I was wondering what types of cleaning solutions / solvents and techniques can be used for effectively and efficiently cleaning the oil and pitch off your chains before sharpening?
Saw chain cleaning?
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Petrol works & is a good use for old fuel if you have it. Sodium hydroxide aka caustic soda or lye works well but is caustic to people too & will also strip away any trace of oil so bare that in mind.
I use a kerosene based cleaner, it's not the greatest but I have plenty of it & just tend to drop chains in it & forget about them for a while.
Just cutting some clean wood can work wonders.
@Philbert has a number of related posts & threads if you go looking
I use a kerosene based cleaner, it's not the greatest but I have plenty of it & just tend to drop chains in it & forget about them for a while.
Just cutting some clean wood can work wonders.
@Philbert has a number of related posts & threads if you go looking
Diesel fuel followed by dish detergent. Can save the diesel for starting brush fires. Dish detergent gets rid of diesel smell
WI_Hedgehog
You bought a WHAT???!!
If filing by hand in the field then I go by feel (first, it'll get me close) and sound (second, the sound when there's a remaining imperfection is distinct to me). The STIHL pitch cleaner spray (convenient) or a woodworking store pitch cleaner pump spray (because you can get it in bulk pretty reasonably) on the chain before and after cutting works wonders for pitch. (wear gloves when moving the chain, I wear loose leather work gloves for groundwork and filing, tight chainsaw gloves when operating the saw)
If using a filing jig indoors then Gunk Purple cleaner, or citrus-based cleaner, then light WD40 in a glass (or fuel-safe plastic) jar. Makes them nice to sharpen on the workbench and without toxic solvent fumes. Wear a glove/gloves when moving chain to prevent cutting your fingers (and it seems WD40 is not great to get into the bloodstream, though mine handled it just fine without infection after enough blood flushed the wound, however my last cut was deep enough to convince me to wear work gloves when filing chain).
For show/display saws heat up the non-flamable solution to a slow boil and toss the chains in for 5 minutes or so (with lid on and vent fan running, don't breath cleaner...your lungs won't like it) then pull them out with a tongs. If they're shiny-clean put them in WD40 but don't sharpen them or the grand-kids will cut themselves playing when you're not looking and the purple-haired daughter-in-law will flip out...or if she's reasonable sharpen them and let them cut themselves so they learn a lesson on how not to get seriously hurt later in life...those inexpensive lessens when young are valuable learning tools for life in my opinion.
If using a filing jig indoors then Gunk Purple cleaner, or citrus-based cleaner, then light WD40 in a glass (or fuel-safe plastic) jar. Makes them nice to sharpen on the workbench and without toxic solvent fumes. Wear a glove/gloves when moving chain to prevent cutting your fingers (and it seems WD40 is not great to get into the bloodstream, though mine handled it just fine without infection after enough blood flushed the wound, however my last cut was deep enough to convince me to wear work gloves when filing chain).
For show/display saws heat up the non-flamable solution to a slow boil and toss the chains in for 5 minutes or so (with lid on and vent fan running, don't breath cleaner...your lungs won't like it) then pull them out with a tongs. If they're shiny-clean put them in WD40 but don't sharpen them or the grand-kids will cut themselves playing when you're not looking and the purple-haired daughter-in-law will flip out...or if she's reasonable sharpen them and let them cut themselves so they learn a lesson on how not to get seriously hurt later in life...those inexpensive lessens when young are valuable learning tools for life in my opinion.
Lots of discussion on this. Some guys will roll their eyes and sneer at the thought.
I prefer to use non-flammable solvents, and stuff that doesn’t stink, so that I can do this in my basement laundry tub.
I use a water-based degreaser *containing sodium hydroxide* (lye), such as ‘Super Clean’ mixed 50:50 with water.
Soak 5 minutes, or so, then clean with an old toothbrush on an old, plastic cutting board. Rinse with water, then blow dry with compressed air, or in warm oven (200°F on old cookie sheet). Re-lube after sharpening.
I posted some related links in Post #41 of this thread:
https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/chain-hygiene.364993/page-3#post-7937421
Also, an illustration from an old McCulloch manual, to show that keeping chains clean is not necessarily a new idea.
Philbert
I prefer to use non-flammable solvents, and stuff that doesn’t stink, so that I can do this in my basement laundry tub.
I use a water-based degreaser *containing sodium hydroxide* (lye), such as ‘Super Clean’ mixed 50:50 with water.
Soak 5 minutes, or so, then clean with an old toothbrush on an old, plastic cutting board. Rinse with water, then blow dry with compressed air, or in warm oven (200°F on old cookie sheet). Re-lube after sharpening.
