What to use in parts washer ?

I asked for a small parts washer for Fathers Day. Assuming I get one what to use for a cleaner. Back in the day we used something we refereed to as varsal.
It did the job but was pretty rough on skin. Would soapy water work ? Any suggestions ?

 

The one at work I mix mineral spirits and diesel in it. It works great!!

 

the one we have here at our shop is mineral spirits as well...

if you find that its rough on your skin, add a quart of trans fluid to it...

 

i just got one and put a biodegradable detergent called super clean. comes in a purple bottle, also purple liquid. sold at walmart. smells kinda like simple green, only not as strong of an odor. its bad a$$. use gloves. dont put anythig in it that you want to keep the paint on. its stripping the paint inside the washer as we speak.

 

I have the same small parts washer. I just went to the autoparts/industrial supply store and bought a 5 gal pail of cleaning solvent. Varsol and other brands of cleaning solvent are what those washers are designed for. It cleans well and is designed to be less flammable. I am kind of surprised that anyone with a parts washer here is not running regular wash solvent. Another place to grab Varsol or other cleaning solvent is at your local bulk oil supplier. Varsol is Shell's brand name I believe.
Greg

 

I was thinking of trying water and dollar store pine sol. ?

 

I use mineral spirits it costs around $10 per gallon and most farm/ranch stores have it in 5 gallon pals.

 

I always used Kerosene. Stinks though.

 

I think the main reason people dont use the actual solvent is due to price. Our 40 gal washer at work was gonna be almost $400 for 20 gal of parts solvent. After speaking to a buddy that sells solvents he told me most name brand solvents are similar to mineral spirits but have an additive that makes it less flammable and also dosnt evaporate as easily. Thats the reason for adding something in with it, diesel/kerosene.

 

I have a friend that sells solvents and surfactants. He confirms this regarding washing solution. The problem with using home brewed mineral spirit compounds is flammability. That can be a rather big issue.

 

I use the stuff at tractor supply. I buy it on sale for something like $30 per 5 gallons.......

I like it. It does not stink, cleans good and when I'm in it for any length of time, it does not burn my skin. It's kinda soothing..............

 

This my parts washer. It' commercial grade and is referred to as an aqueous type unit. It was designed to run either petro solvent or water base. If a fellow want to run water base there are a couple of thing the machine should have 1. it should be stainless or plastic ( detergents are usually caustic and thereby corrosive) 2. it should have a heating element ( detergents work best with heat.) 3. It should have a filtration system
and because i'm here i will mention that mine is for sale