Brakleen Red vs Green

[DarthDuty]

Need to clean underbody, heavy baked on road grime, rubber steering rack boots and hoses, also my oil and trans pans.

Difference is green is 40 cents less and obviously not chlorinated. But why market both? Which would be better for me?

 

[wirelessF]

Non chlorinated brake cleaner can strip paint, melt plastic and swell certain rubber parts. The non-chorinated brake cleaner is used to clean and prep bare metal for welding since it won't emit phosgene gases when heated up like chlorinated (red) brake cleaner. If you need to degrease the underbody use engine degreaser where it won't harm paint and plastic, and follow up with Simple green. Having a pressure washer helps.

 

[DarthDuty]

Gunk has a multi surface citrus scented engine cleaner that says it's safe on all metal/rubber/plastic parts under the hood, $5 for a 32oz spray bottle, would this be better?

 

[74DartSport]

We use the green at work since our recycler allegedly checks our waste oil for chlorinated solvents.

 

[SnowDrifter]

Not red. Definitely not red. I got that stuff... It smells SO bad. I'd put it up there with diff oil as far as offensive smells go. Doesn't seem to evaporate as quickly as non chlorinated brake cleaner either. And doesn't seem to work nearly as well.

Not sure when it's appropriate to use one or the other, but I've found green works better for general cleaning/degreasing. Just my 2 cents

 

[901Memphis]

I've always used red...

 

[SnowDrifter]

Oh... And be careful when working with the chlorinated stuff. I think I've lucked out a couple times. While I'm not welding, I've done some grinding and sparking using it, torching, etc. Heat in general. I usually blow off with a blast of compressed air, so I think that's what kept me safe.

http://tomwade.me/motorcycles/phosgene.php

 

[ironman_gq]

Use a foaming engine degreaser, it's better at stripping buildup of crud than any brake cleaner is. Spray it on, let it sit, reapply, scrub, rinse and repeat until clean. You'll also use far less of the cleaner as it doesn't evaportate. Purple power concrete degreaser also works really well if you don't have any aluminum around although it might remove loose paint. Simple green also works pretty well and it smells nice as do a lot of the citrus based degreasers. Oven cleaner is another good choice as long as you don't use it on aluminum.