The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Parts washer solvent reviews?

I bought a little recirculating parts washer on craigslist today and now I'm on the hunt for some solvent. I did a search on a bunch of FLAPS websites and It seems just about everything I find is water-soluble concentrate, and expensive. Anybody use the water-soluble stuff and does it work well? Anybody use petroleum based stuff thad gets the job done and if so where do you get it?

When I was a youngster growing up in the 40’s and 50’s the standard solvent used in most gas stations, garages and for home repairs was a bucket filled with Regular. The amazing thing is I never heard of anyone ever being toasted from this practice and most of us smoked back then. Rubber gloves were unheard of back in the day and I’m sure someone has done a study of what affect the TEL had after spending hundreds of hours up to your elbows soaking in it. That might account for the reason my 70 year old brain isn’t working as well as it did.
I've been using kerosene in all of my parts washers for nearly half a century now. Some people find it unpleasant to use, like my wife, who complains about the smell when I come in after a cleaning session. Throwaway rubber gloves and an apron would solve that if you have a similar problem. Kerosene in bulk is as cheap as gasoline in most parts of the country and a lot safer. Flammable you say? Yes but not so much that you need to worry about it. As far as it's cleaning ability it's as good if not better than any of the expensive commercial parts cleaning solvents that I’ve used, like Safety-Clean. When it needs changing, I recycle it by taking it to any one of a dozen shops around here that have waste oil burners to heat their buildings, they’re glad to have fuel oil added to the waste oil.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I use Stoddard solvent in mine (petroleum based). Works great! Been using it for several years now in my parts washer.
I get it at my FLAPS.
Darren

I have been using gas, it seems to work pretty well.

Tractor Supply Company has it cheaper than anyone around here.

Stoddard Solvent is basicly Mineral Spirits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_spirits
Also works but doesn't cut the grease as well as kerosene and is not avalable in bulk so it's more expensive. Kerosene in gallon cans at the retail outlets is about $10+ a gallon, I would suspect the Mineral Spirits is about the same.

Gas has a much lower flash point than Kerosene and the fumes are much more likellly to ignite aroond an ignition source such as your funace or a welding operation. That's one of the reasons that I switched many decades ago.

Tractor Supply has what a lot cheaper Brian, Kerosene, Gasoline or Mineral Spirits?

DG

TSC just calls it parts washer solvent, in 5 gal cans-doesn't smell like gas or diesel, cleans well-I'd guess it's varsol.

Bio Diesel works good for a solvent. But it makes everything smell like a hamburger.

I would doubt TSC is selling straight Varsol but if it is I want some! I use to get it when we used it in printing fabrics and stuff and it worked good until EPA came along. It worked good for me as a cleaner. Cheap and did a good job "for the money".

Denny, around here Kerosene is 3.79 a gallon this past winter for the K1 stuff. For most of us 2-3 gallon would hold us for a while. Can't beat it at that price and its readily available close by.

.........and I'm needing some new stuff right now.

Just refilled with fresh this spring Alvin. I change out mine at least once a year when the distributors start to stock it. I try to keep 10 gallons of it in reserve and if I'm doing a bunch of cleaning I'll change it a couple of times a year. I've found that the filters most of the cleaning tanks come with are more pain in the ars than just refilling with fresh when it gets dirty.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

The Chevron distributor here, who is actually my competitor, still sells stuff that he calls Varsol in bulk out of a pump. I use it in my parts tumbler and it works just like Varsol did 40 years ago.

Crenwelge, thats good news to hear. I'm going to look around for some then.
The last I got was 30 gal drum when my brother would buy it for his machine shop. Well, I'm out now but my brother is no longer with us and the old supplier that came around can't be found! I'm not sure what it was but it is/was some darn good stuff. To me it smelled like Varsol but with some "perfume" added to it. I might add that I paid $2.50 a gallon some time ago but boy, it'd cut the crude!
What does it sell for now?

Crenwelge, thats good news to hear. I'm going to look around for some then.
The last I got was 30 gal drum when my brother would buy it for his machine shop. Well, I'm out now but my brother is no longer with us and the old supplier that came around can't be found! I'm not sure what it was but it is/was some darn good stuff. To me it smelled like Varsol but with some "perfume" added to it. I might add that I paid $2.50 a gallon some time ago but boy, it'd cut the crude!
What does it sell for now?

EDIT: Denny, I agree with changing it often. The filtering system and motors of today can't handle the crude like they use to. They simply don't.

I think it costs 3.999 a gallon now. He uses an old mechanical dispenser with a Veeder Root counter in it. They made kits to make the mechanical counters go up to 3.999 a gallon and thats it. I think he also sells K1 for 3.999 a gallon out of an old mechanical pump.