Removing Silicone Grease from Syringes

Q. We are looking for a more efficient way of cleaning silicone grease off syringes. What do you recommend?

A.  A faster and more efficient method to remove silicone grease from syringes is to use very hot water for cleaning and very hot water for rinsing. Hot water for cleaning will remove silicone grease faster. A rule of thumb at Alconox, Inc. is that for every 10C the cleaning time is halved for most applications.  Hot water for rinsing (roughly the same temperature as washing) will avoid breaking  the emulsions that form in the wash solution.  This can result in redepositing silicone grease.

Ideally you want to wash and rinse at temperatures above 170 deg F (77 deg C) because this is above the softening point of most silicone grease. If you cannot reach this temperature, at least use the hottest practical temperature you can achieve.

We recommend that you use a 2-3% (20 g/L or 2.5 oz/gal) Detonox® Ultimate Precision Cleaner or Alconox® Powdered Precision Cleaner,  solution for cleaning silicone grease.

If you are looking to do this in a washer, or otherwise require a low foaming detergent, 2-3% Keylajet® Low-foaming High Alkaline Liquid or Solujet® Low-Foaming Phosphate-Free Liquid would be the way to go.  Again with a hot wash (to soften the silicone) and the initial rinse of approximately the same temperature (avoid thermally shocking and redepositing emulsions).

To request these or any Alconox, Inc. detergents for free, please complete the questionnaire at Get Sample.  For more information about any one of our Alconox, Inc. detergents, consult the technical bulletin for each product. Or click here to access each of our detergent’s  Safety Data Sheets.

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