I worked in a machine shop where we would get replacement parts packed in the stuff. The answer to anything there was to soak stuff in an M50 solvent... nasty indeed. I avoided working with it.
Hello, Cosmoline feels awful on various metals when touched. Various packaged metals and my wife's dad's stash of guns and rifles felt awful, too. But, a clean rag with this Amway product called L.O.C. (Liquid Organic Cleaner) is probably the best cleaner that is not a petroleum product. For that matter, LOC vs petroleum product is a no contest event. Gasoline on hands? The LOC somehow takes all of the petroleum products off, while leaving no smell other than a nice pleasant "clean" smell. One of our "side hustles" back in those 30 something days was to sell Amway and I thought instantly of those multiple auto repair shops and the local gas stations that still did repair services. When the mechanics saw what the LOC could do and make their hands feel good, they wanted the product. But, the owners usually had multiple huge barrels of the petroleum base stuff like Goop for the mechanics, so that was a hard sell. Not only did the LOC take off all oils, but it is safe for kids and family. Even my mom used the stuff to take off the fresh fish smell when preparing filets and other variations of fish dinners. Barracuda and Mackerel are cousins, but they are also the worst smelling fish on the planet. Tuna, Albacore, and Sea B*** are a lot nicer and the smell of any of those fish just goes away with one hand washing with LOC. Jnaki Well, the millions of sales did not happen, but we had the cleanest feet in the whole Santa Barbara beach community with our LOC wiped feet. We thought we would go back to Santa Barbara beaches and make a killing selling the best petroleum based removal product on the market. YRMV So, quit piddling around with petroleum based products for cleaning. The LOC is so safe that you could use it as a soap for a nice bubble bath, without any ill effects on your skin. Try that with the petroleum based products. Ha!
When I was in the service ,some of the repair parts we would get , were left over ww 2 parts shipped in cosmoline ,we steam cleaned them first, then washed them in JP4 jet fuel ,same as kerosene ,then blew them dry . They came out perfectly clean and dry !!!
First real job out of high school was working for an aircraft salvage company at what used to be a WWII primary flight training field. We got 52 Pratt & Whitney R-1830's in that were pickled in cosmolene with the sparkplugs removed and replaced with desiccant plugs, most of which got broken in transit during the trip across the Pacific from Australia on the open deck of a ship. Most were frozen and it was my job to first, remove the cosmolene and then break them loose. I was given a couple of 55 gallon drums of solvent, a sprayer to soak them down with, heavy brushes and then used a steam cleaner. Never did get all of the cosmolene off but I did get them all broke loose using a combination of kerosene and Marvel Mystery Oil followed by a long cheater bar on the crankshaft wrench.
The Jalopy Journal
