Can you "refresh" old tumbling media?

[Kevwyo]

Just so you know I did do a search but obviously didn't have any luck on this topic.

After re-sizing used 5.56 brass and tumbling it to get the lube off after several hundred cases the media starts to get pretty dirty. In the past I've just tossed it. But is there something a guy could add to the media to kind of clean it up to make it last even longer? I'm not asking about polish to get brass clean.

Thanks

 

[evan price]

I take a used dryer sheet & tear it into quarters and add that to the media. Traps the dirt. Throw the pieces out after each load. Freebie!

 

[bullseye308]

I use lizard litter and nu-finish from wally mart. Add a capful of nu-finish about every 10 loads and a cut up used dryer sheet about every 3 loads to keep the dust down and remove most of the "dirt". I generally get about 40 loads before I change out the media.

 

[Kevwyo]

I know about the polish and as I mentioned that wasn't what I was asking about. I have tried the dryer sheets and while they help some with dust and dirt the media still gets dirty with time. What would happen if I took a small amount of paint thinner to the media and let it tumble over night with the lid off so the thinner could evaporate?

 

[rcmodel]

You would just still have dirty media that smelled like paint thinner.

If it evaporates out, it is going to leave all the dirt behind.

rcmodel

 

[rondog]

Man, the walnut and corncob medias are so cheap, just buy some new stuff. Why try to clean it?

 

[jhansman]

I use the dryer sheets to extend the life of my walnut media. It may be disposable, but not right away. These days, every buck counts!

 

[CU74]

Small squares of paper towel wetted down with mineral spirits will pickup and retain the dust and grit. You only have to run the tumbler for about 15 minutes. Won't be like new, but it will remove lots of media "dirt".

 

[ranger335v]

Discolored media is just discolored, not "worn out", just keep using it.

It's unlikely you need to add more polish, much of the discoloration is from an excess of polish already.

The loose weave of dryer shieets, paper towels, even Tee shirt material will trap small particles of media and polish "dust" so you can toss it out.

The addition of mineral spirits (oderless paint thinner) won't clean the media at all but an ounce of two per patch (you will have to add more each time because it evaporates pretty fast, lid or no lid) and helps the media cut any residual (greasy) case lube off the brass. I mean, mineral spirits IS a help but it's not magic.

 

[rockhound758]

What about washing it in a bowl? Could you add dishwashing detergent or something and wash it, then rinse it and let it dry? I know media is cheap, but was just wondering...

 

[PCJim]

I've never heard of "cleaning" media. It's considered a consummable in the hobby. Corn cob would probably disintegrate if washed; walnut being wood would swell and probably lose it's cleaning qualities.

I use walnut media and can honestly say it is black. I'd estimate that the lot I am currently using has cleaned close to 10K of pistol casings. Am I cheap? No, but I don't like being wasteful either. As the media continues to do it's job, I just keep adding a teaspoon or so of unscented mineral spirits to the media and tumble for 10 minutes before beginning another series of cleanings. The mineral spirits will both clean and brightly polish brass casings.

One word of caution - use only the unscented spirits unless you want the scent hanging around for a while.....

 

[NCsmitty]

I drop a few shakes of the cheap powdered sink cleanser in the mix. It extends the life of the media and helps polish the brass.

NCsmitty

 

[Walkalong]

Corn Cob at Grainger. If you pick it up at the store they do not charge shipping. Use drier sheets to help prolong the medias life as already suggested.

14/20

20/40

 

[jcwit]

It's possible to wash corn-cob media. Did it once when I ran out and wanted to change it---man does it take a long time to dry. It was winter and had to just let it air dry 2 weeks. End result, not worth it, like Walkalong just noted get it at Grainger its cheap. I got the 20/40 and no more in the flash holes.

 

[Kevwyo]

Well thanks for all the replies.

I have been doing the dryer sheets but haven't tried the odorless mineral spirits trick yet. Not sure if I need to if I am using case polish or NuFinish car wax as a polish additive to my mix.

