Safer Metal Degreasing

Cold Cleaning

Cold Cleaning of metal workpieces is often done with hydrocarbon solvents. Years ago, white spirit was used, then de-aromatized hydrocarbons and iso-paraffinic solvents took over, and this has been the standard for a long time.

The flash point of the solvents has been increased to limit the VOC emissions and lower the vapor exposure for the operators. However, there is still room for improvements such as reduction of VOC and improvement of the cleaning power of the high-boiling solvents.

Automatic Degreasing

Alkaline cleaners are used for a variety of automatic cleaning processes, whereas the solvents are often applied for cold cleaning. Examples of automatic degreases processes are spray cleaning, injection flood washing, dip tank cleaning, and ultrasonic cleaning. Efficient and low-foaming surfactants are needed for such products.