Help me get this loathsome lanolin film off 2,500 cases by using my wet tumbler.

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IMtheNRA

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******* SOLVED! SEE POST 56 FOR MY SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE RESOLUTION ******



Yesterday I resized about 2,500 .223 cases using my home-brewed mix of lanolin and red HEET. The resulting lubricant worked extraordinarily well in terms of smooth, effortless functioning of the resizing die.

The problem is getting this disgusting stuff off my brass. Normally, after using RCBS lube, I just run the cases in the Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler with Dawn and Lemishine for about an hour and they come out squeaky clean.

Today is a different story... The tumbler has been running for about five hours with three changes of water and more Dawn than I typically use all year. Now that the dirt from the freshly exposed primer pockets met the tacky lanolin film on the rest of the brass, the cases all have a revolting gray waxy layer of filth that comes off only when I scrape it with my fingernail.

In retrospect, I'm not surprised that lanolin is so resistant to my wet tumbler treatment. It is after all, what makes sheep waterproof. I just wish I had thought of that sooner.

My next experiment will be bathing the cases in some 91% Isopropyl alcohol in hopes that will dissolve the lanolin.

If anyone here has already had this adventure while using a WET TUMBLER, or knows enough chemistry to offer a suggestion, please let me know how to rid the brass and myself of this abominable waxy mess.

:what:
 
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I'm using hot water, Dawn, and Lemishine.

I don't think the brake cleaner would help much. This film is inside many of the case necks and I think it will cause the powder to stick and constrict it's flow during the charging operation on the press.
 
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Same thing happened to me. It covered my brass and inside of my tumbler with a greyish film.
My fix was lacquer thinner. Soaked them in thinner for a couple of hours, then in the tumbler for a couple. Don't know if the soaking was needed, but that's how I did it.
Haven't used lanolin sense
 
Snerk. . . hehee.

Sorry, I feel for you, but that's just funny. It IS sheep waterproofing. . .

1) You probably have too much lanoline. It takes a really thin coat.
2) I rinse in hot soapy water, rinse in clear water, and dry tumble to dry the cases. Any remaining lanolin is too little to matter.
3) For absolute removal, rinse in any solvent. Paint thinner, alcohol, carbon tetrachlorlide, gasoline. . . just don't make an ash of yourself.
 
ponchh said:
Same thing happened to me. It covered my brass and inside of my tumbler with a greyish film.
My fix was lacquer thinner. Soaked them in thinner for a couple of hours, then in the tumbler for a couple. Don't know if the soaking was needed, but that's how I did it.
Click to expand...

Ponchh, did you actually tumble them in lacquer thinner or just let them soak? I'd be afraid of turning on the tumbler and igniting the fumes...
 
I would think you need to put them in some type of bucket,fill with some kind of solvent and either let them soak or use a small bottle brush inside and out to remove it.
Don’t think he meant put in tumbler to do this.
 
IMtheNRA said:
Ponchh, did you actually tumble them in lacquer thinner or just let them soak? I'd be afraid of turning on the tumbler and igniting the fumes...
Click to expand...

Tumbled without pins for a couple of hours, dumped thinner, rinsed with water, tumbled with pins with whatever you would usually use for another hour or so. The thing I was worried about was that the inside of the brass was as bad or worse than the outside.
The tumbler was as bad as the brass, so that's how I cleaned them both at the same time.
 
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I tumble with hot water and TSP. Works for me. Lanolin doesn't come off easily.

Trisodium Phosphate, if you're not familiar with that acronym.
 
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IMtheNRA said:
In retrospect, I'm not surprised that lanolin is so resistant to my wet tumbler treatment. It is after all, what makes sheep waterproof.
Click to expand...
Please do me a favor and not post in blue...it makes it extremely difficult to read against the black background of the Black Responsive (Green) color scheme.

The most efficient way to remove the lanolin from cases is to tumble them in walnut 20-30 mins.

If you are determined to wet tumble the cases:
1. Do Not add Lemishine...there is no carbon for it to soften
2. Use Woolite instead of Dawn...think about what you posted above
 
Try White Kerosene.to soak them in. Never had that problem myself but my father was a mechanic and his cure all soaking liquid was white #1 grade Kerosene. You may never get all the smell out of the brass though. Heres the positive side. As cheap as .223 brass is, you could probably just dump the brass and get some more by the time you start buying a bunch of chemicals to clean what you have
 
I thought I would be clever and add car wax to my wet tumbler.....BAD BAD BAD idea.
Everything came out coated with grey slime.
Trying to clean them with dishwashing soap had no effect.
409 to the rescue......

Worst case maybe try foaming engine degreaser.
Hope you get them taken care of.
 
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Can't speak from experience, but 'solvent' came to mind first,,,
Would start mild and work your way up,,,
(Mineral Spirits is relatively tame/good place to start if in doubt)
I feel for ya,,, Sounds like a heck of a mess,,,:(
 
Dug around a little, and, while lanolin is soluble in hot acetone, it is freely soluble in room temperature ethyl acetate, which is cheap and readily available on Amazon.
 
Use some of your Heet or alcohol and spray them down and don't use as much lube in the future. You might have too much lanolin in your mix. Add more Heet and see how that works.
I use Lizard Liter in my tumbler if I want my rounds pretty and shinny but I learned years ago that pretty rounds don't shoot any better. It's what's inside that makes them work.
 
Walkalong said:
My professional painter buddy says Purple Power is the best thing since sliced bread for getting grease etc off of things and comes off clean enough to paint without further prep.

May be worth a try.
Click to expand...

9mmepiphany said:
I've used Purple Power in cleaning up MilSup rifles...it works really well getting off grease
Click to expand...

Just a word on purple power. Used it extensively back in moto cross days for cleaning everything from quads to small parts. I noticed if it was used full strength and allowed to dry anywhere it would etch in water spots. This happened to most metals but was severe with aluminum. Due to this I generally ran a50/50 water and purple mix. Just make sure you rinse fully so none of the solvent dries on the brass.
 
Yes the KOH in Purple cleaner will etch aluminum and actually chew on the rubber liner in that style of tumbler. It will likely work in a large plastic bucket though. Rinse (double/triple) and a short tumble after. Safety gear!!

Have you tried straight IPA?
 
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