Cleaning Magnets

Q. We machine magnets. We currently do not have a cleaner and are looking for one to clean our magnet material without leaving a residue or damaging the magnet itself.

A. Magnets are often made of iron materials that are prone to rusting or corrosion.  When cleaning magnets, use an ambient temperature 1% Alconox® Powdered Precision Cleaner solution (10 g/L or 1.25 oz/gal).  Clean by soak, manual scrub or ultrasonic methods.  Rinse thoroughly and rapidly with ambient (same as wash) temperature water to avoid breaking any emulsions and redepositing what you have removed.

It is very critical to dry immediately by a water removing method such as wiping, blowing, dipping in isopropyl alcohol, centrifuging, or any method that does not allow rinse water to sit or evaporate on the magnet – do not use heated oven drying.

During cleaning, the chelating agents in Alconox powder protect the magnet from rust and corrosion, but once the detergent is rinsed away it is important to minimize the contact time with rinse water in order to avoid corrosion.

For neodymium magnets, we would recommend an acidic detergent.

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.

Do you have a critical cleaning question for the experts at Alconox Inc.?  Search TechNotes to see if it’s been answered before or Ask Alconox.