Peter,
I will admit to using gasoline in the past, and it worked fine for me and there were no
fires, explosions, or other known mishaps. So I have been there, done that. I don't
recommend it though,: 1) it is hard on the hands, removes skin oils and will be absorbed
into the skin with many potential health consequences, 2) the fumes make me sick, 3) the
vapors are heavier than air and explosive. For these reasons I stopped using it years
ago.
Now, not wanting to only preach at you, let me offer some personal insights:
1. Nothing on the market today works as well as some of the older products. There are
no "wonder cleaners" that provide all of the cleaning requirements where you dip it in
dirty and it comes out clean (there used to be some, but they have been removed from the
market).
2. I use a cleaning approach that starts out with cleaners that are easy and lower
health risk and then work my way up to harder/ more risky cleaners as need be. I start
out with wd-40 or simple green. Both are purchased in gallon sizes and are put into
pump spray containers. I have a cleaning tub in which I keep some of the green abrasive
pads, some toothbrushes, a scraper and some wire brushes. The parts to be cleaned are
put into the tub and sprayed. I put on latex gloves (100 pair for $6.00) and wipe down
the parts with a paper towel, scape, brush a little, wipe a little. This is to remove
the bulk of the gunk / oil / grit / dirt. The dirty paper towels and cleaner are then
thrown away. Then a second pass, or a third pass as necessary. A few things to
remember:
simple green is acidic (I think) and clean metal will rust quickly.
wd-40 has the benefit of preventing rust by leaving a slight oily film. good for rust
prevention, bad if you plan to paint the part.
mineral spirits and kerosine have similiar characteristics to wd-40 in my opinion.
lacquer thinnner and acetone make excellent cleaners, however they have many of the
drawbacks of gasoline (explosive vapors, low vapor pressure, hard on the skin, health
concern if there is much exposure). When I want very clean parts, or will be painting I
will use one of these as the final cleaning pass. Using small amounts, with gloves.
There is a cleaner called Agitene (?), sold by MSC, Graingers and other shops. About
$45.00 for 5 gallons. This has received high praise from a number of home shop type of
people. Claims are that it is easy on the hands, is non-flammable, low vapor pressure,
and that it does a very good job as a cleaner. I plan to try some soon.
Is this the information you were looking for ?
-Roger
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