6 Steps for Choosing Precision Cleaning Solvent Substitutes

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There are several reasons why an organization could need precision cleaning solvent substitutes, such as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) measures that regulate toxic chemicals, new business practices that involve new cleaning needs, recent discoveries about environmental dangers of a particular solvent, or simply the need to reduce solvent cost.

Regardless of why an organization needs precision cleaning solvent substitutes, there are six crucial steps for selecting the right solution. Taking the steps below helps ensure that you choose the right “drop in” solvent substitute for your precision cleaning requirements.

  1. Identify Materials That Need Cleaning

First, you need a solvent substitute that won’t harm the materials you clean. This can be a bit challenging if you’re cleaning a part that includes multiple materials, such as metal, plastic, and rubber — and may even include different classes of these materials. After identifying a solvent that’s safe for the materials you need to clean, it’s time to progress to step two.

  1. Identify Soils That Require Removal

Most industrial solvents are formulated for general cleaning or removing specific types of accumulations, such as grease, dirt, rust, adhesive residue, and the list goes on. If you can’t find a solvent that removes all applicable soils, there are two options: Use more than one solvent for the cleaning operation, or formulate a custom solvent that does the job in a single application.

  1. Consider Parts Washer Specifications

If your precision cleaning operation uses a parts washing system, your solvent substitute should conform to the requirements of the washing system. You can often find information about solvent compatibility in the owner’s manual for a parts washing system. If you need assistance choosing a compatible solvent, contact Ecolink; we can help.

  1. Assess Solvent’s Overall Safety Profile

You want a solvent whose formulation isn’t toxic to humans or the environment. The EPA continues to ban and severely regulate toxic solvents, and such solvents can reduce worker productivity due to negative health effects. Choosing an “environmentally safe” or an “environmentally prefered” replacement solvent is the best option.

  1. Review Packaging and Supply Options

Can you receive the solvent in the type of container you need (e.g., aerosol, drum, spray bottle, etc.)? Can you receive orders in the size you need on the schedule you require? Because they affect how solvent is deployed and how much reserve solvent you can purchase in a single order, these basic questions are important to answer before you choose a solvent and a supplier.

  1. Request a Free Test Sample of Solvent

If you order precision cleaning solvent substitutes from Ecolink, you have the option of receiving a free test sample of the solution. This lets you see if the new solvent you plan to use is truly a “drop in” substitute for your cleaning operations. After you see how well the solvent performs, you can order it with confidence in any supply size you choose.

Need a New Precision Cleaning Solvent?

If you need precision cleaning solvent substitutes, get the substitution process rolling by calling Ecolink at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We specialize in providing stock solvents and custom solvents that fit our customers’ requirements perfectly. For assistance with selecting the best substitution, contact us today!    

Medical Industry Cleaners for Critical Degreasing: FAQ

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Medical industry cleaners comprise a category of cleaning solvents that are used to clean medical equipment of various sorts. Degreaser is one type of solvent that falls within the category. If this is your first time shopping for degreaser for critical cleaning of medical equipment, you may have some questions regarding critical degreasers. The answers below can help.

 What is the official definition for critical parts degreasing?  

 Critical parts degreasing is the process of using a degreaser to remove “sub-micrometre particles and non-volatile residue measured in Angstroms” (Wikipedia). The process is typically performed in a clean room environment. The maximum allowed soil for critical cleaning is ? 5 mg / m² (1). “Critical cleaning” is the highest level of cleaning for any type of equipment.

How do standard degreasers and critical degreasers differ?

Most standard degreasers are formulated to perform “intermediate cleaning” and “final cleaning”. As mentioned above, these types of cleaning provide a lower level of soil removal than “precision cleaning” and “critical cleaning.” If you need to perform critical degreasing on medical equipment, a standard degreaser will not suffice. Using a degreaser made for critical cleaning is the only option.

Is it necessary to use precision degreasers in a parts washer?

No. However, using a parts washing system is an easy way to ensure that parts are cleaned according to the definition of critical cleaning. Parts that have simple geometrical designs are easier to clean outside of a washing system than parts that have complex geometrical designs. It’s optimal to clean the latter type of parts using an industrial grade parts washer.

What if I can’t find a degreaser for parts with multiple materials?

