Effective solvent / degreaser in 2025 for cleaning bearings etc?

[Wolfmac]

Gasoline. Simple and effective every time. I use a mason jar and spin the parts 4 or 5 times over the course of the day and finish with dish soap. To speed up the process I’ll use a parts cleaning brush to loosen the gunk and toss them back in for another swirl. Then let the gas evaporate outside.

 

[prewarkid]

What works best for me is acetone in a mason jar. Put all the greasy parts and shake them around until they are clean.

 

[GTs58]

Gasoline. Simple and effective every time. I use a mason jar and spin the parts 4 or 5 times over the course of the day and finish with dish soap. To speed up the process I’ll use a parts cleaning brush to loosen the gunk and toss them back in for another swirl. Then let the gas evaporate outside.

Lots of cleaning power and the price per gallon can't be beat.

 

[Jive Turkey]

What works best for me is acetone in a mason jar. Put all the greasy parts and shake them around until they are clean.

I do the same but with mineral spirits.

 

[Junkman Bob]

Gasoline. Simple and effective every time. I use a mason jar and spin the parts 4 or 5 times over the course of the day and finish with dish soap. To speed up the process I’ll use a parts cleaning brush to loosen the gunk and toss them back in for another swirl. Then let the gas evaporate outside.

GAS

 

[eagle123]

It's funny, before I started this thread here, I searched the internet, looked on a bunch of different forums (car, motorcycle, etc) and uncovered such a wide range of answers, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, mineral spirits, acetone, Purple Degreaser, Simple Green, etc. Then I thought, let me ask this question at The CABE, surely the bicycle guys have a favorite, I'd really like to narrow this down. Ha!!!

Well surely there are pros and cons to almost all the options. Almost anything petroleum will work quite well at eating grease and grime, but yields the risks of toxic fumes and flammability. Diesel fuel has the highest flash point, which means it's the safest in terms of fire / combustion risk. On the other end of the spectrum, gasoline is the most dangerous and I'd personally rule it out for any type of indoor use, unless you're dealing with not more than a ball jar's worth. But even then, one spark in the wrong spot at the wrong time could lead to injury or the risk of burning down your shop.

Kerosene and mineral spirits are sort of in-between gas and diesel in terms of flash point and could be considered safe for indoor use. It's been said that diesel fuel, while the safest, is the least effective though. This leaves kerosene and mineral spirits as perhaps the best overall choices, best compromise between risk factor and effectiveness. The flash point of kerosene and mineral spirits is said to be not lower than about 100F degrees, which means at any temperature below 100F degrees, these will not emit combustible vapors, unlike gasoline, which is always emitting dangerous, combustible vapors until it's gets down to -45F degrees.

As for non-petroleum based cleaners, there would seem to be zero safety risks and almost zero health risks. But across the board, they are probably not as effective at dissolving old, heavily crusted on grease and grime. They will likely not work nearly as fast in any case. Though, as I had mentioned in my first post, using heat might raise their effectiveness way up. Per my research, a lot of folks claimed that heating up non-petroleum based cleaners (to say 120 - 150 degrees) was a serious game changer, over not heating. So this route is tempting. Again, for small parts, all you'd need is an old cooking pot and a hot plate. I see highly rated hot plates on Amazon for $17.

Because I like keeping things simple and don't have a lot of space in my shop, I think I may first try the kerosene alternative in my cooking pot (thus no need for heat). Being that I won't be cleaning old bearings and such every single day, I think I will survive the occasional exposure to toxic fumes (will work outdoors whenever possible or keep windows open). My cooking pot has a heavy metal lid, so when the parts are just soaking, the fumes will be contained in any case.

Then, as mentioned within the last few posts, a great idea for agitation is to place the small parts in a jar with some cleaner and swirl around. So I'm thinking I may first soak parts in kerosene alternative for say a full day to loosen up the grime, then next, "rinse" the parts by placing them in a ball jar filled with perhaps acetone and swirling them. Final rinse stage, a quick blast with pressurized brake cleaner for good luck, then compressed air. Perhaps overkill, but to me, bearings and such can never be too clean. Allowing caked on grease and grime to remain in the spots you cannot see is not an option.

 

[Robert Troub]

It's funny, before I started this thread here, I searched the internet, looked on a bunch of different forums (car, motorcycle, etc) and uncovered such a wide range of answers, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, mineral spirits, acetone, Purple Degreaser, Simple Green, etc. Then I thought, let me ask this question at The CABE, surely the bicycle guys have a favorite, I'd really like to narrow this down. Ha!!!

Well surely there are pros and cons to almost all the options. Almost anything petroleum will work quite well at eating grease and grime, but yields the risks of toxic fumes and flammability. Diesel fuel has the highest flash point, which means it's the safest in terms of fire / combustion risk. On the other end of the spectrum, gasoline is the most dangerous and I'd personally rule it out for any type of indoor use, unless you're dealing with not more than a ball jar's worth. But even then, one spark in the wrong spot at the wrong time could lead to injury or the risk of burning down your shop.

Kerosene and mineral spirits are sort of in-between gas and diesel in terms of flash point and could be considered safe for indoor use. It's been said that diesel fuel, while the safest, is the least effective though. This leaves kerosene and mineral spirits as perhaps the best overall choices, best compromise between risk factor and effectiveness. The flash point of kerosene and mineral spirits is said to be not lower than about 100F degrees, which means at any temperature below 100F degrees, these will not emit combustible vapors, unlike gasoline, which is always emitting dangerous, combustible vapors until it's gets down to -45F degrees.

As for non-petroleum based cleaners, there would seem to be zero safety risks and almost zero health risks. But across the board, they are probably not as effective at dissolving old, heavily crusted on grease and grime. They will likely not work nearly as fast in any case. Though, as I had mentioned in my first post, using heat might raise their effectiveness way up. Per my research, a lot of folks claimed that heating up non-petroleum based cleaners (to say 120 - 150 degrees) was a serious game changer, over not heating. So this route is tempting. Again, for small parts, all you'd need is an old cooking pot and a hot plate. I see highly rated hot plates on Amazon for $17.

Because I like keeping things simple and don't have a lot of space in my shop, I think I may first try the kerosene alternative in my cooking pot (thus no need for heat). Being that I won't be cleaning old bearings and such every single day, I think I will survive the occasional exposure to toxic fumes (will work outdoors whenever possible or keep windows open). My cooking pot has a heavy metal lid, so when the parts are just soaking, the fumes will be contained in any case.

Then, as mentioned within the last few posts, a great idea for agitation is to place the small parts in a jar with some cleaner and swirl around. So I'm thinking I may first soak parts in kerosene alternative for say a full day to loosen up the grime, then next, "rinse" the parts by placing them in a ball jar filled with perhaps acetone and swirling them. Final rinse stage, a quick blast with pressurized brake cleaner for good luck, then compressed air. Perhaps overkill, but to me, bearings and such can never be too clean. Allowing caked on grease and grime to remain in the spots you cannot see is not an option.

My “go to” is gas in a jar with a top, for bearings and such
For sprockets and cranks I use a simple green like product
Both work well

 

[zedsn]

I too have used old gasoline from lawnmowers with old toothbrushes with gloves sometimes. Works every time.

 

[Wolfmac]

Whatever your poison, agitation is key

 

[Miq]

I like simple green but it takes more effort/time. It also never explodes.

If you really don't care about the toxicity (liver and kidney) get a hold of some carbon tetrachloride. The bottle my grandfather hid in his stash disolved everything we ever used it on. Always followed by him saying, "and don't tell your mother".