What is degreaser?
A degreaser is a chemical formulated to remove oil, grease and grease-like soils from a surface. Industrial degreasers are usually alkaline aqueous concentrates that saponify and emulsify oil at 55–65 °C, though solvent and citrus-based versions exist for wipe-down and non-immersion work.
Degreasers are classified first by carrier — aqueous or solvent — and then by pH. Heavy-duty alkaline degreasers (pH 11–13) are the workhorses for ferrous machining and forging soils. Neutral-pH degreasers (pH 7–9) exist because alkalinity attacks aluminium, zinc and brass; a neutral formulation cleans those metals without staining or etching them.
The second axis is foam. A cleaner that foams beautifully in a soak tank will fill a spray washer's pump chamber with air and cavitate it. Low-foam degreasers use surfactants with a cloud point below the wash temperature, so they collapse rather than build under mechanical agitation.
Selecting a degreaser is therefore not a matter of finding the strongest one. It is a matter of matching four variables: substrate, soil, wash equipment, and foam tolerance. Getting any one of those wrong turns a good chemical into a rejected batch.
