Cleaning with starting fluid

[sequoia]

A friend of mine recommended cleaning my lock with a spray can of starting fluid. He claims that it melts the fouling out all the nooks and crannys and then dries up with no residue. Has anyone else tried this and does it work as well as he says? :hmm:

 

[BrownBear]

I haven't tried starter fluid, but brake pad cleaner sure does the job.

 

[stubshaft]

I've used alot of brake cleaner over the years but never even considered starting fluid.

It contains ether and is EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE. :nono:

IMHO it would evaporate too fast to be able to wipe away any fouling it loosened.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I tried it once before a match. By the time I woke up from my nap the match was over! :yakyak: :hmm: :surrender:

 

[necchi]

Should work,,keep it away from the wood finish, can't see it causeing any harm,,I too use break cleaner

 

[Stumpkiller]

I use "2+2 Gum Cutter" (carburator cleaner) to strip everything out of bores and off lock parts. Just be aware that it needs to be wiped well and then properly protected. These are harsh cleaners that will destory the wood finish and also take you down to bare metal.

 

[Dphar]

Staring fluid degreases well. Don't know about cleaning powder fouling.

Dan

 

[Zonie]

I don't know why starting fluid would do anything to black powder fouling.

The salts produced by firing black powder are water soluble. They are not dissolved by carburetor cleaner, disk brake cleaner or ether.

While these things are good at dissolving oil and grease they only wet the fouling and rapidly dry off.
IMO, although the wetted fouling may be easier to wipe out of the bore all of the salts are not removed.