Cleaning the tumbler

[TacticalCanuck]

Seems to me media would last longer if the tumbler bowl was cleaned every now and then. How do we clean a tumbler bowl with no solvents as they are terrible for plastics.

 

[Heddok]

Simple green and a rag works well on my Dillon tumbler

 

[calibrecarstairs]

From the Lyman FAQs:

Q: My tumbler bowl is quite dirty. What can I do to clean it?
A: The bowl will get quite dirty with a lot of use. The best thing to use to clean it somewhat is Armor-All cleaner on the outside only. There is nothing available that is suitable or necessary to clean the inside of the bowl.

 

[TacticalCanuck]

So simple green or not at all?

Does anyone clean their bowl? Maybe I should use a sonic cleaner. And just polish in the tumbler.

 

[calibrecarstairs]

I cleaned mine once and I won't do it again. I'd take it to the car wash and use a pressure washer if I was forced to again.

 

[Armored Metal]

I use the Lyman green media and tried to clean my tumbler once. I only tried to scrub with a rag but quickly realised how the dirt had a "baked on" feeling to it. I don't think that it's necessary to clean my tumbler and will likely not try again.

 

[supernova]

Like everything gun related, throw it in the dishwasher. Leave it plugged in and turn it on while it's in there.

 

[Donny Fenn1]

Put dryer sheets in with your media. It keeps the dust down and your media "cleaner". My media last way way longer since I started doing that. The bowl seems cleaner too.
Assuming you have dryer sheets that is. I collect the once or twice used ones from the laundry.

 

[Armored Metal]

Put dryer sheets in with your media. It keeps the dust down and your media "cleaner". My media last way way longer since I started doing that. The bowl seems cleaner too.
Assuming you have dryer sheets that is. I collect the once or twice used ones from the laundry.

Been doing the Bounce sheet trick since day 1. It does reduce the dust but it didn't stop the dirt from accumulating over just a few years of usage.

 

[Dogleg]

Seems to me media would last longer if the tumbler bowl was cleaned every now and then. How do we clean a tumbler bowl with no solvents as they are terrible for plastics.

I buy walnut shell in 50 pound bags for about 25 bucks when I cant get it for nothing. At that price who cares how long it lasts? The faster it gets dirty the better its working. The lead content in media can get quite high from the primers and I can't help thinking that the less you play with that stuff the better.

 

[LUTNIT]

I used Castrol Super Clean engine degreaser once. It's safe for use to strip paint off of plastic scale model kits made from polystyrene which is a much softer and less chemical resistant plastic so I can't see it hurting the tumbler bowl unless you leave it in there for weeks.

I haven't cleaned it in a couple years now (many thousands of cases tumbled during that time) and my media lasts quite a while. What really extended my media life was mixing it 70/30 with untreated ground walnut shell from a pet store. I first tried 50/50 just to use less media but it turned out to more than double the media life in addition to using less of it. The 50/50 mix took longer to clean brass so I switched to 70/30 and have used it for a while now.

 

[TacticalCanuck]

I'll try the mix. Seems the bowl being isn't relevant to the speed or or quality of the results which is the main concern. I suppose I could sonic clean it first and just polish in the tumbler.

 

[KellyP]

Palmolive dish soap and a gojo hand ckeaner towel and all the crud comes off easily.

 

[fiddler]

I simply wipe out the bowl with a cloth to clean it, no solvents needed. To keep the dust down when tumbling I toss in some strips of used bounce/laundry sheets.