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surface plate cleaning question

norb

Cast Iron
Joined
Sep 24, 2009
Location
tonawanda new york
Hi to all, I have several granite surface plates in my shop, one being kind of large (3x5 starett pink). I had always used srarrett cleaner on them. Well I ran out of it and used some orange cleaner. Wow it did an outstanding job, much better than the starett. Am I doing any harm to my plate with the orange cleaner? It must contain citric acid. Does it etch the stone?:confused:
 
Norb:
I never tried the orange stuff because I started using Windex about 40 years ago and have never had a problem. Never had any ill effect on granite plate, black, pink or gray.
Mike
 
Not to hijack here, but when I clean my pink Starrett stone should the blue come out completely, or is the purple haze an inevitable condition?

I've taken it off with acetone. Maybe it can get permanently stained, but acetone seems to eat dykem damn well.
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Like others have said, lots of things work to clean a surface plate. It is granite after all and hard to damage, especially if it's your average shop surface plate.
 
X2 on the acetone!

Cleans the plate with no residue, and clears up the sinuses like you wouldn't believe!!

Come to think it....I better go clean it again! :D
 
X2 on the acetone!

Cleans the plate with no residue, and clears up the sinuses like you wouldn't believe!!

Come to think it....I better go clean it again! :D

I'm pretty sure all my years and gallons acetone is why I'm now half brain dead. :crazy:
 
Isopropyl alcohol works well for cleaning as well, and is probably a little safer than acetone, both for brain cells and fire safety reasons. I like the Starrett cleaner, which I believe contains some diacetone alcohol as well as a detergent-type component, and some other "stuff" as well. It has been my experience that the Starrett cleaner leaves a "silkier" feeling on the plate surface, IF you apply and remove exactly as the label says.
Note that granite is somewhat "porous" as well, and the comment about bluing residue leaching out of the surface is simply an indication that some of it remains in the surface cavities and micro-fissures of the granite, much like oil spots remain. I find that having a puddle of alcohol on the plate on a spot that is oil-stained is much more effective at removing the oil than just a wipe with alcohol. The alcohol "sucks up" the oil out of the surface, and similar action will probably help to get rid of bluing residue also. If it matters to you.
 
I would personally recommend M.E.K. (Methyl Ethyl Ketone). I've heard someone say that it is available at Walmart. I have 4 5 gallon cans of it, love it, and use it everyday. I guess you could say it is similar to acetone. But M.E.K. dries just a little less quickly and is stronger. Keep it off of painted surfaces, though. And use it in open ventilated areas.

Don't try this at Home:
It also heals cuts faster. Get a cut on your hand and soak it in MEK for a few minutes. It burns nicely. The cut will surprisingly heal more quickly (opinion). A place I worked years ago, worked in the paint booth. If someone on the floor got a cut, they would soak it in our tank of MEK (used to clean paint equip.). They believed too that it heals cuts faster.
 
Isopropyl alcohol works well for cleaning as well, and is probably a little safer than acetone, both for brain cells and fire safety reasons. I like the Starrett cleaner, which I believe contains some diacetone alcoh


I've been wondering about this. It's been discussed on here a bit. I just emailed a friend of mine who is a very accomplished chemist and Prof and University of Washington. I trust his info.

Neither of these are particularly toxic. Certainly you will not feel good if either of these are consumed. Isopropanol is oxidized to acetone by the liver and as such is hard on the liver. It takes A LOT of acetone to do any real damage.

Acetone has a strong odor because of its high vapor pressure, and as such it is particular flammable. Also, acetone evaporates faster and will give more of a buzz due to its immediate higher concentration in air than isopropanol.

This more or less confirms what has been said on here before.
 
Isopropyl and methyl alcohols are very toxic. It should also be pointed out that alcohol does not dissolve oil. You need a cleaner that either dissolves the oils on the plate or emulsifies them, aka as a detergent.
Starrett plate cleaner is the best I have seen. Simple green is good. If you can stand the fumes, Purple Power degreaser is good but overkill.
 
John -- thanks for the clarification. That's interesting regarding the actual metabolic process for IPA. Have to read more about that to get my chemistry straightened out.

TD -- I wouldn't put the two of them necessarily in the same class of toxicity, considering the availability of "rubbing alcohol", albeit typically at 70% concentration. I absolutely wouldn't use methanol for that purpose. Agreed that the alcohol is a "weak" solvent for oil, but it is fairly effective at the stated purpose, when left to soak in.
 
When I first started playing with fiberglass airplanes in the early 1980's, the manufacturer told us that MEK was extremely toxic.

However, that no longer seems to be the informed scientific opinion. The EPA, in the following article:

Solvents Industry Group : recent solvents industry developments

stated:
On December 15, 2005 EPA issued a final rule removing methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) from the list of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) under section 112(b) of the Clean Air Act.
 








 
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