've used it for many years and it has worked great. Now, that company is no longer around, and I don't know of anybody in the area similar to them. So I'm wondering what to put back into my washer. I tried some water based stuff many years ago, and was totally disappointed in it. Maybe it's better today ?????? I'm tempted to just go to home depot or Lowes and buy a couple of 5 gallon buckets of mineral spirits. It wouldn't have the flash arrestor, but maybe that wasn't important anyway. I'm interested in your recommendations. I do this work as a personal hobby, not a profession. Plus I'm getting pretty damned old. So, whatever I buy will probably last me for the rest of my life.

I bought (2) 5 gallon cans from tractor supply. Here is a [LINK]

By the way, if you save the cans, you can extend the fluids usefulness by letting the parts cleaner settle out, pumping out the fluid into the empty cans, cleaning out the parts cleaner then pour the fluid back. Most of the debris and sludge settles on the bottom.

Thanks for the link. I'll give it a try.

The solvent you're looking for with the high flash point is known as "MS-140", AKA "Varsol". It's Mineral Spirits that has a flash point of 140 degrees F. "Safety-Kleen" solvent is plain old MS 140 with some green dye in it, but they won't sell it. They want you to rent their parts washer for an outrageous monthly fee, and they take care of solvent changes. Diesel fuel or cooking oil works just as well, and there's virtually no HAZMAT problems when using vegetable oil such as peanut or corn oil for parts washing.
Jerry

We have "Safety-Kleen" at my shop. Works good but like Jerry said it's quite expensive. Good thing is I don't have to deal with the hazardous waste.

John

As with all good things, we can't play with the fun stuff in California. We use a water based cleaner in the parts washer. The stuff works good, but slow. A soak usually will get your stuff clean. Adding heat helps a bunch. Tends to strip rust too, if you leave the stuff in the soup overnight.

I also believe we use the non-petroleum based SC-1000 for wash and degreasing. We get that stuff in 55 gallon barrel drums for steam cleaning.

If you use it very much plumb an oil filter into the line and change it out when the flow rate slows, You'll always have clean fluid that way.

Good suggestion on the filter, but use a big diesel fuel filter and it will strain out smaller particles than one for engine oil, and won't have to be changed as often.
Jerry

This stuff is amazing! And the price is amazing too! I have only bought Lloyds citrus cleaner in aerosols, but it comes in 4 litre cans too. https://ohcanadasupply.ca/automotive/new-automotive-cleaners-and-degreasers/llo51120

I've used citrus-based cleaners quite a bit. They clean well, they're water soluble, and legal disposal isn't as difficult as the petroleum based ones, but they have a very limited lifespan. As water soluble cleaners get a little age on them, they start to stink, and they can form a slimy algae-like scum in the reservoir. Changing the fluid once every couple of months can get expensive for a non-commercial shop.
Jerry

If you get a chance, try glycerol as a parts cleaner. It’s the byproduct of making diesel out of frying oil. If you know somebody who is doing that, they want to get rid of it. It’s water soluble and good for your hands. It’s a prime ingredient in the making of soap. They talk about in the movie “Fight Club” but their source is someplace else…. 😀

Mike

I got a 5 gallon can of varsol like stuff from NAPA a few years ago, works like I expected it to.