The short answer
Choose an industrial degreaser by matching four things: your substrate (ferrous, aluminium, copper or mixed), your soil (cutting oil, buffing compound, carbon), your equipment (ultrasonic, spray, soak) and your foam tolerance. Aqueous alkaline concentrates dilutable to 1:100 suit most machining and assembly work at 55–65 °C.
- Typical dilution
- 1:100 to 5:100 (1–5%)
- Optimum wash temperature
- 55–65 °C
- TCE comparison
- 90–100 °C required
- Rust protection after wash
- 7–15 days
- Trial packing
- 20 L pail
Most degreaser purchases go wrong the same way: a plant buys on price per litre, discovers the chemistry does not suit its metal or its washer, and ends up running it at double the recommended concentration to compensate. The cost per litre was never the number that mattered — the cost per component cleaned was.
Power Clean is a range of industrial cleaning chemicals manufactured by Roovel Solutions Pvt. Ltd. in Bangalore, India, and we have been replacing solvents on Indian production lines since 2000. This guide is the same selection logic our applications engineers use before recommending a grade.
1. Start with the substrate, not the soil
The metal decides the pH window before anything else does. Get this wrong and you will clean the part beautifully while etching, darkening or white-rusting it.
| Substrate | Chemistry needed | Power Clean grade |
|---|---|---|
| Mild steel, carbon steel, cast iron | Mildly alkaline with rust inhibitor — flash rust is the risk, not etching | SP (XL-77), XL |
| Aluminium, ADC10/ADC12 die-cast | Neutral to mildly alkaline, inhibited against white rust | NF-14, LF-59, ALB |
| Copper, brass, bronze | Neutral or controlled acidic for oxide removal, then passivate | NF-14, DE-33, DE-34 + CU-20 |
| Stainless steel 304/316 | Mild alkaline, spray-and-wipe | SS |
| Mixed-metal baskets | Neutral or mild alkaline that is safe across all of them | NF-14, LF-59 |
2. Match the chemistry to the soil
Different soils need different mechanisms — emulsification for oils, saponification for fatty residues, solvency for adhesives and carbon. A single product rarely spans the extremes, which is why the range splits the way it does.
| Soil on the part | What removes it | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Cutting oil, coolant, hydraulic oil | Alkaline emulsification at 1–5% | XL, XL+ |
| Buffing and lapping compound | Low-foam alkaline, higher mechanical energy | XL-16 (low foam to 8 bar) |
| Carbon deposits, varnish on pistons | Hot alkaline with penetrants, 62–70 °C | CR21 |
| Adhesive, gum, tar | Solvent or citrus-terpene | AR, CD-9, PC-S 312 |
| Scale in cooling water | Inhibited descaler safe on copper/brass | DE-46 |
| Flash rust risk after wash | Cleaner with built-in rust protection | SP, or RP-14 in the rinse |
3. Let the washer decide the foam profile
This is the variable buyers most often ignore, and it is the one that wrecks spray lines. In a high-jet or tunnel washer, foam is not a cosmetic problem — it destroys the mechanical cleaning energy you are paying for.
- Foam cushions jet impingement, so the shear that actually removes soil never reaches the surface.
- Entrained air causes pump cavitation and erratic pressure, and blinds filters.
- Foam carries chemical out of the bath as drag-out, increasing consumption and contaminating rinse stages.
- Aeration accelerates oxidation and shortens bath life, forcing early dumps.
- Foam-over creates slip hazards, sensor errors and overflow into drains.
| Equipment | Foam requirement | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| High-jet spray, tunnel, conveyor | No foam | LF, LF-45, LF-43, XL-32 |
| Ultrasonic tanks | Low foam — foam damps cavitation | XL, NF-14, LF-59 |
| Soak and dip tanks | Low foam, high soil loading | XL, SP, BW-77 |
| Manual wipe / automotive service bays | Foam is useful — it clings | HD, CD-9 |
4. Check the process window you can actually run
A chemical that needs 70 °C is useless if your tank heater tops out at 45 °C. Confirm the temperature and dilution band before you commit, and confirm it against your own parts rather than a datasheet.
| Grade | Dilution | Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| POWER CLEAN XL | 1–15% (from 1:100) | 60–70 °C |
| POWER CLEAN NF-14 | 3–15% | 40–55 °C |
| POWER CLEAN SP | 3–15% | 40–50 °C |
| POWER CLEAN LF | 1–15% | 40–70 °C |
| POWER CLEAN LF-59 | 2–10% | Ambient–65 °C |
| POWER CLEAN CR21 | 5–25% | 62–70 °C |
| POWER CLEAN ALB | 5–9% ultrasonic / 10–15% manual | 25–40 °C |
The economics buyers miss
Concentrates are bought by the litre and consumed by the dilution. One 20-litre pail of POWER CLEAN XL at 1:100 makes up to 3,500 litres of working bath. Judge a quotation on cost per litre of made-up bath, then on how long that bath survives before it is dumped.
- Bath life extends dramatically with oil skimming and particulate filtration — a skimmer plus filter makes soil removal automatic.
- Recirculating the full tank volume once per minute is the rule of thumb for heat and agitation.
- Reported cost reductions average 60% when replacing solvent or caustic processes.
- Aqueous chemistry has an indefinite shelf life; solvents evaporate in storage.
A selection checklist
- 1List every metal that goes through the bath, including fixtures and baskets.
- 2Identify the dominant soil and the worst-case soil.
- 3Note your equipment type, spray pressure and maximum bath temperature.
- 4Decide whether parts need rust protection after the wash, and for how long.
- 5Set your cleanliness target — visual, water-break-free, gravimetric, or millipore.
- 6Trial on your own parts with agreed pass/fail criteria before committing to supply.
Not sure which grade fits your line? Send us a sample part — we clean it and send it back so you can validate the result before buying.
Request a free cleaning trialFrequently asked questions
What is the best industrial degreaser for mixed-metal parts?
A neutral-pH or mildly alkaline inhibited cleaner. POWER CLEAN NF-14 (neutral pH) and LF-59 are formulated so aluminium, brass, copper and steel can share one bath without discolouration, etching or white rust — removing change-overs between metal types.
What dilution should an industrial degreaser be used at?
Most Power Clean aqueous concentrates work between 1% and 15% by volume, with 1–5% covering typical machining soils. Heavier duties such as carbon removal run 5–25%. Always confirm on your own parts, since soil loading and agitation change the effective concentration.
What temperature should a parts washer run at?
55–65 °C is the optimum band for aqueous cleaning and the range where most Power Clean grades perform best. By comparison, trichloroethylene needs 90–100 °C. Higher temperature lowers soil viscosity and makes the chemistry more aggressive, but it also raises energy cost and evaporation.
How long does a cleaning bath last?
It depends on soil loading, drag-out rate and maintenance. Bath life extends substantially when oil is skimmed and particulate is filtered continuously. Monitor concentration by titration or refractometer and top up rather than waiting for cleaning quality to fall.
Is an aqueous degreaser safe for aluminium?
Only if it is inhibited for it. Uninhibited high-alkaline cleaners etch and darken aluminium and can cause white rust. POWER CLEAN NF-14, LF-59 and ALB are formulated specifically for aluminium including ADC10 and ADC12 die-cast alloys.
