How to clean Stainless media?

[SourMash]

I used my pins the other day and realized that they had gotten quite dirty. I have washed them with soapy water repeatly and I finally broke down and soaked them in mineral spirits and although they are a lot cleaner, they still have enough carbon on them to leave a little discoloration on your fingers when you run your hands through them. How do you guys clean yours?

 

[tightgroup tiger]

You could try the cleaning fluid recipes that we use in our sonic cleaners.

I'm not trying to sound like a smartalic but Hornadies OneShot concentrate really does a good job on stainless steel.

You could try some of the homemade solutions with water and lemi-shine and give them a soak.

 

[Joe's]

Cleaning SS media

Put them back in the Thumblers with the normal recipe of cleaner. 2 Tbs. of Dawn, 1/4 tsp. Lemi-Shine. Run this w/o brass for 2 to 3 hrs. and pins will come out shiney and look like new.

Joe's

 

[capreppy]

Put them back in the Thumblers with the normal recipe of cleaner. 2 Tbs. of Dawn, 1 tsp. Lemi-Shine. Run this w/o brass for 2 to 3 hrs. and pins will come out shiney and look like new.

Joe's

This is all I do but my pins after nearly several hundred hours of use have never been "dirty"

 

[blarby]

If you have "carbon" buildup on your pins....


Then your cutting agent you are tumbling with certainly isn't doing its job.

Use more surfectant- whatever you use...soap, jigglypoof joose, whatever it is you tumbler guys use.

There should be nothing left on them after you pour out the liquid- it should all be suspended in there and thusly carried away in that solution.

 

[SourMash]

I called it carbon, maybe it's just the residue left over from the cases. Whatever it is, I have had the hardest time trying to get it off of the pins. I tried to tumble it alone with just the soapy water and lemishine but that didn't do any good. The mineral spirits worked. Then I washed them with simple green, now they look shiny again but if I run them through my fingers I will get a grayish colored film on my fingers. I don't mind getting my hands dirty, but I prefer my cases to be shiny and new looking. Thanks for all the replies!

Andy

 

[capreppy]

Also clean out your tumbler. I pull out all of the pins, clean out the tub and then clean the pins.

 

[918v]

I have cleaned over a hundred batches in my original set of pins and have never found a need to clean them. I use a tablespoon of dish soap and .6cc of lemishine per gallon of water. Your tumbler lining may be deteriorating and that may be the cause of the contamination.

 

[FROGO207]

If you size with lanolin (One Shot like products) before tumbling and over do it the greasy surface will be on both the pins and the brass after cleaning. It picks up the carbon and comes out blackish. Put the pins in a SS bowl and add boiling hot water and stir with a metal spoon. The lanolin will float to the surface and then adding more water until it overflows the rim with the bowl in the sink will let it drain off without getting it back on the pins. I use enough Dawn (Dawn works the best hands down) and Lemmishine that this does not happen any more. Try adding more Dawn, this helps dissolve the lanolin when cleaning the brass. I have also used IOSSO case cleaner instead of the Dawn and Lemmishine, it works well for brass sized in carbide dies that has no other lube on them. I just pour the IOSSO on and let set for a couple minutes then pour off what I can then put the brass into the tumbler and fill with water to cover the brass. Tumble as usual after putting on the lid.