When I was working in my dad's shop many years ago, we used "drip" for parts
washing. ("Drip" is also called "white gas" and is a condensate that comes
from oil wells. Being in an oil-producing area it was easy for us to get this
stuff. Some people even used it in their cars and it worked pretty well
except for not having much knock resistance.) We had a metal can setting on
the workbench, with a brush in it and a plywood disk setting on top. From
memory I'm guessing that the can was 16"-18" diameter and about 8" tall. It
was real good at washing parts and we didn't worry about the stuff setting
open on the workbench. In all the years I worked there I never knew of a
problem with a fire but my dad said they had on occasion set it on fire. Even
though the stuff was a volatile product of oil production, it didn't seem to
be as immediately flammable as common gasoline. He said when it would catch
fire they would just set the plywood disk on top of it and that would
immediately put it out.
At the end of my mechanic days he got a small washer from SafetyKleen to try
out. It was a long tub almost like a kitchen sink setting on top of a small
drum, with a pump down inside of the drum. It also had an upright lid that
was supposed to fall in the event of a fire. It didn't clean parts as well as
the drip gasoline did, but the pump arrangement was a little more convenient
and we didn't have to change the fluid as often. Later on he get a large one
about the size of a good chest freezer. It had a larger work area and a
larger pump. I don't know what fluid he uses in it. It will clean parts but
leaves a residue that you then have to wipe off.
> This is what I'm using. Works quite well. Not cheap but doesn't seem to
> evaporate real fast.
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