Trial Number 0

Nine products were selected from the lab’s on-line database, www.cleanersolutions.org, based on client supplied information. All were used at room temperature. Five alkaline aqueous cleaners were diluted to 5% using DI water in 300 ml beakers. Four cleaners were used at full strength. Twenty-four preweighed aluminum coupons were coated with wax manually without heat gun and allowed to dry for 24 hours at room temperature. The contaminated coupons were weighed again to determine the amount of soil added.
Each cleaner tested with three coupons. Three coupons were placed into a Gardner Straight Line Washability unit. A Kimberly Clark Reinforced paper towel was attached to the cleaning sled and soaked with 5-7 sprays of cleaning solutions. Each coupon was sprayed 3 times with the same cleaning solution. Coupon was cleaned for 18 cycles (~30 seconds) straightly. At the end of the cleaning, coupons were dried at room temperature naturally. Final weights were recorded and efficiencies were calculated and recorded.

Three products were effective in removing the wax with a manual wiping action. The table lists the amount of soil initially added and the amount remaining after cleaning and the product efficiency for each coupon cleaned.

Three products (Shopmaster RC, SC Aircraft metal cleaner, Solsafe 245) removed more than 85% of the wax from aluminum coupon. A follow up test will be conducted using longer cleaning times.