This is common problem organizations un into when they first start shopping for a critical degreaser. Metal, rubber, and plastic — and different grades of these materials — are commonly found in a single part. If you can’t find stock medical industry cleaners that meet your needs, working with Ecolink to develop a custom precision cleaning solution is the best option.

How do I know whether a precision degreaser is eco friendly?

Eco friendly medical industry chemicals fall within two basic categories: solvents that are “environmentally safe” and solvents that are “environmentally prefered”. These classifications apply to degreasers containing no ingredients the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bans, regulates, as well as no ingredients that the EPA is slated to ban or regulate in the future.

Need Medical Industry Chemicals for Critical Degreasing?

If so, Ecolink is a great place to find them. We offer several types of stock degreasing solutions, and we routinely formulate custom degreasers that match customers’ unique requirements. Medical equipment needs the level of degreasing that only critical cleaning can offer. We can provide a degreaser that performs according to the strict requirements for this level of cleaning.

To get started on evaluating your options for medical industry chemicals for degreasing, please call us today at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to presenting you with dynamic, industrial grade degreasing solutions for a great price!

 

 

   

Why Make Ecolink Your IPA Chemical Supplier?

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Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is one of the most used chemical compounds for industrial cleaning. In addition to being used in its original form, the compound serves as an efficacious ingredient in various solvents that feature blends of multiple chemicals.

Due to its plentitude and broad range of application, industrial-grade IPA is available from hundreds of solvent suppliers in the U.S. alone. With so many options on the table, why should you make Ecolink your trusted IPA chemical supplier? There are five good reasons.

1. Solvents With No EPA Regulated Ingredients

Implementing a solvent with EPA regulated ingredients generally means you can’t use a large volume of the solvent regularly. It’s also important to note that using a solvent with ingredients that are scheduled for regulation by the EPA will eventually lead to the same situation. We provide environmentally-prefered solvents that contain no EPA regulated ingredients.

2. Container Seals That Prevent Vapor Emission

Industrial grade IPA is usually 99% pure isopropyl alcohol. However, when the compound is placed inside a storage container, its purity — and thus its efficacy — can diminish due to vapor loss caused by the vapor density of the compound. Our industrial grade IPA arrives in containers designed to prevent IPA from evaporating during shipping and storage.

3. Option of Custom Solutions for Unique Needs

If you need a blended solvent that contains IPA, and you can’t find a stock solvent that’s exactly the right fit, creating a custom IPA solvent is the solution. We can custom blend an IPA cleaner that meets your precise cleaning requirements, and supply the solution in the volume you need, on the schedule you require.

4. Free Test Sample Prior to Purchasing Solvent

The best way to assess how a solvent performs is to try before you buy. This is why we offer free samples of any solution you’re interested in using. The IPA solvent you plan to order may look perfect on paper, but why not try it out and see if it performs perfectly based on your requirements? To order a free sample, visit the Request Sample page on our website.

5. Order Various Amounts on Various Schedules

Industrial IPA users frequently need IPA in large volumes, but not always. This is why we offer containers that have different supply volumes. We also offer scheduled shipments and shipments on an as-needed basis, giving you the flexibility to order the amount of solvent you need, when you need it.

Contact Us Today

Choosing an IPA chemical supplier should be an educated decision. When you consider everything you could need from an IPA chemical supplier now and in the future, we feel confident that Ecolink will be your strongest supply options for IPA and IPA-based solvents.

To place an order, or to learn more about the benefits of making us your IPA chemical supplier, call us today at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to helping you tackle your toughest IPA cleaning needs!

6 Common Acetone Solvent Uses by Industry

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Acetone is one of the oldest chemical compounds used for industrial purposes. Wikipedia notes that “about 6.7 million tonnes [of acetone] were produced worldwide in 2010.” As more businesses crop up in industries where acetone has a purpose, usage increases. Below are six industries where businesses and organizations commonly use acetone in an official capacity.

  1. Cosmetics

As you may already know, fingernail polish removal is one of the most common acetone solvent uses. Some polish remover brands use ethyl acetate as an acetone replacement. But acetone still delivers the gold standard: It thoroughly cleans the nail and leaves it exceptionally dry, which prepares it to bond quite strongly with the next layer of polish. Acetone is also used as a solvent for other cosmetic products, including makeup and skin creams.

  1. Pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceutical production is also one of the most common Acetone solvent uses. It’s ideal for blending fillers and active ingredients that comprise pharmaceuticals in pill and liquid form. Without acetone, some pills would be harder to compact to the correct density, and partially dissolved, active pharmaceutical ingredients could literally make one pill stronger than another. Acetone can be absolutely essential for the efficacy of a medication.

