Please read: The Dangers of Brake Cleaner.

Good to know, thanks for the article. Those things are potent, and thats why, whenever I can I use things like vinigar or a cream of tartar mix or other home brew cleaning agents, They may drive you outdoors, but the likelyhood of severe reactions are small......with just a little care and ventilation

just read this thread and have to add my 2 cents .do not cut galvanized steel with a plas cutter especialy not the older dipped type galvanized. this older galvanized has several nasty additives in the mix one of them is syanide . anyway 1and 1/2 years ago i was cutting one of these galvanized pipes lengthways 4 cuts 60 in long and because i was tired and in a hurry no mask on.well once this dust syanide heavy metal zink etc. mix goes into your lungs it stops oxygen from being absoreb int your bloodstream. well i went to the doc right away well in 2 days anyway he said it will take years to get out of my system. he said he didnt think it damaged my heart but no oxygen makes it have an irregular beat thats not somthing that feels to good.that has cleared up thankfully .any way im up to 1 hr at 3 mph on the tread mill way better than it was at the start which was 1.5 mph for 3 to 4 mimutes before you had no air left.so be care full, slowdown and spend time with the ppl that you care about dont worry so much about work you will never run out of it anyway .

OPCOM said:

nine days after ... went to the emergency room. What is wrong with that picture. 9 days of weird symptoms and unexplained discombobulation of the body.. and it took 9 days to decide to go to the ER. ...

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OPCOM, You have medical insurance, don't you? I recently almost died from a sudden onset of diabetes because I didn't have the $$ to pay to see a doctor when I started having a whole list of seemingly unrelated symptoms.

A whole bunch of years ago in Gainesville Fl an arsonist was trying to kill fire fighters by putting tanks of phosgene gas and freon which when burns turns into phosgene gas in house and church fires. I have a few friends that are still suffering from the effects of those fires.

Using chlorinated brake cleaner and welding on the sprayed part is Bad !! It does not matter if its a day or a week later. I'll never forget the first time that I welded on a trailer that had brake cleaner sprayed on the brakes and some on the frame. To me it smelled like old tomatoes but it sure took my breath away, scared the crap out of me. From now on my nose is always watching out for that certain smell while welding. I read and follow the material safety data sheets alot more now days!
Paul in Janesville,Wi

I would like to add that Phosgene gas can be produced from heating freon gas to approx. 750 degrees F. When I rode submarines, we would know we had a freon leak when the engine room lower level watch would get sick and begin vomitting. The Phosgene gas was heated by the burning end of a cigarette and the gas was directly inhaled. Freon is heavier than air and collected in the lower levels of the sub.

This is a good read. I've seen it before but its a good reminder. I'm guilty of not following PPE procedures at home, but articles like this keep me in check.

I am a welder/fabricator and a clean weld is a strong weld. I am always cautions about chemical but this takes the cake. Thank you!

bigjmcconnell said:

This is a good read. I've seen it before but its a good reminder. I'm guilty of not following PPE procedures at home, but articles like this keep me in check.

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I had a quik welding project today and looked around for something to clean the metal with. I looked at the work bench and saw the can of brake cleaner sitting there and immediately thought of this thread. Grabbed the grinder with the flap wheel instead.

KsM715 said:

I had a quik welding project today and looked around for something to clean the metal with. I looked at the work bench and saw the can of brake cleaner sitting there and immediately thought of this thread. Grabbed the grinder with the flap wheel instead.

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Far cleaner than any solvent. You aren't going to get metal cleaner with solvent. And if you are welding with GMAW/SMAW, as long as you aren't welding on greasy steel, you won't know the difference.

Flap wheel + wire brush is as good as it gets. I've worked in several shops on ASME/API pressure equipment with some nuclear and never did I see any welders using any solvent as weld prep.

GMAW with solid wire and 75/25 Ar/CO2, the carbon from the shielding gas is more of an issue. My first experience with GMAW was using 100% CO2.

And if you are SMAW welding with E6010/6011 electrode rods, it really doesn't matter. Still, chlorinated solvents are a bad idea with any process.

I was welding some gas lines when the apprentice grabbed a brass nipple insted of black pipe! Well when welding brass it gives of a toxic gas that was fun to breath in!! But the heads up on the brake cleaner is good info considering i use it always to clean old pumps etc!!!

hughscpa said:

And I was wanting to learn how to weld. Be careful.

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By all means sir, TAKE THE TIME AND LEARN TO WELD! Be aware tho, its not a speedy thing to learn. Just the basic, run a bead isnt to hard. Its the other stuff that takes time. I have a helper at work that was previously a shipyard certified welder in La. The boy cant build anything to save his life. Hes a smart kid, dont get me wrong, but theres welding and then theres fabricating.

Lesson to be learned here, dont rush things and burn thru whatever chemicals u spray. All this mess is deadly to some degree. Keep ur head out of the fumes and smoke if u have to burn this type of stuff. Everything regarding welding has these two statements:


this product is known to the state of california to cause cancer or birth defects
(But what isnt??)


Use with adequate ventilation.

Nothing is specific as to how much is adequate tho. Use ur head and think/act safely.

I've worked in the aerospace/DoD world for way too many years and heavily used chlorinated solvents until the US government signed in to the Montreal Protocol.

Chlorinated and bromine mixtures were used because they aren't flammable. Chlorinated solvents were called "Safety solvents" due to the lack of flammability.

Heating many household chemicals can and will give off gases that are harmful to your health.

We've had welders using liquid anti-spatter compounds that were supposed to be just wiping the liquid on the surface and allowing it to evaporate before welding, sicken themselves because of welding in the "puddle".

As for ASM/SAE certified weld shops just using a flap wheel for cleaning, unless the requirements have changed, we were required to solvent wipe with MEK and purified wiping cloths after any abrasive cleaning. I'm talking A514, HY-80, HY-100 and all of our titanium alloys.

edit: The issues we had with chlorinated solvents were due to people sneaking off to smoke a cigarette behind the vapor degrease tank.

There is no need to solvent clean ferrous (steel) welds unless you have a seam or lap that could trap oil and there is oil in that lap. Even then, using a combination will not likely get all the oil out.

By far, acetone is best. All welders MUST realize they will start fires. Using a solvent because it isn't flammable makes no sense, proper preparation saves the day. Acetone is completely miscible with water, meaning easy fire fighting...just smother it in water. See why it is useful?

Now, on acetone and aluminum welding. Because it has a high affinity for water, using it to flush a freshly prepared (flap wheel, SS wire brush) joint will pull some water from the oxide layer which instantly forms. Aluminum instantly reacts with water, forming aluminum hydroxide which due to hydrogen bonding, adheres water. This causes that weld pool scum that inhibits flowing of the puddle (GTAW). Flushing the prepared joint with acetone reduces scum,allowing for more electrode negative balance (inverter machines) which puts more heat in the joint, This reduces the "toothpaste" joint appearance and helps penetration (as does increasing frequency).

But for steel? Getting the metal flap wheel clean, then brushing off the dust is plenty. Even for ASME/AWS radiographic and other NDE welds. Just say no to solvents UNLESS there is an issue with oil.