Cleaning Greasy Old Bolts

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Simple Green, let it soak in a glass jar and shake it around every now and then. If there's really tough crud, I step up to soaking them in muriatic (hydrochloric) acid, or I hit them with a wire wheel.
 
I wipe off or scrape off whatever heavy duty crud I can, then wire-wheel them. If you're in no hurry, a 10:1 mixture of water to molasses is a cheap way to get grime off but it does take a while.
 
This is what gasoline is for. For restoration, gas first, then bead blast, then chase threads, then paint or plate. Sign on the back of a dragster said it best- "Gasoline is for cleaning parts, Alcohol is for drinking, Nitro is for racing."
 
I have a large parts washer full of Purple Power. You can buy it in 5 gallon buckets if needed.
 
I had a really large batch once. I put them in a cement mixer with 50 lbs of sand some water and some purple degreaser. It got most of it off, but I still had to media blast them and chase the threads before sending them off for plating.
 
I scrub them in the parts washer with full strength Simple Green, with a wire brush.
If I'm doing something important or a restoration, for a super clean finish, I'll then blast them with plastic bead media. Bolts come out looking like new.
 
Old dish washer and non explosive cleaner of choice. Regular dishwasher soap works too
 
I fill a gatorade bottle with gasoline 3/4 of the way and let them soak in there and then shake it/swish it around a few times the next day and I use a telescoping magnet to get them out. If they are still grimey after that I will take a screw driver to break up the thick stuff and repeat until I'm happy.
 
I leave them in a basket in the corner of my parts washer. I soak them down every time i use the parts washer.
 
By a cheap crock pot, put your dirty hardware in it, top it off will un-diluted anti-freeze, put the lid on it and plug it in. when and if it starts to boil, put it on medium and let it cook overnight. Rinse the hardware off and blast if necessary.
 
Wire wheel for some. Muratic Acid for some. Most go into the tumbler first for 24 hours, sometimes longer.
I use stainless steel pins (Media) same as I use to tumble brass for reloading.
What the tumbler doesn't get is the the extra crusty ones... They get the muratic acid and wire wheel. Sometimes back into the tumbler for the final polish.
Be carefull with Acid! Nasty stuff, keep some baking soda in water handy to neutralize. Use PPE!
:thumbsup:


Thumlers High Speed Tumbler
426185.webp
 
For nuts and bolts, I soak overnight in a can of lacquer thinner and then either wire wheel brush or vibe tumble in walnut media. The wire wheel is much faster, but the walnut media is less likely to fling a bolt across the room.
 
Be careful with muratic acid, it will eat stuff up!
Me. my cars are so bad I use greasy bolts so some parts of my cars are not rusty!!!!!! Reminds me of old Pontiac bud, he pours atf on his truck floor!!! No rust! His stuff gets a little messy though!
 
Gas or lacquer thinner and a wire wheel.
I have one 4 inch grinder that I adapted a bench grinder wire wheel to that just kicks *** on that kind of stuff.
I tell people you have to be careful because it's a bit like holding a pissed off badger by the tail, but it sure does get after it.
 
Parts washer with the purple stuff. Then wire wheel. Evaporust bucket for the rusty stuff. Have a left over baby bottle cleaner I fill with vinegar for small rusty stuff. Works great. Works like the crockpot idea.
 
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