Woolite, Lanolin Lube and Wet Tumbling

T

theDuck

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Just a for what it's worth post. I'm doing a run of 1200 .223 cases ready for CQB season. (Ya I'm a little behind). I use homemade lanolin/alcohol lube and a home made stainless steel pin wet tumbler. I pre wash, dry, lube, size, trim, chamfer, primer pocket ream, degrease in redneck degreaser a.k.a. gasoline, dry thoroughly then into the tumbler with a shot of Dove and Lemi Shine. They usually come out shiney. The last couple of batches came out clean but dark like the Lemi Shine never worked. The foam was also black and the top end of the tumbler coated in black:(.
I read on the interwebs that sometimes you have to just run your pins in soap and water to clean them. I also read where some folks used Woolite if using lanolin lube because of black crud build up. So I got some Woolite regular liquid from Wally World and ran the SS pins for a couple of hours. The water came out black. Blacker than usual if it was loaded with brass. There was little suds which surprised me in a good way. I can do upwards of 800 .223 cases at a time. My lanolin/alcohol mix ratio is at the lean end so I'm not over lanolining them.
Today I loaded up the tumbler with about 600 .223 cases for their final wash before loading. I put in a capful of Woolite, a shot of Dove and a teaspoon of Lemi Shine. They came out sparkling bright:). If you use lanolin lube and things are getting grimey and black in your tumbler and the cases are dark and not bright, a run of just the pins and some Woolite through the tumbler and may solve the issue. I'm going to try it with just the Woolite and LemiShine without the Dove at some point.
Just a observation on loading the tumbler. The pins and brass go in. Next I add warm water and roll the tumbler around on its bottom edge to try and get the air out of the cases. I then give a shot of Dove. The soap diffuses through the water quickly and all kinds of bubbles come out of the cases as the surface tension of the water lessens and the entrapped air can escape. The water level drops a good inch. It's neat to see. I top up water, screw on the lid and tumble.
YMMV
 
Black cases are caused by insufficient detergent. The dirt particles fail to stay in suspension in the water, so the cases end up being uniformly coated.

I have found that laundry detergent is generally more effective than dish detergent, regardless of brand.

The tumbler barrel and media (if you use it) are generally self-cleaning, provided that they are rinsed thoroughly after each load.
 
tjhaile said:
Black cases are caused by insufficient detergent. The dirt particles fail to stay in suspension in the water, so the cases end up being uniformly coated.

I have found that laundry detergent is generally more effective than dish detergent, regardless of brand.

The tumbler barrel and media (if you use it) are generally self-cleaning, provided that they are rinsed thoroughly after each load.
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I agree found Tide HE works better than Dove and creates less suds
 
yup laundry detergent all the way for me, waay easier to rinse off, and I stopped using pins, pointless to use them, especially if you've already cleaned the brass once.
 
Slavex said:
yup laundry detergent all the way for me, waay easier to rinse off, and I stopped using pins, pointless to use them, especially if you've already cleaned the brass once.
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As per suggestion I just tried some Tide powder and Lemi Shine without the pins on 200 300 wby cases, they came out exceptionally clean. Without the pins the pockets and innards were still dirty, which is ok.
 
Thanks for you comments folks. It looks like the collective wisdom of the interwebs extolling the virtues and necessity of Dove and SS pins may be off:p. I still like clean innards and primer pockets so I'll use the pins. Because I can.
 
We have a bottle of woolite and very few wool sweaters that need washing. It'll be another decade before it's empty. Now i have an excuse to use it.

My experience has been to deprime before tumbling and I'll have much cleaner water.
Using Hot hot hot hot water and a small amount of any detergent with the pins works best. Suds don't clean anything. Silverfoxdj has good advice.
Hot water to loosen wax, oil and grime. Detergent to keep it in suspension. A small amount of citric acid (Lemi Shine is a good source) especially if you have hard water.
 
silverfoxdj said:
I agree found Tide HE works better than Dove and creates less suds
Click to expand...

As I have mentioned before, the pods work well and are convenient. I have even had good results with the Great Value (Wal-Mart house brand) ones.

Those who are using dish detergent in the typically recommended quantities probably have pretty soft water.
 
theDuck said:
Just a for what it's worth post. I'm doing a run of 1200 .223 cases ready for CQB season. (Ya I'm a little behind). I use homemade lanolin/alcohol lube and a home made stainless steel pin wet tumbler. I pre wash, dry, lube, size, trim, chamfer, primer pocket ream, degrease in redneck degreaser a.k.a. gasoline, dry thoroughly then into the tumbler with a shot of Dove and Lemi Shine. They usually come out shiney. The last couple of batches came out clean but dark like the Lemi Shine never worked. The foam was also black and the top end of the tumbler coated in black:(.
I read on the interwebs that sometimes you have to just run your pins in soap and water to clean them. I also read where some folks used Woolite if using lanolin lube because of black crud build up. So I got some Woolite regular liquid from Wally World and ran the SS pins for a couple of hours. The water came out black. Blacker than usual if it was loaded with brass. There was little suds which surprised me in a good way. I can do upwards of 800 .223 cases at a time. My lanolin/alcohol mix ratio is at the lean end so I'm not over lanolining them.
Today I loaded up the tumbler with about 600 .223 cases for their final wash before loading. I put in a capful of Woolite, a shot of Dove and a teaspoon of Lemi Shine. They came out sparkling bright:). If you use lanolin lube and things are getting grimey and black in your tumbler and the cases are dark and not bright, a run of just the pins and some Woolite through the tumbler and may solve the issue. I'm going to try it with just the Woolite and LemiShine without the Dove at some point.
Just a observation on loading the tumbler. The pins and brass go in. Next I add warm water and roll the tumbler around on its bottom edge to try and get the air out of the cases. I then give a shot of Dove. The soap diffuses through the water quickly and all kinds of bubbles come out of the cases as the surface tension of the water lessens and the entrapped air can escape. The water level drops a good inch. It's neat to see. I top up water, screw on the lid and tumble.
YMMV
Click to expand...

your black water and messy drum,might have to do with the gasoline wash you do,gasoline is far from a degreaser,it's oil based after all,i say this because I"VE DONE IT TOO,and i thought i had my cases rinsed out well before throwing them in my drum with pins,lemishine,dawn dish soap.and i got the crapped up black #### drum and cases,took a few cycles with soap and pins only to get the drum back to clean again,then i stopped using gas to try and degrease cases,,and never had the problem again,it's like the gas residue reacts with the rubber lining in my drum,if using the Frankford Arsenal tumbler,also,try using the smallest amount of Lemishine as you can to get nice clean brass,i use about 1/4 teaspoon for about 600 9mm cases,too much and you get orange cases,again,ask me how i know,one last thing,MAKE SURE you rinse you brass REALLY GOOD,and make sure your brass is REALLY DRY. if you leave the used primers in and plan on long term storage,Lemishine is acidic and if left in the old primers can start eating the brass primer and when you go to deprime all you get is a hole in the old primer,after personaly putting over 1 million cases through my Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler,you get to see what works and what doesn't pretty fast.
 
Wiskey1 thanks for the info. I do make sure the gasoline is fully evaporated but I'll try a load without degreasing with it. My tumbler is home made using PVC pipe and fittings so rubber isn't an issue. As for orange cases, yes I have a few:).
 
I tried a load of lanolin lubed brass that I did not de-grease with gasoline. I put in a cap of Woolite and half teaspoon of LemiShine and no Dawn dish soap. The brass came out shiney. The water was black and there were a few suds but nowhere near like when using Dawn. I'll stick to the Woolite :d.
 
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