Cosmoline safe for the drain? Or how do you dispose of solvents?

[leadcounsel]

If I clean C&R guns of cosmoline, using the hot water and sink method (or dishwasher), is cosmoline safe for the drain? Or can I expect it to gel and harden up someplace and be impossible to unclog?

Or if I use the solvent/gasoline/mineral spirits method, how do others dispose of these?

I was thinking that I would just burn the gasoline or mineral spirits after I finish...

 

[RS14]

It's solid at room temperature, so no, don't let it down the drain.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Uh, No

Cosmoline is not your drain's friend.

I would no sooner flush that down a sink than I would try to wash down a jar of Vaseline, or any other grease.

And anything that would dissolve it is going to be a toxic pollutant, and therefore also not a candidate for running down the drain.

We've got us a genuine safety guy on staff who's familiar with chemical disposal.

With a little luck he'll join us here.

 

[hso]

Put it in a paint can and deliver to your local solid waste drop off when they have a hazmat day.

 

[wrench]

I save up my dirty solvent, (usually mineral spirits), until I've got a couple gallons, then deliver it to my county toxic waste dropoff site.

 

[Frozen North]

Please do not attempt to burn gasoline. Trying to light a fire with gas is about as close to a one way ticket to a burn ward as you are gonna get. You never see it coming... POOF!!!

Cosmo down the drain would be like bacon grease. Enough of it is going to plug things badly and it will help catch more hair and gunk too.

I find that water based degreasers like http://www.greased-lightning.com/ are much less smelly, do a better job, and leave less residue. No one wants their gun smelling like an auto shop.

Think more like a roll of paper towels and a garbage can to remove most of the cosmo.

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

Return it to nature from whence it came.

Woody

 

[hso]

Cosmoline is a paraffin mixture and like dumping wax down the drain you can anticipate the results.

 

[Shadow 7D]

Go ahead and do it Leadcouncil

Right after DRMO (if you live on post)
gets done opening the pipes, you can explain to the command and the environmental compliance office what the hell you were doing...

If you need to get rid of it, ask Motor Pool, or you POL specialist, they will have a used grease/oil area. Or like the others have said, take it to the dump, they usually have a oil/grease collection point.

 

[leadcounsel]

Well I'm no spring chick and figured as much... but I keep reading of others who use hot water and also their dishwasher - but this all implies letting the cosmo go down the drain. Folks that say this should clarify...

 

[inclinebench]

I save my cosmo/mineral spirits and use them in burn piles, which I usually light with a thrown ignitor. If you use the hot water method, drain into a bucket, and leave outside in the sun, and let the water evaporate off then dispose of the small amount of cosmo at a hazmat disposal day.

 

[xfyrfiter]

All of the hydrocarbons such as gasoline, cosomoline, mineral spirits,etc. should be taken to your local haz-mat disposal area, as you can be fined in most areas for illegal disposal, definitely no burning, all that black smoke has to go somewhere LOL.

 

[leadcounsel]

All of the hydrocarbons such as gasoline, cosomoline, mineral spirits,etc. should be taken to your local haz-mat disposal area, as you can be fined in most areas for illegal disposal, definitely no burning, all that black smoke has to go somewhere LOL.

how is burning gasoline soaked rags in a burn pile any less environmentally friendly than driving 20 min to the hazmat area?

 

[InkEd]

LOL

 

[jonmerritt]

hmm burn 2 or 3 oz's of fuel in the burn pile, or 3 or more gallons taking it to a drop sight????????

 

[Frogomatik]

No one wants their gun smelling like an auto shop.

speak for yourself. I grew up working in grandpa's (and later my uncle's) shop. I love that smell, brings back so many good memories. The smell of zippo fluid does too, doesn't bother me at all if my guns smell like either of em.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

never down the drain....

...drain pipes are for water, paper and biodegradable food or fecal waste treatment (think manure or compost). Putting petroleum products in the system is a no-no around here.

Practically it is a bad idea. Drain pipes go into the ground and the contents will be cold even on a summer day. Cosmoline will be very gummy and cloggy in time whether dissolved in hot water or solvent.

When I have cleaned up cosmoline, I get it soaked up or skimmed off in rags or paper towels and put it in the solid waste (trash can).

If the cosmoline is thick and relatively clean, I might scrape some of it off with a flat stick and put it in tins for use as preservative or grease on screw threads.

 

[Demarko]

how is burning gasoline soaked rags in a burn pile any less environmentally friendly than driving 20 min to the hazmat area?

Unless something is wrong with your rig, it's not spewing black smoke. Ever heard of a reburner? There's a lot more going on inside a motor besides "throw fuel on a fire and watch it burn, hyuck!" Foul oil like he's describing should absolutely be disposed of in a safe place because if you burn it, you're gonna A) Piss off your neighbors, who you may have to deal with while shooting. B) Piss of the local cops, who don't like you shooting, and may love to bust you on an EPA violation and C) Come on man, look at what just happened in Alabama. Humans are effecting the climate.