For years the shop I worked in used Varsol [in the US], I don't know if it's related to kerosene but it seems to not smell as much and works well. The problem with it and most other hydrocarbon-based solvents are the fumes, flammability, and skin contact/absorption is very bad for our already marginal brain cells! Fire, Health, and Safety Laws, and the insurance companies frown on most of the good cleaners these days unless you are wearing Haz-Mat suits.
Parts washer fluid - any suggestions?
- Thread starter Exmoor beast
- Start date
Andy
Hero member
- Location
- Auckland, roughly
Dunno about ankles or shoes… but mum used kero to clean the bath, and also put the sugar bowl in a saucer of kero if the ants were bad. Also as a last resort mozzie repellent in the bush
That has reminded me of the taste of kero. A small amount was always added to the water tanks to float on top and keep mosquitoes from breeding successfully in our drinking water.
I will forever remember the taste when close to the end of a tank. ‘Billy’ tea brewed strong helped hide the taste.
Oh yea gods I enjoyed being young and near feral in the outback.
Andy
Hero member
- Location
- Auckland, roughly
Billy tea was a lifesaver some days in the bush, but Ive also had billy tea that could be used in a parts washer!
There we are, back to the thread starter
There we are, back to the thread starter
chrisk
Hero member
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
Did you hear that? T’was the sound of dozens of Laverda owners racing out the door to kero clean their enamel badges, especially those near Bath
Shajota
Hero member
- Location
- Whitsundays Qld
Nah, too slow (read boring). On the odd occasion our slow combustion stove went out (normally alight 24-7) we chucked some wood in it, give it a good dose of "Metho", stand back & chuck in a match. It was a bit of an art but If you put the right amount in, it would also double as a clean out of the flue when it went "boom".....................
chrisk
Hero member
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
The donkey at my parents house was only lit when hot water was needed. We had a tin that had kerosene in it, the kindling was standing up in the bucket soaking up all that lovely blue liquid.
Mum would yell out “someone light the donkey please” in with the kindling and throw in a Redhead…. job done.
The copper in the wash house was only used for heating up water that was bucketed into the wringer washing machine when needed, but mostly for my dying black my older brother’s Army disposal store battle jackets and grate coats (motorbike riding gear).
We had Gass, the hot water heater in the bath, come shower looked like a bloody big rocket to me, it was probably a 400mm cylinder and stood 2 metres tall with a flue on top all the way to the ceiling. You lit the I supost pilet jet every time with a match you used it and turned it into multiple burners that made this crazy whooshing sound as it burst into ignition. It made a roaring sound like a rocket as it ran, and you could see bright orange flame out of a bunch of, I guess, air intake holes. An interesting time as a tiny kid standing naked, less than 300mm from this gadget. The Copper that boiled water for the washing machine was equally scary, bucketing fully boiling water by hand. Nobody seemed to be concerned back then.