SoSmellyAir

Yeah, at the local Home Depot there is a bottle which supposedly "replaces" or "is the equivalent of" toluene and MEK, I forgot the exact wording. But toluene and MEK are not the same thing so I don't know how one product can "replace" or "serve as the equivalent" of two distinct organic solvents. (I spent so much time in Home Depot yesterday studying organic solvents on my phone.)

genejockey 

Just keep the container closed. Once it equilibrates, you won't lose any volume. But it's a godawfully expensive way to clean a chain!



Ah. We don't have that problem up here. Not yet, anyhow.

BTW, I can see a use for isopropanol IF you used an aqueous degreaser, to remove/replace the water in the chain with something that dries faster and more completely. But not after an organic solvent.

genejockey 

Oh, and speaking of solvents, guess what the Army recommended to its watchmakers as a solvent for final rinse of watch parts, back in 1945?

Gasoline.

Iride01 

leaded or unleaded?

drlogik 

I worked with a painter on a summer job years ago that used gasoline to clean brushes and rollers because typically it's cheaper than paint thinner or mineral spirits.

He was a cheap SOB but was a darn good painter. Man, I hated working with gasoline. I just knew I was dealing with an undetonated napalm bomb once the stuff got saturated with paint. Plus he had those cans sitting around the back of his van fumigating the inside.

genejockey 

Well, 1945, so, I'm thinking leaded.

Iride01 

I used gasoline for most all degreasing and cleaning things up until my mid 30's. Paint brush clean up too. It was cheap and readily available anywhere.

Just because I got away with it doesn't mean I wasn't stupid for using it.

Gasoline is just too volatile and it forms a puddle of invisible vapors that eventually find a spark. Even when the spark is 20 feet away.

Which is why I quit using it in my mid thirties. My lesson didn't cost me much.

genejockey 

I used to work at a fruit processing company every summer during college. One day they sent a bunch of us to help out in the fleet garage. I forget what exactly we did, but out hands got really filthy with black grease. The guys who worked there regularly told us the trick to getting it off - stick your hands in lacquer thinner, and pull them out about the time they start to sting!

I would not want to be their livers.

SoSmellyAir

How hard do I have to shake? I did this a few times with acetone yesterday. The acetone turned grey and contained a lot of black flecks or specks. On the chain itself, only the rollers are shiny; the plates are still dull grey and do not look perfectly clean? I am hoping not to have to clean the chain with a Sonicare toothbrush over acetone; that cannot possibly be good for my health.

drlogik 

That's jacked-up, man. The skin can actually absorb lacquer thinner. It can other solvents too but not like lacquer thinner. Plus it dries the heck out of your skin.

I guess the original thread has been sufficiently hijacked by now.....

SoSmellyAir

Yes, isopropyl alchol to chase off (volatilize?) residual Purple Power or Simple Green.

SoSmellyAir

Agreed. Yet so many chain waxing instructions still say to use gasoline as the first wash after wiping off the grease.

genejockey 

Well, it was the mid-70s in rural Pennsylvania. Probably peak level of irresponsible environmental and occupational practices.