Still going through my parents estate stuff and managed to get my Dad's old Snap-on tool box home finally. Had to take all the drawers out to make it even able to be moved. He worked hard but never cleaned the box and it shows by all the years of grease smudges and just general oil etc. I tried to clean it off some last night as I was putting the drawers back in but nothing seems to get it clean. I've tried Dawn dish soap, quick detailer, WD-40 and even so far as brake cleaner but it's not working plus that is thinning the paint. Anyone have any thing they use?
Heated pressure washer? Never tried it personally, but I have a friend who uses one to wash all kinds of stuff and it's magic.
Lysol makes this foaming cleaner that does a really good job on that stuff. Brighton and some others have similar, spray it on and once the foam clears wipe it off. We use Lucas oil stabilizer regularly and this Lysol spray is really the only thing that cleans it besides diesel.
In reply to chandler :
Like Lysol bathroom cleaner?
RevRico
UltimaDork
10/29/20 10:08 a.m.
Steam cleaner, simple green, extra strength dawn would be my go to choices
In reply to Mr_Asa :
I tried Windex, no dice. I have to basically stand on the rag and wipe to get any of it to come off with anything
Gunk engine cleaner is worth a shot...
Mr_Asa
SuperDork
10/29/20 10:15 a.m.
The ammonia content in windex is pretty low
Might have to spray it on and let it sit for a bit. For me I've taken off just about everything I've attacked with a squirt bottle of greased lightning with 3-4 oz of ammonia added.
Reminds me, I need to ask how to get rid of something that has laughed at my GL+A combo.
Placemotorsports said:
In reply to chandler :
Like Lysol bathroom cleaner?
It's a weird foaming disinfectant actually, it says it kills HIV and quite a few others things on contact. Yikes
Saron81
HalfDork
10/29/20 11:02 a.m.
Simple green, Super Clean, or similar degreaser would be my go to. FWIW... I have an old Snap On box as well... and none of this stuff comes off of it. I tried degrease and then cleaner wax, and gave up. Patina it is, lol.
I've had good luck with Simple Green
Another comment for Simple Green. Straight, not diluted. It will remove a small amount of paint but not wear through.
TSP is my go to and it will pull the grease off. Then a pre paint degrease wipe down to get the last of it off.
In reply to wearymicrobe :
TSP?
As a last ditch... wear the grease stains with pride as proof of a job hard done and a box that has lived well.
The tool box equivalent of "Chicks dig scars"
I work on machines from shops for a living. Trans flush machines and such. They. Are. Nasty. Nothing gets treated as poorly as how a tech treats something that he doesn't own. But anyway, simple green is what I use. And it has to be mixed about 50/5 with water. For some reason it works better mixed than it does straight.
Thanks guys, I've got some more ideas to try and then I'll leave it as my Dad's toolbox patina
joey48442 said:
I work on machines from shops for a living. Trans flush machines and such. They. Are. Nasty. Nothing gets treated as poorly as how a tech treats something that he doesn't own. But anyway, simple green is what I use. And it has to be mixed about 50/5 with water. For some reason it works better mixed than it does straight.
Probably unrelated to this specific problem, but I read a report from a medical research place (John Hopkins?) once that said that 70% alcohol (30% water) is better at disinfecting than 90%. Something about the water serving as a way to get more alcohol molecules in contact with the walls of the virus/bacterial cells. I'm not clear on the specifics (obviously! :)), but I thought that was interesting. Maybe it's something like that?
Appleseed said:
In reply to wearymicrobe :
TSP?
Tri-Sodium Phosphate. Check the paint section of your local big box store
Leave it. It's like scars for tool boxes.
Another vote for a simple green mix, but you should especially try to make the mix either as warm or hot as you can and get it to foam. You need it to "lift" the grease off and out, and things need to be warm to open the pores.
WonkoTheSane (Forum Supporter) said:
joey48442 said:
I work on machines from shops for a living. Trans flush machines and such. They. Are. Nasty. Nothing gets treated as poorly as how a tech treats something that he doesn't own. But anyway, simple green is what I use. And it has to be mixed about 50/5 with water. For some reason it works better mixed than it does straight.
Probably unrelated to this specific problem, but I read a report from a medical research place (John Hopkins?) once that said that 70% alcohol (30% water) is better at disinfecting than 90%. Something about the water serving as a way to get more alcohol molecules in contact with the walls of the virus/bacterial cells. I'm not clear on the specifics (obviously! :)), but I thought that was interesting. Maybe it's something like that?
Yes- it works because the water opens the pores of the living cell which allows more alcohol inside to dehydrate the internals. 90% isn't as good because it's so potent externally the cell tries to harden itself against it.
