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Quick and simple way to clean flat spring steel of oils?

troop231

Plastic
Joined
Jun 15, 2014
Location
OH, USA
Hello, I am wanting to ask for advice on a simple, effective, and hopefully inexpensive way of removing the steel mill oil and finger oils from laser cut flat 1075 spring steel parts that we sell. Parts are 0.020" thick and can range in size from a credit card all the way to 22 x 22 inches.

Attached is a photo of two parts showing the contaminants we'd like to remove quickly.

Ideally, we would like something that doesn't leave a residue and requires no extra steps to be ready to place into the box for the customer's shipment.

Would filling a storage tote/tub full of a purple degreaser and submerging the parts work?

Thank you so much for your ideas!

q8IbYCx.jpg
 
Maybe sponge bath (not just dunk in tank) with purple degreaser, rinse with clean water, rinse with 90+% isopropyl alcohol.
 
From hard won AKA $$$ experience.


After degreasing those spring steel parts will need some sort of protection against both human delivered and atmospheric corrosion.
 
From hard won AKA $$$ experience.


After degreasing those spring steel parts will need some sort of protection against both human delivered and atmospheric corrosion.

They are powdercoated after cleaned.

Edit: we just tried castrol super clean and it wasn't effective. The oil film remained and was smeared around.
 
We use a vapor degreaser for our hard to clean parts.

It uses Trichloroethylene, slightly heated, and is very effective in cleaning parts and leaving no residue. it cleans with only the vapor from the liquid, no scrubbing or wiping.

For our steel parts, we place them in an airtight bag directly after they are degreased, and also use a desiccant in the bag.

Consult anyone in the metal plating industry for more details.
 
We use a vapor degreaser for our hard to clean parts.

It uses Trichloroethylene, slightly heated, and is very effective in cleaning parts and leaving no residue. it cleans with only the vapor from the liquid, no scrubbing or wiping.

For our steel parts, we place them in an airtight bag directly after they are degreased, and also use a desiccant in the bag.

Consult anyone in the metal plating industry for more details.

We couldn't find a vapor degreaser setup that fit into our budget unfortunately, even second-hand machines.

We are going to try Naphtha next and see if that works.

Also, I thought Trichloroethylene is almost impossible to get today in decent quantity?
 
They are powdercoated after cleaned.

Edit: we just tried castrol super clean and it wasn't effective. The oil film remained and was smeared around.

Now you tell us :D never mind, quick dirty and very cheap, boil / very hot wash them in washing soda (Sodium carbonate) - cheap, over the counter and the waste can go down the drain.
 
We couldn't find a vapor degreaser setup that fit into our budget unfortunately, even second-hand machines.

We are going to try Naphtha next and see if that works.

Also, I thought Trichloroethylene is almost impossible to get today in decent quantity?

That's kind of why I suggested talking to a plating pro.

You also might try acetone with a micro fiber wipe. I'm afraid that the naptha will leave residue.

Have you tried Dawn dish washing liquid? we use that in our vibradyne to clean the drawing oil off of our larger stamped parts. It rinses off with a little warm water and will not stain if you dry your part soon after the washing process.

Now that I'm thinking of your problem, have you tried an everyday dishwasher with the heated dry cycle turned on?

Crazy, I know, but it just may work.........
 
That's kind of why I suggested talking to a plating pro.

You also might try acetone with a micro fiber wipe. I'm afraid that the naptha will leave residue.

Have you tried Dawn dish washing liquid? we use that in our vibradyne to clean the drawing oil off of our larger stamped parts. It rinses off with a little warm water and will not stain if you dry your part soon after the washing process.

Now that I'm thinking of your problem, have you tried an everyday dishwasher with the heated dry cycle turned on?

Crazy, I know, but it just may work.........

That's a good idea about the dishwasher. We are just very hesitant/cautious of bringing the parts into/near water since another competitor of ours has had issues with rusting over time.

The product is consumable in nature, but is also a type of product that needs to look high quality until the user starts to consume the item/coating. The coating is a high grade polymer that has texture and aids in adhesion for the user, and the spring plate facilitates in removing the part the user 'glues' to the coating by flexing it.

That's why we came here to seek advice.
 
We are just very hesitant/cautious of bringing the parts into/near water since another competitor of ours has had issues with rusting over time.


That's why we came here to seek advice.

If steel is as close to 100% oil free as poss, without some sort of protection, or storage in a climate controlled ''room'' it will rust - period.


As has been suggested - consult your powder coater.
 
If steel is as close to 100% oil free as poss, without some sort of protection, or storage in a climate controlled ''room'' it will rust - period.


As has been suggested - consult your powder coater.

We do the powdercoating and immediately after cleaning. We want a less laborious way of cleaning.
 
If it were my problem, I would boil the parts in a strong solution of lye combined with mechanical agitation to make sure all sides are exposed, then pressure wash.

I don't care if you powder coat them, galvanize them, plate with nickel, whatever. Eventually the rust will win. Always.

metalmagpie
 
Reoving oil

Hello, I am wanting to ask for advice on a simple, effective, and hopefully inexpensive way of removing the steel mill oil and finger oils from laser cut flat 1075 spring steel parts that we sell. Parts are 0.020" thick and can range in size from a credit card all the way to 22 x 22 inches.

Attached is a photo of two parts showing the contaminants we'd like to remove quickly.

Ideally, we would like something that doesn't leave a residue and requires no extra steps to be ready to place into the box for the customer's shipment.

Would filling a storage tote/tub full of a purple degreaser and submerging the parts work?

Thank you so much for your ideas!

q8IbYCx.jpg
Have you thought of dish washing detergent if your degreaser idea doesn't work? Some oils will not be removed with a degreaser. A detergent in warm water will take all oils.

Roger
 
We ended up trying VM&P Naphtha from Sherwin Williams today with a microfiber towel and it worked perfectly leaving the plates literally squeaky clean running a Nitrile glove over it. Even the IPA didn't yield a squeaky clean result.
 
Well, you have a process, but I am surprised, almost shocked that the purple cleaner did not touch it. Some special oil?

That stuff always cleans things for me. But it is not a "wipe-on/wipe off" cleaner, you have to dunk the part for a bit. Sounds like your process is better suited as a "process step".
 
When I worked in the focused ion beam business, we did tests of cleaning solutions to determine which cleaner would do the best job without leaving any residue. Mr. Clean was the winner. Any residue that remained after cleaning would cause problems with vacuum pressure or charging of parts due to the high voltages present and Mr. Clean rinsed well and did not create any issues. Parts were also rinsed with lab grade IPA and dried with CDA (clean dry air) blast.
 








 
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