Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion cleaning painted can/sign

I have some cans that are grease covered both inside and out. Pretty nasty stuff, how do I clean these without ruining the painted can.

Couple of painted signs that are dirty with some rust scale and some grease. I'm assuming I could follow the same cleaning procedures as the cans.

Is there anything to remove some of the rust stains?

Start with motor oil to soften the old stuff, then try some WD-40 & your finger on back or bottom of can. GO SLOW.
For rust I use Citric acid [powder mixed with water, bought at a drug store].

What I've found that works real good is spray a little simple green on a soft cloth, start at the back of the can & proceed slowly. Cuts the grease well- on the real early cans be carefull.

WD-40 first followed with mr cleans magic eraser..
on signs...just the eraser after cleaning with dawn and water..
always works for me.
I tried simple green and found on some cases it will dull or remove paint.

best product I have found for cutting grease and oil is Brake Kleen.

Dawn dish detergent has always worked well for me on grease and at times I'll use mineral spirits.....YES, this will work as long as it's not applied in a soaking manner. Just enough to get the rag a little wet. Used correctly, take off the heavy stuff first followed by the dish washing liquid when there's a minimal amount of residue left and to make it nice and clean.

Fastest thing in the world is a big pan of gasoline and a soft brush or rag! I've never had the gasoline hurt the paint in any way and it really cuts the grease fast!
Try Dicks citrus acid trick for the rust!

for rust, how is the citric acid applied? can you use a brush (toothbrush) for this? Is this a good method for porcelain as well?

Brake-Kleen is not safe for all cans. I've had it take the paint right off to bare metal with no rubbing. I was trying to use it to get the oil out of a can, and the straw blew off and sprayed the outside. Off came the paint in a few seconds. Be careful.

Wes

Anyone have before and after photos? Also tell us what you used.

I have cleaned some of the oldest oil cans I have with Go-Jo hand cleaner and have never had a problem. I always test a small area just to make sure, but it always worked. Best part is you can rinse it off with water.

I like gasoline or varsol,,, both oil based,, and safest,, off the shelf cleaners are risky,,

I WAS ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED (AND YOU WOULD BE TOO) ONE TIME WHEN I HAD PURCHASED SEVERAL MOBIL BRANDED OUTBOARD MOTOR OIL QUART CANS FROM AN ESTATE SALE. THESE HAD CRUSTY MASKING TAPE AND MAGIC MARKER ON THEM.

I USED LACQUER THINNER ON ONE OF THEM TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN (THE WORST LOOKING ONE) AND LIKE I SAID....I WAS SHOCKED TO SEE THAT IT CLEANED THE CANS AND DIDN'T TAKE OFF THE PAINT. I WAS LIKE "WOW!" TO THIS DAY I AM STILL WONDERING WHAT WAS USED TO PRINT THOSE CANS.

AS MANY OF US KNOW USING LACQUER THINNER ON AN OLD OIL CAN OR PAINTED METAL SIGN IS AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE!

Many good points stated above. There are many ways to clean oil cans but grease cans are more difficult to clean. There is something in the grease that stains the paint & is almost impossible to clean off. So as far as grease cans go I leave them alone

Most all cans are lithograph printed with INK, not paint.