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Using a hammer to crack a nut definitely gets the job done, but you risk damaging the nut in the process. By using a suitable nutcracker you remove the shell leaving the nut intact. That’s how it is when selecting a degreaser. The underlying surface must be considered to achieve satisfactory results and avoid potential problems with surface degradation.
Choosing the most suitable degreaser for the surface you are cleaning is essential.
Ask yourself...
Are you degreasing a painted surface or parts which contain soft metals?
Or are you cleaning a more robust surface where less care needs to be taken?
The guide below will help when selecting a degreaser type.
When degreasing a painted surface such as the under bonnet of a car, vehicle door sills or painted equipment or machinery such as a forklift you need to select a degreaser that will not damage painted surfaces.
For many light duty jobs a high quality multi-purpose cleaner like Clean-It will have ample degreasing power for an effective result and is desirable due to its’ safety attributes, versatility, economy and ease of use.
In situations where there is a large amount of grease and oil build up, a “heavy duty” cleaner may be required.
X-Stream is a more specialized water based degreaser that is alkaline but contains no free caustic. It is a very efficient workshop degreaser for under-bonnet cleaning, wheel wells, door sills, as well as industrial applications such as pressure wash cleaning of machinery, farm equipment electric motor housings, winches, wire cable etc.
Diluted with water, it can be used as an immersion degreaser, making X-Stream a safer alternative compared to caustic based cleaners. As an immersion cleaner, it is effective and safe to use on machined parts and components made from most materials including soft metals.
The Degreaser is a budget priced, water based degreaser giving very satisfactory results in many applications. It is non-caustic and works well with hot or cold water pressure washers to remove grease, oil, soot, road film and carbonaceous soils. It can also be applied by trigger sprayer or brush, agitated and rinsed with water. If price is an issue, The Degreaser is worth considering.
Before settling on a cleaner based on caustic soda or caustic potash to do your tough job, consider a powerful and concentrated cleaner such as Power Plus. Power Plus slots neatly between mildly alkaline and caustic based products and is the preferred formulation for cleaning and degreasing all surfaces except glass. It has many of the advantages of caustic based cleaners without the corrosive effects on soft metals.
Although alkaline caustic based degreasers are highly effective in removing grease and oil, they should be avoided if possible when cleaning painted or soft metal surfaces as they can cause irreparable damage.
Caustic based cleaners such as X-Stream Plus are more aggressive, work more rapidly on grease and oil and are more effective when removing burnt oils and carbon deposits.
Used as an immersion cleaner, they are extremely effective on steel and cast iron surfaces, but use on aluminium and other soft metals should be avoided unless etching of the surface is desirable or of no consequence.
With caution, they can be used on painted surfaces and soft metals, provided, surface etching is permitted or desirable. In these cases contact time needs to be monitored to get the desired result.
Wetting a painted surface with plain water before the application of the cleaning solution will help avoid hard-to-remove visible “runs” on paintwork.
Solvent based degreasers such as Grease-Rid and DeSolve are perfect options for cleaning painted surfaces. They are highly effective in removing grease, oil and tar from engines, machine parts etc. achieving outstanding results whilst leaving the cleaned surface undamaged.
At Fingertens we have a complete range of degreasers with and without caustic and the experience to suggest a suitable product for your application.