The best ways to get cosmoline off

Tconfo · Sep 10, 2009

I just put money down on a new RIA 1911. Only thing is the gun was submerged, to put it lightly, in cosmoline. Anyone have any other ways to clean it off besides completley stripping it apart and wiping down with WD40? I think I can use a can of gun scubber.

Inigoes · Sep 10, 2009

Nothing like good 'ole elbow grease

eddiek2000 · Sep 10, 2009

Tconfo said:
I just put money down on a new RIA 1911. Only thing is the gun was submerged, to put it lightly, in cosmoline. Anyone have any other ways to clean it off besides completley stripping it apart and wiping down with WD40? I think I can use a can of gun scubber.

Brake cleaner or one of those "steam sharks" followed by wd40 or submerge in thinner. But honestly, just take it apart. 1911 is a piece of cake.

Huckleberry · Sep 10, 2009

Nice bath in hot water just melts the cosmo away.

PresentArms · Sep 10, 2009

I just went through it with mine.

Tear it apart and use gun scrub, hot water, and wd40

smokey · Sep 10, 2009

+1 for the steam cleaner. melts it right off and some hot soapy water can get whatever's left behind. then some kind of eezox or other protection lube

snapshotmd · Sep 11, 2009

Probably a bad idea, but I used plain gasoline to clean up my SKS. It worked very well.

Mud Turtle · Sep 11, 2009

snapshotmd said:
Probably a bad idea, but I used plain gasoline to clean up my SKS. It worked very well.

In the past week someone else had a posting about using gasoline as a solvent. A number of years ago I spent some time at Bayview Medical Center - the regional burn unit. I got to know alot of burn patients. Like the therapists said, "just put gasoline in your gas tank - not for anything else". You really don't want is to learn about gasoline the hard way. Suffering from burns is both physically and emotionally painful and you'll have to deal with it the rest of your life. My injury was not burn related. But I learned from talking to all the patients. There are much safer solvents to use for cleaning.

3rdRcn · Sep 11, 2009

I used mineral spirits and a bucket. Take gun apart, drop parts in bucket and let sit for a while. When you take them out you can just wipe the stuff off and your done cleaning it. Make sure you oil it well afterwards though cause the mineral spirits take all the oils off as well.

ThePhantomPatriot · Sep 11, 2009

I just threw my gun out in the sun and took a damp rag and scrubbed it. I've viewed various methods and one site said hot water is the best because it actually does less damage than most chemicals, plus it melts the cosmoline making it easier to get off.

hole punch · Sep 12, 2009

PresentArms said:
I just went through it with mine.

Tear it apart and use gun scrub, hot water, and wd40

hard to believe that pretty thing was buried under cosmo :thumbsup:

Ak44 · Sep 15, 2009

Hot water and soap (just like Bootcamp) or SLIP2000 725 Degreaser

saltydog · Sep 16, 2009

3rdRcn said:
I used mineral spirits and a bucket. Take gun apart, drop parts in bucket and let sit for a while. When you take them out you can just wipe the stuff off and your done cleaning it. Make sure you oil it well afterwards though cause the mineral spirits take all the oils off as well.

I totally agree with 3rdrcn with using the mineral spirits to clean that crap off. We used mineral spirits to clean cosmoline off of these huge chains that were used to drive the escalators in the Metro when they were new, and the big steel main railes used to guide elevators. The chains came with so much of that crap stuck to them that it still took quite a while to get them clean. Mineral Spirits will remove any lube on the parts that you're cleaning, but so will just about anything that's used to get this stuff off.

Either way you do need to lube your gun up real good once you use something strong enough to clean that off. If you don't oil what you cleaned down immediately, you may get a little surface rust if left untreated. And no-one wants that to happen to such a nice piece as a 1911 or any gun for that matter.

No matter what you use, make sure you are in an open area so you can breathe without pulling the fumes into your lungs. And make sure you protect your hands as well. Not only will these chemicals remove the oils from your hands and cause them to crack real bad (if what you use will get the cosmoline off, it's some bad stuff) but these chemicals will also get into your blood-stream which will cause numbness in your hands after about 15 minutes of use. It may not mess with you immediately, but later on you'll wish you took some type of precaution. (ask me how I know after years of being around this stuff)

Jimbob2.0 · Sep 16, 2009

I just hosed and rubbed my mosin wiht WD40 until it all came off. What a bonding experience!

Streetgang · Sep 16, 2009

soak it in diesel for about ten minutes, spray it with pine sol let it soak a few minutes, rinse with hot water then dry with compressed air and lube it up.

case XX · Sep 16, 2009

I like simple green and water to clean my guns followed by the lube of your choice if I am doing a full tear down. Boiling water works best but is more trouble so often I don't bother with it. Can't say that I have tried it on cosmo but I would expect it to work well, it's cheap and has tons of uses around the house and in the garage. It is also biodegradable which can't be said of most of the chemicals commonly used for cleaning purposes, at least not the ones that work.

Jimbob2.0 · Sep 16, 2009

Never thought of that, ever have rust problems?

case XX · Sep 16, 2009

Jimbob2.0 said:
Never thought of that, ever have rust problems?

Nope, just dry well after cleaning and prior to reassembly. That's where the boiling water helps, due to the heat involved the water evaporates quickly but again I frequently don’t bother with the hot water.

K31 · Sep 17, 2009

smokey0118 said:
+1 for the steam cleaner. melts it right off and some hot soapy water can get whatever's left behind. then some kind of eezox or other protection lube

I love the smell of Eezox in the morning. I think I'll go apply some right now.

zombiehunter · Nov 26, 2009

w00t! I used the search and found this. now my question:

Getting the cosmo off wood...like on my MN 91/30?

The best ways to get cosmoline off

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