What do I use for safe degreasing?

Degrease with petrol and you’re playing with fire – literally

Petrol (gasoline) is - in theory - a very effective degreaser. It’s not a safe one, however, because it has the somewhat pesky habit of evaporating very easily to form an explosive mixture in air. It’s just not a good idea to clean dirty mechanical parts in an environment that envelops your head in an explosive cloud. All it needs to go off is a tiny spark. Additionally, petrol vapour is unsafe to breathe (just take a look what exposure does to recreational petrol sniffers). Nor is it safe to get the liquid form of petrol on your skin. So, on balance and despite its efficacy, petrol not a smart choice as a degreaser.

What should you use? Try a commercial degreaser – for example Kenco Heavy Duty Degreaser, which won’t envelop your head in an explosive cloud but will cut grease and grime. Price difference? Five litres of petrol costs about $6.50. Five litres of the Kenco stuff is $16.99 – and the $10 seems a small price to pay considering it takes months in the burns unit and painful skin grafts off the table. Supercheap auto carries the Kenco stuff, which you can buy online here - KENCO DEGREASER.