N-Terpinal Cleaner - Chemical Technical - 4 Wheel & Off-Road Magazine

Ever since government regulations started restricting the contents of our beloved brake cleaners, hot tank solutions, parts cleaner solvents, and degreasers, it seems like the efficiency of those products went downhill in a big way. OK, so maybe washing our hands in the parts washer or getting stains out of our jeans with brake cleaner (while wearing them) wasn't the best we could do for our bodies, but at least the stuff worked. As a bonus, it generally smelled good too.

While the days of highly efficient-but equally toxic-parts cleaning are gone in the civilized areas of the world, it doesn't mean we're stuck with using grinders, media blasting, or a mound of shop rags to get things clean and rust-free again. Thanks to the working minds at WSI Industries we now have a solvent replacement squeaky clean and save-the-planet friendly, yet it can even remove powdercoating.

N-Terpinal is a reusable, noncaustic, nonacidic, nontoxic, nonhazardous, nonflammable, biodegradable organic chemical that has a neutral pH. It's safe for aluminum, copper, steel, magnesium, brass, and even most plastics. You can use it to remove grease, rust, adhesives, ink, paint, resin, epoxy, and even powder- and electrostatically applied coatings.

N-Terpinal is used to clean out equipment for spray-on bedliners, and in hand wipes. It can be painted over areas cleaned by N-Terpinal.

After cleansing whatever parts and pieces in the N-T' bath, just hose them off with water. Steel and iron will be very prone to rusting afterwards, because the metal will be clean.

This "solvent" doesn't actually dissolve grease or paint; it delaminates it from the part. The difference? You can skim oil, grease, and paint off the top, then filter and reuse the N-Terpinal.

In one hour, the reaction around rusted areas on the otherwise relatively clean axleshaft was very visible. The paint had started to loosen up, and the spindle was beginning to look like new on the submerged areas. The temperature of the N-Terpinal bath was still only 95 degrees, due to clouds that had moved in. We were beginning to like the faint smell of the stuff by now. An hour and a half into the test the temperature of the solution had dropped to 87 degrees, yet the paint was really loosening up. You could now see it lifting off the surface and it came off easily when poked with a screwdriver. Only the greasy parts and the aluminum appeared unaffected, but then we hadn't disturbed them for a look-see yet.
In one hour, the reaction around rusted areas on the otherwise relatively clean axleshaft
Since the solution for the most part had been some 40 to 60 degrees lower than recommended, and N-Terpinal's efficiency goes up by 100 percent for every 10 degrees above 70, we let the test pot sit for a full six hours before rinsing the parts off with cold water. Probably the most impressive change was on this old outer axleshaft. The part of it that had been submerged looked like it was fresh out of its cosmoline.
Since the solution for the most part had been some 40 to 60 degrees lower than recommended
Of our test pieces, this Spicer 18 part was the only disappointment. Not that the metal wasn't clean-it was so clean that rust formed almost instantly, in 40 percent humidity-but some of the heavy caked-on grease was still there. In all fairness, we didn't have the N-Terpinal at anywhere near the temperature it was supposed to be, we didn't agitate the solution or use a scrub brush (which probably would've helped a lot), and we used very low water pressure when rinsing the parts.
Of our test pieces, this Spicer 18 part was the only disappointment. Not that the metal wa