  1. Textiles

Dilutions of acetone are commonly used in the textile industry to remove gums, oils, and other undesirable substances from the fibers of raw textiles (e.g., silk and wool). Because high strength preparations of acetone can dissolve some fibers, the dilution must be precise. This is why textile companies often get their acetone in custom blends from a custom solvent supplier.

  1. Electronics

Technically, cleaning electronics with acetone isn’t always counted among acetone solvent uses. In many cases, acetone is used as the single active ingredient — and not as a solvent for homogenizing other ingredients — when cleaning electronic devices and components. However, it still makes the list because acetone is used as a solvent for many electronics cleaners.

  1. Disaster Response

Disaster cleanup for oil spills often employs acetone as a primary weapon. Acetone can dissolve oil sludge, breaking it up and making it flow away instead of stubbornly staying stuck in place. Other chemical compounds could be used instead, but acetone has the advantage of being an organic compound that is considered non-toxic to humans and the environment.

  1. Petroleum

Just as acetone can break-up petroleum-based oil sludge, it can thin the petroleum found in gasoline. According to automakers and car aficionados, making petroleum molecules more diffuse makes it easier for engines to vaporize gasoline, which leads to better fuel efficiency. With that said, always consult a mechanic before pouring acetone in your gas tank. The gas you use may already have the acetone it needs to promote good fuel efficiency.

About Ecolink

The industries above consistently have one or more acetone solvent uses. Ecolink specializes in supplying eco friendly formulations of acetone to industrial users of all stripes. In addition to offering stock products, we create custom solvents and provide free test samples. To learn more about acetone solvent uses in your industry, please call us today at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to helping you use acetone effectively!

Water Based Degreasers Vs. Solvent Based: 4 Benefits

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Degreasers are some of the most commonly used industrial cleaners in the world. Until machines stop needing grease for lubrication and other purposes, the supply and demand for industrial strength degreasers will remain high. But that doesn’t mean you’re locked into using one of the two basic degreaser formulations: water based or solvent based.

If You Have the Option to Choose…

Many organizations use water based degreasers or solvent based degreasers because that’s what the degreasing application calls for. However, some organizations use solvent based cleaners for practically everything, simply because they use them for most things. If you’re in this position, using water based degreasers for jobs for which they would be a good fit — and provide proper efficacy — could have some important advantages, four of which we list below.

  1. Better Compliance With Regulations

There’s one similarity among degreasers whose ingredients the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates: The ingredients are solvent-based. Water based degreasers have an inherent advantage in the environmental safety department: Chemically, water has an ultra-high safety profile.

  1. Simplification of Degreaser Storage

Too many solvent degreasers to name have a flashpoint. Sometimes, the flashpoint is high; and sometimes, it’s low. But it typically registers at a specific temperature during testing. Water, as we know, is used to extinguish fires — a characteristic that generally makes water based degreasers safe to store in terms of fire hazard.

  1. Can Help Reduce Operating Costs

Lots of solvent based degreasers contain chemicals that have a high evaporation rate and shouldn’t be inhaled. Also, some solvents cause skin irritation on contact. When these variables are in place (They have less of a tendency to be present with water based degreasers), the need to operate an air filtration system that snags airborne contaminants, and the need to provide high-level personal protective equipment (PPE), can increase operating cost.

  1. Can Help Reduce Degreaser Disposal Costs

Spent water based degreaser may still go in the waste trap, but removing it from the trap could be less expensive than removing a solvent based degreaser. The more precautions and processes a waste removal provider must take to safely handle chemicals, the higher the waste disposal bill.

If you have an area where degreasing operations are performed, and the spent cleaner that hits the waste trap is solvent based, you could potentially reduce waste disposal cost by using a water based degreaser instead.

Interested in Water Based Degreasers?

Compared to implementing a solvent based degreaser, using a water based product can deliver four benefits, among others: better compliance with official chemical regulations, simplification of degreaser storage, reduced chemical mitigation costs, and reduced operating costs.

To find out if eco friendly water based degreasers are a good option for your degreasing applications, call us today at (800) 563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. For over 25 years, we’ve provided stock and custom cleaners that have amazing efficacy. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing how we can help with degreasing!