I posted some related links in Post #41 of this thread:
https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/chain-hygiene.364993/page-3#post-7937421
Also, an illustration from an old McCulloch manual, to show that keeping chains clean is not necessarily a new idea.
Philbert
I tried soaking a maple pitch chain in low odor mineral spirits. It was a complete failure. Went back to gasoline in bucket covered outdoors for now. Willing to attempt the lye method. I will try straight Spraynine this next time around. Also have a purple cleaner concentrate I didn't try yet on pitch coated loops.
Denatured alcohol might be a better option if just removing pitch. I use it on the saw casing, hand tools, etc., for pine sap.
Not all of the ‘Purple’ cleaners contain sodium hydroxide. Have to read the label carefully.
I was disappointed with one ‘Purple’ cleaner, which is how I learned. Even seen different, but very similar looking, ‘Purple’ cleaners from the same company (!), such as ZEP, Rubbermaid Commercial, etc., where some products list sodium hydroxide as an ingredient, and others don’t!
Philbert
Unimpressed 
Simple green product that smells like simple green but it's purple. It cleaned nothing like the old Puple Nurple, we called it, used back in the 1990s for engine and suspension cleanings on cars. It would foam up on aluminum intake manifolds so it definitely had some hydroxide in it likely lye based or sodium.
Simple green product that smells like simple green but it's purple. It cleaned nothing like the old Puple Nurple, we called it, used back in the 1990s for engine and suspension cleanings on cars. It would foam up on aluminum intake manifolds so it definitely had some hydroxide in it likely lye based or sodium.
Yeah, guys on this site used to praise ‘Purple Power’. I bought some similar looking ‘Super Clean’, because that was what I could find. Worked good.
When I, later, found ‘Purple Power’, it did not work as well. That’s when I started looking at ingredients.
In my ‘Chain Challenge’ thread, a l also tried pure lye (from the plumbing aisle), and making my own from wood ash.
They worked. But a chemist at ZEP convinced me that the commercial, water based cleaner/degreasers containing lye, also had other good stuff in them, for other kinds of dirt.
About $10 / gallon. Works well.
Pretty reasonable.
Philbert
When I, later, found ‘Purple Power’, it did not work as well. That’s when I started looking at ingredients.
In my ‘Chain Challenge’ thread, a l also tried pure lye (from the plumbing aisle), and making my own from wood ash.
They worked. But a chemist at ZEP convinced me that the commercial, water based cleaner/degreasers containing lye, also had other good stuff in them, for other kinds of dirt.
About $10 / gallon. Works well.
Pretty reasonable.
Philbert
Sodium hydroxide is much more active at higher temperatures so a lower concentration will perform better if you heat it up. I would be inclined to dilute the concentrate with boiling water (outside or in a well ventilated area as the fumes are an irritant too) & then drop the chain in it... cleaner should have done it's job by the time it has cooled to ambient temperature
Pic?
Tia
The Castrol labeling might be old. I find it at auto parts stores and Menards.
Philbert
WD-40
Takes too long.
Great to use before cutting pine.
I have Poulan saws for those, no bs. 221, 295 and one old whatever. Likely one of the Homelite 330s if it needs to be bigger. I avoid pine especially white pine unless the saw is sprayed down first with something slick like WD40.
Kodiak Kid
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I use a coffee can about half full of strait gas. Slosh the chains around a bit. Then soak the chains for a few minutes. Then slosh them around for a few seconds again. Hang chains until dry. It works great and the gas evaporates off the chains fairly quickly. Change out the gas when it no longer effectively cleans the chains. Hope this helps.
Good use for gas thats getting a bit old too
What I use in my large capacity ultrasonic heated cleaner. Either that or straight lye in cold water added to the cleaner and heated in it., then rinse in clear water and then I grind them and immerse them in a tray with light viscosity motor oil (clean of course). In as much as I do multiple chains at one time. Gunked up loops foul my CBN grinding wheels.
My USC is pretty small. And the ‘Super Clean’ works pretty fast - usually soak less than 5 minutes.
The ‘pure lye’ (drain cleaner) I tried was in the form of hard pellets, that were slow to dissolve. If I tried it again, I would buy the ‘food grade sodium hydroxide’ powder available on line.
Philbert
The ‘pure lye’ (drain cleaner) I tried was in the form of hard pellets, that were slow to dissolve. If I tried it again, I would buy the ‘food grade sodium hydroxide’ powder available on line.
Philbert
