What can I use on my loader that I can spray/pour/wipe on that will soften and/or dissolve residual grease? I'm somewhat generous with the grease gun when I PM my machine, so there's quite a bit of globs all over the place. When I hit it with the pressure washer all it does it smear it around. Hot water isn't an option.

 

Doesn't get much better than dawn dish soap......... Mix up some in a spray bottle and go to town.

 

Dawn works really good, there is some other things BH38 is a chemical we buy at work for degreasing truck frames, there is a purple stuff made by Zep, but is has some acid in it, as it will etch concrete. Also Zep orange is pretty good too. You could spray it down with mineral spirits, not sure if it would take the paint of, will all the suggested, try an no visible spot before spraying down the whole machine.

 

I was gonna suggest Zep and/or Dawn. We used dawn on the workover rigs down in the asphalt fields on the montana boarder. Mix it good and strong and if you can at least use warm water it helps. We put a metal pan on the exhaust for an hour or so, then added the soap. Works pretty well.

 

For water based,Dawn
To initiate, start with a d-limonene based (citrus solvent) product, Zeps is one from Home Despot or Lowes and when dissolved,rinse with Dawn in solution,rinse and protect from rust.

 

Use a compressed air engine degreaser gun like the $12.99 one here , http://www.princessauto.com/search-p...rd1=engine+gunand varsol on the suction feed. If you use a drip tray under it it collects the varsol and can be left to sit in a tall container so all the dirt is in the bottom then drained off to be reused again. The drip tray I use I actually bought in the US for around $6 at a hardware store.

 

Umm busboy,your Varsol is what we used to call Stoddard Dry Cleaning Solvent here.When I bought it the flash point was between 102 and 107 open cup tag test.Personally I would not like to spray that around in an open atmosphere,but each to their own.And,yes it is an excellent degreasing agent.However in the interest of safety,may I suggest you use a citrus product as it has a higher flash point as sold to the public.

 

for grease globs, I thin it with some WD-40. general gunk grease, nothing beats rig wash. you might loose a bit of paint in the process tho...

 

Super clean. Wallie world

 

I have a buddy who had a Boxer named Sarge. Ole Sarge loved to eat all the gunk outa valve covers and oil pans on a 300K+ motor that never got an oil change. Too bad he's long gone, He woulda licked that ole tractor clean.

 

Scott, I have been using E.D. 6000 for a long time now, buy it in 20 litre pails. spray it on wait a few minutes, then wash it off, and it takes pretty much everything with it. If you use it full strength, it will take certain types of paint too.

Not sure where to get it in your area, but it has performed very well for me, even using cold rinse water.

 

Thanks for everyone's replies!

I'm going to try the Dawn first, then start with the 'real' cleaners if that doesn't work.

 

There a an aluminum cleaning product we use called panel bright, friend of ours used it to clean aluminum trailers. It contains sodium hydroxide, a strong base, along with some other stuff.

Any cleaner that contains strong bases will saponify oils, basically turn them into soap.

We spray it on full strength and let it sit for a few minutes then wash it off.

 

Zep TNT, spray it on hose it off and done.

 

Purple Power Degreaser from Schucks / Oreillys
,cheap and it works great, $25 for 5 gallon bucket,
$13 for 2.5 gallon