Does this work for cleaning bearings?
Thanks.
Nope.
quoted for truth
Well, isn’t it acetone?
It generally contains a bunch of conditioners and crap, too. Good for nails, not good for bearings.
Nail polish remover used to be acetone. Not so much anymore, but lots of people still think that it is. Just buy a can of acetone from Home Depot. Only a few bucks gets you enough for a really long time. And will work for your nails as well.
Do the milky white mineral spirits work?
Probably. But pure mineral spirits aren’t supposed to be white. I’ve never seen a white variety, but the internets tell me it’s either a result of some sort of process to achieve an “odorless” formula, or it is mixed with water .
It could potentially leave something behind, but whether that’s a significant enough thing to worry about will depend on how sensitive your bearing is.
Thing about cleaning a bearing… unless you corrode it, you’re not going to ruin it just by trying out the milky mineral spirits. Do your cleaning, blast or spin and tap as much as you can out of the bearing, and let it dry for more than 10 minutes (I know, you just want to get going, but let the sucker dry! Overnight if you can!). Spin some more once dry will probably free up any residue that may have accumulated, and either put a small drop of lube on or don’t.
Should be off to the races (!) but you never know. If it fails, try again with a different solvent. Your bearing will survive.
Well, it was 30-70% acetone, most likely. Drug store acetone always has a high water content. Anhydrous acetone is the good stuff, I’ve only been able to find it at chemical supply companies. 99.8%+, available to the public.
You can also use magnesium sulfate to make your drug store acetone anhydrous(although I’m sure its fine for our application as is).
Science!
But yeah, nail polisher remover is super dirty. It’ll leave tons of junk you don’t want in there.
Don’t use milky mineral spirits, use clear that says on label it’s for cleaning car parts
Why?^^^^^
It should say it’s for cleaning car parts or something along those lines on the label somewhere, if not don’t use it to clean bearings
Wait, wat if the nail polish remover is 100% acetone?
I’ve been using this ever since I’ve cleaned my bearings O_o
Doubtful its 100% acetone. Very doubtful.
Make sure it’s not just sneaky marketing and that it’s not just a brand called “100% Acetone” that is only 95% acetone. 
Walgreens brand 100%; checked on ingredients and it only says acetone…
Acetone may have been the only thing listed, but I’m sure there is a high water content.
I have serious doubts that any drug store is slingin’ 100% acetone.
My god…
My 3 center tracks are dead.
I didn’t say it would kill your bearings if your acetone is diluted with only water. I said your acetone is most likely not pure, as marketed.