Recently I went to a friends house, and her Dad was not in his normal big chair watching TV. As I walked past his chair I smelled a very strong chemical odor. I recognized it immediately as gun solvent. So I looked around and pulled back the cushion, haha, there was his stainless Colt .44 magnum he loves so much. Busted!!!
That got me thinking. How often do people accidentally tell the world they are carrying a pistol, by the smell of cleaner and oil.
So yesterday when a friend asked me to help her clean her Dad's 100 + year old pistol, we soaked all the parts in liquid dish detergent. Then dropped them in a pot of boiling water. I cleaned the barrel with a brush wrapped in cloth and dipped in the detergent. The pistol came out amazingly clean. And the water evaporated instantly.
I then oiled the pistol in baby oil with no fragrance. Now it's totally clean and has no smell on the pistol or in the room. Normally,whatever room I clean a pistol in smells like chemicals for a few days.
My question is this, is there anything in dish soap that can hurt steel? Is the baby oil (petroleum mineral oil) a good lubricant for pistols?
Are there any other non stinky cleaners and oils I can use for gun cleaning?
Thanks