Best way to remove cosmoline/grease?

[jdindadell]

So I have a few kits and a bunch of wood stock parts that are covered in cosmoline.

I have heard that one can boil the metal parts in water/? to remove the grease?

As for the wood, I am thinking some simple green and warm water, and use a scrub brush. I do not mind if that strips the old finish off, as I would like to oil the wood and it needs to be very clean for that.

Any help would be gladly accepted, and much appreciated!

 

[Crimson]

Brake cleaner on the metal, test a small nonvisible spot first. Of its painted that's a bad idea, parkerized or blued may or may not effect it. For the wood goes hoppes on a rag and wipe it all down really good then oil.

 

[Smokeless]

This is another one of those, "more than one way to skin a cat" deals. Whatever you feel most comfortable with is the best way. I would break the gun down as much as possible and go to work with odorless mineral spirits. Cosmoline is non-toxic (unless ingested) and protects very well against corrosion so some cosmo left over is a good thing. Don't forget to disassemble the bolt and clean it well. If you are going to refinish the stock I guess it doesn't matter what you clean it with. However, the cosmo will be retained in the wood with just a surface cleaning and when the stock is exposed to heat the cosmo will bleed out of the wood. There are people who put stocks in the oven, a black trash bag outside, in the attic on a hot day, etc. to try and bleed out all the cosmo. I recently purchased an SKS and will soon be performing this chore. Here are some good links I found.

http://207.36.233.89/shooting2006/lowheatmethod/index.asp

http://207.36.233.89/shooting/cosmoline/index.asp

Good luck!

 

[dwr461]

For really cosmo saturated stocks where the original finish isn't an issue I'll use a nylon brush and the bathroom cleaner scrubbing bubbles with warm water. Then let the stock dry thoroughly. If you've ever seen a cross section of wood from a cosmo saturated stock you'd see just how far down the cosmo will go into the wood. Inches in some cases. To help get that out I've tried to methods. They both involve putting the rifle in a black, plastic trash bag in the sun. For the first one I've mummy wrapped the stock with cheap toilet paper. Keep putting the stock out in the sun with fresh TP until no more cosmo comes off. I like this one because it'll let you know you're progressing better than the other one I've tried. The second version I replaced the toilet paper with kitty litter in the bag. It REALLY pulls out the cosmo. But how do you know when you're done? Both of the methods are more time consuming but gave me good results.

Dave

Dave

 

[Spent Brass]

Last SKS I did I soaked all the metal in kerosene. I took the wood and wrapped it in old towels and put it in the oven on the "warm" cycle for a few hours then changed the towels and did it again. I haven't had any problems with cosmo seepage on that rifle since then. But like stated above theres a lot of different ways to get the job done.

 

[BigNick73]

for stocks I like purple power and water, for the metal diesel.

 

[LACamper]

if you're refinishing then use the dishwasher... if not I've used a wallpaper steamer with some slow success. Better was garbage bags in a hot attic.

 

[SpeedRacer]

Unfortunately you missed your chance on the "leave it in the sun" techniques. Been outside yet this morning?

That does work well, if you're willing to wait 6 months. Brake cleaner can hurt some finishes, so keep an eye out. It does work though. Every technique I've ever used has been covered already, so all I can say is there's just no FUN way to do it. Just wear gloves and take your time.

 

[dwr461]

Unfortunately you missed your chance on the "leave it in the sun" techniques. Been outside yet this morning?

Well he could move himself and his family to New Zealand where it's now summer.

Dave

 

[jdindadell]

Ok, good info. Many thanks Gents!

I will see what the house prices are like in New Zealand. Pretty sure they do not have any pesky gun laws...

I think the tp wrapping and heat will work great. Keep in mind I own an auto body shop, and I have a very big oven that we paint the cars in. I can wrap the stocks and throw them in there every time I bake a car.

I think purple power and a scub brush will work on the metal. Soak all the metal parts and let them sit, then a good scub, rinse and repeat. I plan to blast them and refinish with epoxy anyways.

 

[hunter5567]

yea, that's a whole lot better way to do it in the shop oven vs. using the missus's oven. You'll risk getting shot with the finished product that way.

 

[Cornbread504]

Dr Bronner's soap works pretty well on the metal and wood, it's a natural hemp oil soap that will not damage anything but somehow manages to completely destroy any grease, oil, or dirt that it touches... I buy this stuff by the gallon and use it for pretty much every type of cleaning you can think of.

 

[xobelkcat]

Ive used non-clorinated brake cleaner on all of my de-cosmo jobs and havnt had any ill effect on the finishes.
Just my two cents.

 

[jdindadell]

Thanks for the info gents. I have quite a few pieces to do, so I may try all of the above and report back how they did.

 

[SpeedRacer]

Ive used non-clorinated brake cleaner on all of my de-cosmo jobs and havnt had any ill effect on the finishes.
Just my two cents.

Just test a small area first. Brake cleaner does work well for a lot of things, but I have had it take off a couple finishes before. PSL mags (paint I believe), and one or two small parts that were blued. Park seems to hold up fine.

 

[tonyrou]

i use carburetor cleaner. wonder why they keep rusting though?

 

[DWT]

Try trisodium phosphate dissolved in warm water. It's cheap and it works.