Machine Tool Cleaning Question

[hemmjo]

My lathe and other machines are in my basement where they are safe from Ohio humidity and temperature changes. When/If I get my barn complete, I may move them out there. But for now, they are in the basement. The problem is, my wife is very sensitive to fumes. While i have installed an exhaust fan, odors still sneak into the house. I have to keep cutting fluid use to a minimum and run the exhaust fan when I nmust use them

A lot of of the materials I use are rescued/recovered/removed/recycled from old equipment. It often has a lot of rust and scale. When machining that rough surface off the rust dust gets everywhere. I now use a vacuum to capture some of it. But a lot ends up on the machine, mixes with the surface lubrication, and makes a mess. It cannot be good for the precision parts and is really dirty and ugly.

Last time I tired to get things cleaned up I used "odorless" mineral spirits in a spray bottle to rinse things down. Which worked pretty well, BUT, I sure did get into trouble!!! Wife was upset with the ODORLESS smell. Then my son came over a day or two later and asked, "why does your house stink". So, I am not doing that again.

I am looking for something to keep the machines clean without making the house stink. While searching, I found a few citrus based products. Some of the reviews are in the "too good to be true" catagory, while others say it is not any better than Dawn dish soap.

I have even considered using HOT water and Dawn to clean things up. Then air and a heat gun to dry the water.

What do others use to clean machines?

Thanks

[IntheGroove]

I use Purple Power straight or diluted. My shop is three steps down from my kitchen and I don't notice any foul smell from that and it works very well...

[Wood-N-Metal Workshop]

Try S-100 it's a break dust cleaner for motorcycles.

IIRC it doesn't have much smell and is by far the best thing I have used to remove old sticky residue from machine tools.

[IntheGroove]

You stated you use an exhaust fan. For an exhaust fan to work best it will need a good source of Make Up Air. If your house is too tight that could be a problem. You might look into that...