HOME FAQs BOOKS JOBS: Help Wanted Suggestions you are here: Hotline/Forum => Letter 14639

Metal cleaning-degreasing

Metal cleaning/stripping.

Cleaning a large piece of steel that is caked with grease maybe 3 inches thick. There must be some chemical that will instantly dissolve grease on contact and not be toxic. Thought about muriatic acid, but fumes to overwhelming. Must be a no fume acid out there?

Tony Underwood
Napa - Newark, Ohio

Hi Tony,

You have a three-inch-thick layer of grease and you want something that will work instantly? I think you're asking for too much.

The acid approach will not work well. You should try a solvent-based cleaner or some other type of cleaner with a detergent system for cutting grease. In order to get all of the soil removed, my guess is that you will either have to submerse the part in an appropriate cleaning bath for a relatively long time, or apply some kind of mechanical action to dislodge the grease. Or, very likely, you will have to do both.

Good luck!

George Gorecki
- Naperville, Illinois

ANSWER, or ASK a related Q. POST an unrelated Q.See HOT Topics

Disclaimer: It is not possible to diagnose a finishing problem or the hazards of an operation via these pages. All information
presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. The
internet is largely anonymous; some names may be fictitious and some recommendations may be deliberately harmful.

If you are seeking a product or service related to metal finishing, please check these Directories: