Lanolin Removal when Wet Tumbling

[wordsmith]

I’m sure some of you already know this, but after several frustrating months trying to get Lanolin off with Dawn, I tried what had been suggested (but never 100% proven), that being Woolite instead of Dawn.

Bingo! It cleaned the brass up extremely well and took the Lanolin completely off. I’ll be using it for all my brass now, about 1/2 ounce of Woolite with a teaspoon of Citric Acid in my FA Wet Tumbler with Stainless Steel pins. Pictures below of what was brass dulled by dried lanolin. Hope this helps someone out there.








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[tinsnips]

I use 1/4 tbs citric acid,1tbs car wash and wax,a little bit of dawn that seems to remove all the sizing wax and everything else I use to size my shells including one shot. I am glad to know about Woolite because I plan to use lanolin in the future when my one shot runs out. I think the car wash and wax is what make my brass shine like new.

[Walter Laich]

I use a lanolin/Heet mix for my sizing spray
when done I squirt some rubbing alcohol (cheap stuff at wally world) on a towel and dump the brass on it, grab each end like a hammock and see-saw the brass back and forth about 10 times

brass is free of lanolin and ready to put up in cases or boxes

[Bmi48219]

I deprime (LEE Classic punch) before tumbling in SS pins with citric acid, car wash & wax and dish soap. Was using lanolin & heat to lube prior to sizing. But as mentioned, the brass is dark & dull after the lube dries. Thinking of re-tumbling to clean it up. Going to try with my standard cleaning mix but if it doesn't shine I'll have to raid the wife's Woolite supply.

[Time Killer]

May have to try this i have just been putting my brass in boiling water for a few minuets to get it off then pin tumbling with dawn and a touch of Lemi Shine. Not sure if a want the lanolin residue in my tumbler though. It leaves a lanolin film on the pot i use this for.

[earlmck]

I too have had trouble getting the lanolin off my cases. My solution was to run them for a cycle in the sonic cleaner before the tumble, but I like the sound of the Woolite. Thanks much for the tip wordsmith!

[jetinteriorguy]

I just give a squirt of dawn and a heaping tablespoon of citric acid in a gallon of hot tap water. Add the brass and just rub them around with my hands and let them soak for five minutes, then rub some more for a few minutes, rinse and dry in the oven for half hour at 220 degrees. No more lanolin.

[wordsmith]

I deprime (LEE Classic punch) before tumbling in SS pins with citric acid, car wash & wax and dish soap. Was using lanolin & heat to lube prior to sizing. But as mentioned, the brass is dark & dull after the lube dries. Thinking of re-tumbling to clean it up. Going to try with my standard cleaning mix but if it doesn't shine I'll have to raid the wife's Woolite supply.

That was pretty much my cocktail (Dawn, Wash/Wax Car Soap, Citric Acid), which does great on my initial cleanup of brass. That same formula was pretty worthless in my experience at removing the lanolin. I tried up to 3 rounds of wet tumbling with pins using heavy doses of Dawn with unheated fresh water to strip the lanolin. It would get the brass decently clean, which is to say more like dull aged brass, not smooth and shiny as before.

Funny you mention re-tumbling, that's exactly what I did with the brass in the picture. It was brass I had already partially loaded out, but wanted to try out the Woolite. Give it a try, I bet you'll like the results.

For what it's worth, I purchased Woolite Gentle Cycle Liquid Laundry Detergent, Sparkling Falls Scent, for no particular reason other than I could get 100 oz and it was good for use in high efficiency machines, so the suds are reduced.

[wordsmith]

Here’s a better before-and-after with some 223 brass that had lingering lanolin. This was after 1 hour tumbling in the Woolite mix. It looked nearly this good at the 30 minute mark just FYI.










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[blikseme300]

Wow, what Lanolin were you using? The Lanolin I use is an oil about the color of honey and I have never had my brass discolor like that. I have heard of folks having issues with self mixed Lanolin-based spray lubes but this is the first time I see the bad outcome.

What I use:

[Bmi48219]

Wordsmith,
Did you use anything else for the retumble? CA, wash & wax? I am assuming you did retumble with pins?
Thanks

[farmerjim]

I have used both the solid lanolin, and the liquid pictured in post 10. It lubricates great. It is hard to get off. I have pre washed it in boiling hot water and Tri Sodium Phosphate. This removes most of it. A second wash with dish soap and citric acid in an ultrasonic cleaner gets the rest and it is as shinny as the bottom picture in no 9.
As I just bought a SS pin tumbler I will try the woolite in the tumbler after the 10 min pre wash.

