Simple Green

[ADIDAS69]

Have any of you guy/girls used Simple Green in you tumblers to clean brass?

[maggys drawers]

As I understand it, Simple Green is primarily a degreaser/cleaner. I would think it's use for cleaning brass would be limited, but I've never thought about trying it in a tumbler.

Interesting.

[catzor]

I've been using simple green to clean motorcycle engines for some time, and it does a great job with not only grease and grime, but really any corrosion I've encountered, and I mostly deal with old, air-cooled bikes, so it can be a lot. It's funny how a 8 inch tall cylinder block and head seems to have about 7000 square feet of room on it when you start having to clean between all those fins!

I don't know if or why it would work on brass, but I wouldn't be surprised one bit if it shined them right up. It's good stuff!

[Edward429451]

SG is fine for cleaning guns but you can go too far with it. I totally stripped my 10/22 flash hider of aluminum anodizing by soaking it in SG. I have never thought about using SG on brass, probably because it is not a polish. I doubt it would attack the brass but I learned the hard way with anodizing so I would have to say no, don't use soap in your tumbler, use polishing compound. Turtle wax is what I use, it's cheaper than the commercial polish fr tumblers and works fine.

[ADIDAS69]

I typically use Flitz Case polish with a 75% corn cob, 20% walnut, 5% glass mixture that does really well. I happen to randomly be cleaning the shop when i found a couple gallons of SG concentrate. I have always been a little freaked out about what is in the micro-fine dust that gets kicked up whilst sifting. I usually wear a North brand respirator and do it outside when it is not raining. It occurred to me that the SG would be a good way to sequester the lead dust and like unpleasantness. What i wasn't sure of was the chemical interaction between SG and brass.

[leadchucker]

Simple Green is about the same thing as Mean Green. I just tried soaking a batch of 380 brass in it (no tumbler). They didn't come out squeaky clean, but clean enough for a first effort.

I'm wondering about the wisdom of continuing this though. Some years ago, I considered degreasing my airplane engine with the stuff. My A & P mechanic said it was slightly corrosive, and I shouldn't use it.

[m&p45acp10+1]

If you are going to go the route of wet cleaning use white vinegar, and dish soap. Put some in a large gatorade bottle with the brass, shake for a bit then let is soak for a few minutes, dump it out, put in fresh water. Recap shake, dump water. You may have to rinse more than one time. Then let the brass dry. You are good to go. I you want super shiny brass after loading use a Lee shell holder, and drill and some 0000 steel wool it will shine it up in a couple of seconds. The wipe off with a dry clean patch. Voila.

Or you can use a tumbler with some newfinish car polish and walnut media. I run mine till it is clean, does not have to be super shiny. Rifle brass gets another run in the tumbler to remove case lube it usualy comes out pretty shiny after that.

[twobit]

As far as Simple green on aircraft.....they do make a "aircraft approved " version of Simple Green. A friend of mine takes care of several WWII warplanes and uses it daily on them. It is clear in color, but it is the Simple Green brand.

[goose2w1]

Never used simple green, but I have used Goo Gone orange spray gel, and it works great. Just a little spray every once and a while and the brass comes out nice and clean. Seems to also make all the dirt and grime stick to the bottom of the tumbler, so you just have to remember to wipe it out from time to time.

[sc928porsche]

I was not impressed with the way SG cleans powder residue. Its a great degreaser, it just dosnt work well on powder.

[dsv424]

I only use Simple Green on one case I reload, the 5.7x28mm. All the rest I tumble. The only reason I do this with 5.7x28mm is because tumbling damages the coating put on these which causes the round not to chamber properly at times. I just soak them in a bowl for 20 min. stirring it few times. Cleans them fairly well.

[AlaskaMike]

Normal Simple Green is absolutely vicious on aluminum. If you have something made of aluminum that you hate, Simple Green is a good thing to immerse it in.

The aircraft version of Simple Green is a different formulation that is supposed to be aluminum-friendly. I don't think either one would hurt brass, but why bother with it when tumblers are so cheap?

[JJT10]

In the Navy we used Bug juice (basically it was packets of kolaid). We would use a packet or 2 with water and let the brass fire hose nozzles soak, and they'd come nice and clean. Wonder if that would work with gun brass?

[brickeyee]

Keep SG away from aluminum.

Like most caustics it will eat into the aluminum and remove surface finishes (like anodize).

[A_Gamehog]

I use it in my Ultrasonic cleaner. It has an excellent cleaning capability 20:1 mixed solution.

[ADIDAS69]

Do you use it on you brass shell casings?

[ADIDAS69]

What about Simple Green? Any danger that it might etch or embrittle brass? Great cleaner, that Simple Green... I was wondering, too. So I asked 'em, and here's their reply:

Dear Mr. Gwalchmai:

Thanks for your inquiry. We don't recommend soaking brass in Simple Green for much more than 10 minutes - not because of embrittlement, but because of tarnishing and the possibility of electrolysis.

The best way to clean those brass cartridge casings with Simple Green would be by use of ultrasonic equipment. The Simple Green should be diluted 1:1 with water. Simple Green works really well on carbon residues, so there should not be a lengthy soak time necessary - 10 minutes max should do it. After cleaning, a water rinse will be necessary. You may get tarnishing. This could be removed by tumbling the casings.

With regard to electrolysis, you also want to limit the time the casings soak in any sort of water-based cleaner so that lead residues do not plate onto the brass, and make sure that there are no other types of metal in the cleaning fluid used to clean the casings (not before or during the cleaning process.) Simple Green can chelate softer metals into solution which can then plate onto stronger metals, such as brass.

I hope that this information is helpful to you. Thanks again for contacting us and for choosing Simple Green.

Sincerely,

Carol Chapin
Environmental & Regulatory Coordinator
SIMPLE GREEN
(800) 228-0709
[email protected]

[FrankenMauser]

That is a fantastic response.

I have no reason to use SG on my firearms or components, but that is a fantastic answer. They even knew what they were talking about!

[ADIDAS69]

It makes me want to use simple green just because they didn't give some kind of bull **** boiler plate answer.

[Edward429451]

Don't forget to dilute....