Hi Dale,

For cleaning it depends as to what I am doing as to what I use. For any gluing or painting I pay close attention to surface preparation - don't like surprises.

For bare wood I wipe down the surface [after sanding and vacuuming] with a cloth dampened with water to raise the grain of the wood so I can get rid of the "fuzzies".

When applying a series of epoxy fill coats and I am sure that there is no contamination [blush, fingerprints, etc.] on the surface I do not use any cleaners.

If the epoxy has come to full cure and I want to apply more resin, paint or varnish I will do an complete wash down with soap & water followed by a clear water rinse and a wipe with acetone or naphtha [white gas].

The use of acetone has been discussed before. Acetone is dangerous stuff so all the precautions [ventilation, respirator, gloves] should be used. Acetone has been blamed for contaminating the surface. In a discussion with the tech rep from West Systems he pointed out that acetone is "pure" and that the residues being deposited on the working surface likely were synthetic fibers or residual soap dissolved out of the cleaning cloth. That or from contaminates were "backwashed" into the acetone container.

Naphtha is a good grease cutter but it is also very flammable. I use it for cleaning small items.

The "paint thinners" [varsol] are not as refined as naphtha and I rarely use them for anything more than cleaning brushes.

Of all the volatile liquids, rubbing alcohol is probably the safest.

This year I want to do a couple of tests to see if that "T.S.P." degreaser [don't ask me to spell the full name] is compatible with resin. If the results are good I will be changing to that.

Anyway, this works for me. Hope it is of help.

Hank