Simple Green and Shaving Cream?

Thanks Mike38 for posting.

Of all of the myriad of people that advocate the various unorthadox cleaning / lubing concoctions, things like "Amonnia and Hydrogen Peroxide" for cleaning, or using bacon grease for lubrication - or carbon tet carb cleaner, Simple Green, or whatever...

I think very very few of them ever come back to the forum and say things like

"I melted a polymer part on my pistol"

or

"I only noticed later that the guts of the trigger assembly were rusting like crazy"

or

"I took the finish off my slide in spots"

or

"My front sight fell off after using that, and my rear sights are rattling around loose in the dovetail now.."

Or whatever...
 
WD-40 stands for "Water Displacement – 40th Attempt". The developer was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion in nuclear weapons, by displacing any standing water. He arrived at a successful formula on his 40th attempt. Kind of like Jack Daniels ole Number 7 whiskey.
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Wow, I didn't know that about JD. I never mix water with good whiskey anyway. ;):D:D
 
"I melted a polymer part on my pistol"

or

"I only noticed later that the guts of the trigger assembly were rusting like crazy"

or

"I took the finish off my slide in spots"

or

"My front sight fell off after using that, and my rear sights are rattling around loose in the dovetail now.."

Or whatever...
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Because the 'gun' cleaning chemicals (like Gun Scrubber in the old or new formulations) would never cause these problems.

If you remove all lubricant and fail to re-apply something rust IS going to happen.

Even Hope's #9 can strip paint and dull gloss finishes.
 
Yes I have read where people have posted using Crisco lard, and Vaseline for lubrication, brake fluid, coolant/anti-freeze, and Hydrogen Peroxide and Ammonia for cleaning.

First time I've heard shaving cream.
 
Why not just use gun cleaning chemicals?

I don't understand the needs to clean things with chemicals that are not meant to clean guns.

Simple green for gun cleaning. What is wrong with using Hoppes #9? Clean the gun wipe it down and apply a light coat of oil. I can understand using something like GM top end engine cleaner to get the carbon out as it is made for that.

The craziest thing I use is Mobil 1 0w30 for lubing my guns along with moly grease.
 
I don't understand the needs to clean things with chemicals that are not meant to clean guns.
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Paying more for what is often the same thing in a 'gun' package is a waste of money.

Gun Scrubber (before the Montreal protocol restricted it) was 1,1,1-Trichloroethane in a spray can.

I could get it by the gallon from work for free.

There is nothing magic about 'gun chemicals,' except maybe the money they put in the sellers pocket.
 
I don't understand the needs to clean things with chemicals that are not meant to clean guns.
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I don't either. OK, so I clean with Kroil- othewise I'm pretty well sold on Balistol. I've tried Gunzilla stuff, but it gets kinda pricey compared to what I get out of Balistol. Everybody has the right to do as they please and I sure don't wanna try to come up with reasons they may be wronger than me, but I just don't see the point in cleaning beyond what Uncle Sam asked of me.
 
I just don't see the point in cleaning beyond what Uncle Sam asked of me.
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Uncle Sam is not a good example of firearms maintenance.

Many guns most of us have costs more than Uncle Sam paid for an M-16.
 
I understand substituting one cleaner for the other that is the same but lower cost. That makes sense to me.

I don't understand why someone would use Simple green and shaving cream to clean a gun? Maybe a black powder rifle or handgun.

I also don't understand how you can CLEAN with oil namely CLP. I hated that crap when I was in the Army and hate it even more today. You can't have an oil cleaner and a oil based lube in one bottle. It just doesn't work.
 
Brickeyee,
The more I ponder that, the loster I get. What does cost, value, etc have to do with the extent and manner in which I clean my personal firearms?

And to be faily honest, I did develop quite an appreciation for cleaning and maintenance while in the service.

And I kinda hope you're not automatically assuming much of anything at all about my collection, that would be kind of assumptuous.
 
"This brings me to another question, when people use water based cleaners, what methods do you use to ensure the firearm is completely dry afterwards? "

For my BP guns I use very hot water, so that it evaporates faster then I use Borebutter on them. For solvent I use equal parts Murphy Oil Soap, 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, and 3% Hydrogen Peroxide. Been using that since before all these new BP cleaners came on the market.
 
I took a nap this afternoon and I had a nightmare that my 17L had rusted - I mean totally rusted shut and it was bright bright orange and crusted with rust.

It was so horrible the dream woke me up from my sleep. :eek:
 
Yes I have read where people have posted using Crisco lard, and Vaseline for lubrication, brake fluid, coolant/anti-freeze, and Hydrogen Peroxide and Ammonia for cleaning.

First time I've heard shaving cream.
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Yep - because there really ARE those that damn cheap and stupid to use the right product
 
What does cost, value, etc have to do with the extent and manner in which I clean my personal firearms?
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You are free to wast your money.

Not all of us like to throw money away.
I also don't understand how you can CLEAN with oil namely CLP.
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If it contains both a solvent that evaporates and a lubricant it can both clean (the solvent) and lube (the oil that remains behind).
 
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The BEST Simple Green product to use...

I am the VP of R&D for Simple Green and I can confirm that there is a Simple Green "aircraft" product that is perfectly safe on aluminum, steel, polycarbonate plastics, etc. The best thing about it is that there is a "consumer" version of that formula at Home Depot called Simple Green Pro HD. It is a purple liquid in a gallon container. We have received feedback from NRA members, pin-shooters, and gun folks in-the-know that Pro HD gives excellent cleaning results and does not cause any damage. Of course, if you strip all the oils, carbons and other gunk from any metal, you may have corrosion or oxidation occur if you don't apply some sort of protectant afterward, but that would be true of any cleaner.

I'm not sure what's up with the shaving cream - but unless your gun is hairy, I think I'd leave that alone!
 
Simple Green is very good stuff based on my experience. I use a lot of it, but none on my guns. I probably use a few hundred gallons a year. Yes, gallons.
 
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