Will this work for bearing cleaning

I need to clean my bearing and I found this at work and wanna know will it be ok to use this to clean my bearing

I’ve never heard of anyone using it. Give it a try and report back the results… seems like you already own it, after all!

The bearing you need to clean isn’t the last bearing on earth, and if you need to clean it, it’s probably not working properly anyhow. What do you have to lose? :slight_smile:

I’d be less worried about “can it clean” and more about “what residue will it leave behind”? If it evaporates clean and doesn’t leave much of anything behind, you might have a winner!

Ehhh, NO. It’s methylene chloride, a paint stripper, and is not a good bearing cleaner. In fact it is generally a gel which would probably require some other chemical to remove it from the bearing. It’s a paint STRIPPER, not a solvent like mineral spirits, acetone or lacquer thinner.

So, long story short - DON’T use it.

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A good way to test if something is alright to clean a bearing with is to pour a small amount onto a plate and let it evaporate. If it evaporates clean you’re likely good to go.

My solvent of choice has always been 91-99% isopropyl alcohol. Super cheap, you can get it anywhere, and it works really well. No dealing with those stupid metal containers, either.

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Ok what about this I found this at works as well it’s charcoal lighter fluid


The common things to use are these:

  • 99.9%+ pure acetone
  • mineral spirits
  • lighter fluid (the kind for Zippos… not all lighter fluids are the same)
  • water with detergent and a good rinse/dry process
  • apparently some alcohols… haven’t tried this one but I’ve heard it more than once
  • Bio-Green degreaser/solvent (with rinse/dry process)
  • ultrasonic cleaner with or without an appropriate detergent

To really get down to business (beyond agitating in a liquid) there is the paper slip cleaning technique (which gets rid of grease and gunk build-up on the races) and there’s the car polish method (gently abrasive car finish paste packed into the bearing and worked around before a thorough rinse, clean, and final rinse).

Once you go outside of these, you’re into the experimental zone. If it’s not a thin liquid, has a long ingredient list, or doesn’t evaporate clean, I can’t imagine it would be worth much of anything to you. Experiment (as long as you’re SAFE) if you want to, but the better bet is to go with one of the known commodities listed above.

Charcoal lighter fluid will probably work ok - try the evap test as noted above.