Solvent

[chuck baader]

Most of the commercial washers use a high temp mineral spirits...140 degree. Safety Kleen adds a soap/additive package but is extremely expensive. Find a local dry cleaner supply store...you should be able to buy 140 mineral spirits in 5 or 10 gallon lots at a reasonable price. Note, this is still flammable so be careful with the location of your washer in relation to hot water heaters/furnaces. Chuck

[Greg Amy]

I use good ole mineral spirits from Home Depot. - GA

[MMiskoe]

If you're worried about flammable, a full strength masonry degreaser will work. Be careful on your skin and man does it stink when it gets dirty.

Kerosene will work too and is not as volatile, but does not dry as cleanly.

The bigger question I have is what to do w/ 10 or 20 gallons of the stuff when its too dirty to work anymore?

[JohnRW]

NAPA sells a parts washer solvent in 5 gallon buckets that isn't too stinky, isn't particularly explosive and works reasonably well.

[joeg]

You can go real carconegenic with some Benzene, I suppose.

Excellent solvent but somewhat deadly.

[jimbbski]

I've used mineral sprits for my parts washer since I bought it. The present batch is about 5-6 years old. Funny I can't remember the last time I used it. Must be 2-3 years. I'll need to look inside and see how much has evaporated.

As for disposal, I usually drain the tub and let it set a while in a 5 gal. jug. I then pour off the top part which is free of most dirt & grit. I put it back in the cleaner and add fresh fluid. The stuff left over I let sit some more and drain off the top part again and reuse. What's left is the really dirty, oily stuff. That goes to the used motor oil collection point. Having worked for a major oil company I know that they just burn what they collect.

The reason for burning it and not recycleing it is that to refine crude oil you have to heat it up to turn it into a vapor. Used motor oil is just as good as anything else to burn to refine crude oil. Safety-Kleen built a plant right next to the oil refinery where I used to work, now why is that? Handy for the raw material to make fresh cleaning fluid and a good place to burn the old stuff.

[RacerBill]

Thanks, everyone!