[ARC5] Penetrating Oils

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 1:10 PM, D C _Mac_ Macdonald <k2gkk at hotmail.com>wrote:

>
> Some folks have said to beware of "Fantastik" cleaner.
>

I'm one of those folks. Fantastilk and 409 are quite similar, both are very
nasty cleaners and can definitely do damage to some items. I made the
mistake of using one on an old painted metal sign to remove some spatters
and ended up wiping paint off instead. They can cloud or even melt plastic
and dull some metal finishes. They stink to the high heavens, too. I've
used one or the other maybe twice in the last 20 years as I find other
cleaners just as effective and much more user and material-friendly.
Windex, Simple Green, even warm soap and water work for 99% of the issues
found in old gear. Rust/corrosion is another matter, but 409/Fantastik
won't touch those either.

The 'spray on/rinse off' approach is quite appealing to the instant
gratification types but there's no substitute for good ol' elbow grease
like a toothbrush and Windex. When dealing with old equipment quite often
'faster' is not better.

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4