Best cleaning agent for diesel/oil soot?

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MikeT
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Best cleaning agent for diesel/oil soot?

Post by MikeT »

Can anyone recommend a good detergent or other cleaning agent to remove the deposits that accumulate around the boot and filler cap area?

Neat washing up liquid doesn't work, nor does halfords car shampoo - even Gunk doesn't lift it off the bodywork.
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Post by caveman_si »

Petrol?

I remember being told that if you want to clean petrol deposits use diesel and if you want to clean diesel deposits of something use petrol. Never tried to use petrol myself as my jest wash gets its all off.

Also try wd40 its good for getting things clean. Give its a soak in the stuff and then try wiping off.
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Post by CitroJim »

Mike,

Try white spirit or an electronic cleaning solvent. I use Electolube ULS and that is great for cleaning up Diesel.

Some foaming cleaners used in the IT industry are also fantastic greasebusters. Once I used it to clean up a really crusty cooker hood :lol:
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Post by MikeT »

If petrol works, I presume it too will leave it's own residue - what's best for removing that after? WD40 didn't work for me. I don't have any of the other products suggested but I've got a splash of carb and brake cleaner in tins.

Jim, do you know what the active chemical is in Electolube? I can ask the chemist as it would be cheaper no doubt.

I've just come home to find cooking oil is pretty good at dissolving tarmac driveways :oops:
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Post by XantiaMan »

Traffic film remover. My 'petrol' cap area is mint :wink:
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Post by MikeT »

Aha! Sounds good to me. Again, any idea what the active ingredient is?
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Post by XantiaMan »

MikeT wrote:Aha! Sounds good to me. Again, any idea what the active ingredient is?
Same stuff as bleach basically, you can get a similar effect using a cheap kitchen cleaner (Asda do one with added bleach for about 70p)

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Post by PicassoPigeon »

Use a nice bit of neat Stardrops (58p Asda) and a microfiber cloth (£1.99 for 2 large ones in Lidl) It gets just about anything off and you can use it all around your house for cleaning as well.
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Post by davek-uk »

Has anyone tried Magic Erasor http://www.jmldirect.com/Magic-Eraser-PM4712/ for car cleaning?

My poor white Xantia gets very dirty and one evening I had the bright idea of cleaning it. I clean my car every 6 months or so - whether it needs it or not! I was scrubbing and screeching the sponge and the muck still wouldn't budge. The other half said "Try this with just water" and handed me a piece of Magic Erasor. I used it with the hose to give a constant supply of clean water, and WOW! what a result. Women can be useful...

Simply rub the car all over and all the muck comes off - so simple. No scrubbing and scraping at tree and fly deposits. No using petrol to remove the tar (and veg oil) deposits. It really is magic! So much so it encouraged me to put a little wax on as well!!!
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Post by MikeT »

I found a bottle of Cilit Bang in the back of the cupboard as I recall it didn't accomplish cleaning the oven but I just tried it on the car and it works fine!

I'll look for that Magic Eraser too just to see if it's any easier.
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Post by philhoward »

I know someone who swears by TFR for just about everything - in some cases its saved him hours with T-cut on bodywork that just won't get clean with normal washing.

For those who've seen the film in question, then it's the automotive equivalent of "Windex"...
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Post by TehAgent »

i found that BMW break disk cleaner works wonders at removing just about everything.

Even used it to get ride of some marks / scratchs on a TFT 19" wide screen monitor.
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Post by mbunting »

I used CIF the other day on my WHITE 406, it got the back bumper really clean, and left a bit of a gloss - for a 10 year old WHITE car, it looked really good - almost new ( shame about the dents :lol: )
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Post by MikeT »

Funny how these kitchen products don't do their intended job (at least not for me) yet will clean deposits it's not designed for. Cillit Bang works fantastically on getting the oil sooty deposits and other dirt off my car. It's great on the glass too - can see clearly at night now. Seems the log book is right - mine is white underneath! :D
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