I have been using a combo of about half and half corn cob and walnut media as my new media. My initial question had to do with my old media (all corn)that is very dirty. My practice has been to tumble in media for about 8 hours but my last batch of 5.56 (1500 cases) wasn't getting clean so I went and got new corn and walnut media. After a couple hours in the fresh combo media the brass was good as new. It's just that it took about 12 hours of tumbling per 200-225 cases. As you can imagine 1500 brass took quite awhile to get where I like it.

In order to try and reduce the amount of dirt/carbon into the media I had been decapping and then washing that brass in soapy water to get the majority of the residual case lube off as well as rinse any carbon and dirt away. Just the same, over a period of time the media gets pretty dirty and it seems like it takes longer and longer to get brass clean. So that was the basis of my inital post about the possibility of refreshing old tumbling media.

 

[rockhound758]

Kev, I don't know about washing the brass but I haven't ever done that (maybe some of the other guys have) but it seems like that might create some other hassles. Seems to me that you also don't want to have too much brass together, right? You want that nice balance between getting enough brass in at one time but also having enough media to polish away...brass against brass doesn't do much as we all know!

I'm not sure what other folks do, but I'll tumble 200 or so .40s or .45s for 2 hours or so and that seems to do wonders...don't know if that's too short or too long but it works for me...

Take care.

Larry

 

[qajaq59]

Does it actually stop cleaning because it is dirty? Or has the media become too smooth from use to work properly? If it's the latter, then cleaning it would buy you very little. Anyone got a microscope?

 

[moooose102]

the stuff is relativly cheap, and full of lead, just dump it and keep your health!

 

[bullseye308]

Here is what i do. Mix up 1c water, 1c white vinegar, 1tsp salt, & 1tsp dish soap. Mix the brass around in it and let it sit, stirring it around every 3-5 min for 20-30 min till it looks noticeably cleaner. Rinse it off then let it dry then tumble in walnut with a capful of nu-finish for about 2 hours. I have not yet used any cob, though I have a bag still unopened. This works best with unprimed brass so you get the pocket cleaned too. The media will get dirty, but will still work just fine for a while. I get about 40 loads to a bowl of walnut. I also only add the polish about every 5 loads and a dryer sheet cut up every 3-5 loads. I like shiny and this works for me.

 

[Hk Dan]

I buy it at our local grain elevator (granted, this is Iowa), and it's $10 for 100 pounds. My impression is that they were glad to get rid of it!

 

[jjohnson]

Refresh Media - by washing

Well, guys, I'll admit that I'm a tightwad - that's part of the reason I reload, but, like anything else, something you do may be 'normal' but there are people on either side of you who go to exctremes

I don't wash my media either, but I saw in a post some months ago, one guy dumps his dirty media into a bucketful of hot water with dishwashing detergent, swirls it around a bunch, pours the whole mess through a strainer, lets it drain awhile, then scatters it out on old newspapers to dry. Yeah, that IS a bit on the cheap side, huh? Apart from the procedure being a little past the point of diminishing returns, it would make sense that it would work. If that works, you should be able to pour hot water and a squirt of detergent into your tumbler and let the tumbler clean the media.

I'm with most of you guys - I get rid of the stuff when it doesn't work well anymore. I do use a drier softener sheet to get the dust out, but when the stuff has had it, it goes into another bucket. The stuff is good to spread on iced driveways up here in Minnesota.

 

[USSR]

...one guy dumps his dirty media into a bucketful of hot water with dishwashing detergent, swirls it around a bunch, pours the whole mess through a strainer, lets it drain awhile, then scatters it out on old newspapers to dry. Yeah, that IS a bit on the cheap side, huh?

Never underestimate a cheap SOB.

Don

 

[PlusP]

Media looses it ability to clean quickly as the sharp corners are worn off the partials you can't do anything about it but toss it and replace it all ..This applies to all types of media ceramic, plastic, cob or nut….

 

[Remo-99]

Media looses it ability to clean quickly as the sharp corners are worn off

Yes, loses it's abrasive/cleaning properties, but polishing properties are improved.

This is why other products are added, too enhance/extend cleaning/polishing properties.

 

[scrat]

using mineral spirits or paint thinner can help. you need to put in a lot of dryer sheets and strips of paper towels. then run the tumber. after that i would do it again. run it several times. Just dont let the cost of cleaning it outway the cost of replacing it. These are all quick patches you can try out but in the end you just need to replace the media.