Thanks for the information.

[Walter Laich]

Wow, what Lanolin were you using? The Lanolin I use is an oil about the color of honey and I have never had my brass discolor like that. I have heard of folks having issues with self mixed Lanolin-based spray lubes but this is the first time I see the bad outcome.

What I use:

same as I use
I mix it 1 to 6 with Heet which is 99% alcohol and put in spray bottle--give about 5 pumps for 200 cases

the rubbing alcohol/towel method works great in removing it

are you using more lanolin than this???

[blikseme300]

same as I use
I mix it 1 to 6 with Heet which is 99% alcohol and put in spray bottle--give about 5 pumps for 200 cases

the rubbing alcohol/towel method works great in removing it

are you using more lanolin than this???

I use about 1/2oz (1Tbsp) of Lanolin mixed into 16oz of 99% Isopropyl Alcohol.

I use a re-purposed Febreeze trigger sprayer and about 5~6 pumps to do about 250 5.56mm cases per batch. I use a puffed-up 2.5 gallon Zip-Lock to tumble the brass to spread the lube mix before drying the brass on a cookie sheet. What I look for during this lube tumbling is that all the brass is wetted and adjust accordingly. The alcohol is merely a carrier to get an even coat of Lanolin onto the brass.

A little Lanolin goes a long way and once the brass is air dried it can't be seen and barely felt when touched. During some of my early attempts too much lube due to the richer ratio caused a few case necks to get creases but once I diluted the lube that problem went away.

Something else I do when using a new or cleaned sizing die is to pre-lube it with a spray wetting inside the die and allowing it to dry prior to use. If this is not done there is a good chance that a case can get stuck during sizing. Ask me how I found this out.

I'm puzzled that some folks are having trouble with cleaning their brass after using Lanolin-based case lube using SS pins in a wet tumbler. The only times I have not been satisfied with the cleaning is when I did not use enough Dawn but I never had the discoloration as in the pics.

The marker I look out for after 2 hours of tumbling is that there are still suds in the drum. If there is none the brass is typically not clean up to satisfaction. (I run a timer on my tumblers and I have found that 2 hours is enough.)

[wordsmith]

I use the liquid lanolin (Now brand) mixed in a sprayer at 1:12 or thinner with 99% alcohol. I understand that some folks didn't seem to have the trouble I was having, but I've been trying to get this worked out for awhile with no luck. The Woolite was a godsend. I may use a little more lanolin than some since I often resize thick milsurp 308 brass in a Redding Body die, which requires thorough lubing.

[wordsmith]

Wordsmith,
Did you use anything else for the retumble? CA, wash & wax? I am assuming you did retumble with pins?
Thanks

I tried Dawn, Wash and Wax, Orange / Citrus cleaner, all with citric acid, with and without pins. No joy until I tried Woolite.

[RP]

I learned when I was working at a shop that cascade would do a great job cleaning out a block and the cooling system when the oil cooler fail mixing oil or transmission fluid with antifreeze. Dump some in and run the engine about two times and the oil would be gone.
So I was having problems with my SS wet clean on some brass that I use to much lube on and tried some what would not come clean with dawn or carwash soap was gone quick with the cascade. It clean the tube pins and brass up great.
Never tried woolite but by the pics it work as well something I need to make a note of in case my cascade fails me.

[blikseme300]

I use the liquid lanolin (Now brand) mixed in a sprayer at 1:12 or thinner with 99% alcohol. I understand that some folks didn't seem to have the trouble I was having, but I've been trying to get this worked out for awhile with no luck. The Woolite was a godsend. I may use a little more lanolin than some since I often resize thick milsurp 308 brass in a Redding Body die, which requires thorough lubing.

Interesting and puzzling at the same time. The good thing is that you have a working solution with the Woolite - pun intended. The only other thing that might cause other detergents to fail would be the water. Who knows what is in our city water?

[Moonie]

My procedure is to use dawn + lemishine with pins, apply lanolin/alcohol mix then size. Then I tumble with car wash and wax to remove the lanolin.

[hubcap52]

same as I use
I mix it 1 to 6 with Heet which is 99% alcohol and put in spray bottle--give about 5 pumps for 200 cases

the rubbing alcohol/towel method works great in removing it

are you using more lanolin than this???

I use a 1:20 mixture and don't bother cleaning it off.