Cleaning the bench?

M

mendozer

New member
Thought of this randomly today.

Does anyone clean their bench off to reduce exposure to the dangerous chemicals involved in reloading? And by clean I mean actually apply something (like spray cleaner, ammonia, etc)

I was just curious b/c my bench is indoors so I wonder if I should be doing something about that.
 
Nope, and ammonia will react with things on your bench badly, do not use it.

The only thing I do is wear nitrile gloves to protect from lead and putting oils from the fingers on the cases. Otherwise I just use a dust rag and sometimes water to clean up spilled gun powder. Oils and greasing from the presses as well as lube for the cases do get on the bench and can be cleaned up with simple rubbing alcohol.

Jim
 
What 1100tac said Sevens said. :confused: The most dangerous chemical on my reloading bench is caffeine. (A hazard I'm willing to live with. ;))
 
I've noticed that periodically I get enough primer residue dust lying around that I think a wipe-down is worthwhile just to prevent my shirt sleeves from collecting it, then having it fall off onto my dinner plate when I reach for something at the table. Anti-stat computer wipes for your bench and scales and powder hoppers and whatnot are great, and you can tear a patch off and run it down a primer dispensing tube to get priming compound dust out of it. I would avoid any cleaner with ammonia, vinegar, or peroxide in it.

Some solvents are pretty harsh, but I bought a cheap (think Odd Lots here) set of pedal operated flip lid garbage cans with polyethylene buckets inside and all the patches packed with fouling and mystery cleaner chemicals go in there. Baby wipes are best for cleaning that stuff off hands, as they have some kind of lotion in them to keep from desiccating your skin.
 
Higgite, too funny.

I use a 2" wide soft paint brush to sweep debris from my bench.

I want a small battery operated vacuum cleaner for my bench. Any ideas of where to find one. I have a 120 volt hand held vacuum that will suck the chrome off a door knob; it's too powerful for the bench.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I just use a small hand broom and a dust pan probably once every 2 weeks. When brass shavings from the trimmer build up too much, I grab the shop vac. Never saw a need for "real cleaning" with chemicals, or even water for that matter.
 
Vacuum periodically, then a wipe down with a swiffer generally hits the limits of my cleaning. I also don't let my bench get all that dirty to begin with.
 
I keep a clean or at least organized bench. When I'm done for the day I brush the bench top then sweep the concrete floor. Not much to it.
 
My bench is bare wood. I just sweep it off with a shop brush prior to use. Occasionally, I'll hit it with the nozzle from my air compressor. I also sweep the floor before I get started - keeps my chair rollers running smooth.
 
My benchtop is finished with poly so it's pretty easy to clean up with just soap and water. Got mine from Sam's Club, they are pretty solid and well built.
I've read that ammonia will kill brass over time, not sure about primers and powder but I can't imagine that it won't have an effect on them as well. I try to keep anything with ammonia out of the reloading/storage room, including glass cleaners.
 
I was referring to lead residues and possibly anything from powder IDK. I guess I was thinking aggressively since my bench is in my office in the house, so I could sometimes put something down on the bench top (like clothes or a book or something) while I'm moving around the office. I have a small vacuum I've used for brass shavings and such.
 
I was referring to lead residues and possibly anything from powder IDK. I guess I was thinking aggressively since my bench is in my office in the house, so I could sometimes put something down on the bench top (like clothes or a book or something) while I'm moving around the office. I have a small vacuum I've used for brass shavings and such.
Click to expand...

Yeah, lead residue is always a concern. I'm probably more exposed to that kind of stuff at my local indoor ranges than I am at home. I shot at Bass Pro one day and they forgot to turn on the fan!

I have been told (by women) that I have good housekeeping habits (lol!) so I'm not overly concerned about chemicals/toxic stuff in the loading room. I go through a lot of paper towels when I clean my firearms and clean up spills immediately. I can't sleep unless everything is put away, powder from hopper and trickler back in it's container, table wiped down and floors swept. I can't even leave primers in the feeder tube, just anal I guess lol!
 
just thought of this. I have a cheapo yoga mat, gonna cut a piece of that, then use spray fabric adhesive to put felt on top of that. Better quality than the POS ones ins the stores.
 
Higgite said:
What 1100tac said Sevens said. The most dangerous chemical on my reloading bench is caffeine. (A hazard I'm willing to live with. )
Click to expand...

EXCELLENT! I'm not the only one!

COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE!
If I put 'Instant' coffee in the microwave do I go back in time?

My reloading bench has a coffee cup holder,
There is no life before the second LARGE cup!

------

About 10 or 12 years ago, I saw an IDIOT cleaning off his reloading bench with A PROPANE TORCH!

Actually BURNED the spilled powder away, out from under the back splash and side boards!

He says,
"IT'S OK! It doesn't burn long enough to start a fire"...

(It's already a fire you moron!)

-----

I leaned very young to NOT put spilled powder in an 'Ashtray', or anything that LOOKS like an ashtray.
I'm not a smoke nazi, I don't care of someone smokes,
But NOT around my powder/reloading bench!
That SHOULD be common sense...

The other thing is, smokers will flip ashes in ANYTHING,
Including the waste basket, where I sweep up and dump the spillage...

The only 'Hazardous Chemicals' on my bench is powder,
Which I clean up when I'm done or taking breaks.

The most ANNOYING thing on my bench is some case lube that spilled,
That stuff is IMPOSSIBLE to get out of raw wood and gets sticky with body heat, keeps pulling the hair on my arm...

----
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top