Industrial parts cleaners are used to remove contaminants such as oil, grease, soil, dust, paint, corrosion, and blast debris from component parts before they can be used. They are an important and necessary part of the manufacturing process. Many industries make use of industrial parts cleaners, including the medical, dental, pharmaceutical, automotive, aerospace, military, mass transit, and general repair and maintenance sectors. A variety of substances are used to remove debris with industrial parts cleaners. These include detergents, solvents, vapors, acid and alkaline solutions, abrasive particles, vapors, biological organisms, and sometimes just plain water.
Industrial parts cleaners also offer many different types of cleaning action. The simplest and least aggressive of these is soaking the part to be cleaned. This method works best in situations in which soil or other debris is easily removed and there is a need to keep equipment costs in check.
Other low cost, simple industrial parts cleaners use manual brushing. This method has the advantage of removing debris in hard to reach places. It is generally used as a supplement to other cleaning methods.
Slightly more aggressive methods available in industrial parts cleaners are directed steam, used alone or in combination with brushing or other cleaning actions, or a high pressure spray of a water based cleaning solution. Industrial parts cleaning can also be accomplished through agitation, or movement.
Turbo fluid agitation involves the movement of the solvent through and around the soiled parts. It is useful in high volume applications. Parts agitation, on the other hand, creates a scrubbing action by moving the parts through the cleaning solution. The cleaning action can be intensified by combining these two methods.
Heat is another method by which industrial parts cleaners accomplish their job, though it is generally used in combination with specific solvents and cleaners. Water based cleaning solutions, for example, increase their effectiveness dramatically when they are heated.
A final cleaning method used with industrial parts cleaners is bioremediation. This method uses living organisms in the industrial parts cleaner to break down debris into less complicated substances. These substances are not hazardous, and the method also lowers waste disposal costs.