Best way to remove case lube?

cam1936

cam1936

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What I used to do was simply wipe each case down with a wet cloth. Now that I'm doing batches of 500 cases at once that simply takes too long. So my first idea was just to toss it in the tumbler after sizing, but the dust in the media (and this isn't dusty media) sticked to the cases and it took forever in the tumbler for them to come out clean. So then I decided washing them in a big bucket full of hot soapy water would be best, and it works great, but the cases take forever to dry on the inside. My next idea is to combine the two, wash em in hot soapy water then tumble them for 30 min to dry. Will the media stick to the inside of the wet cases or will it dry them?

How do you guys remove case lube?
 
If the missus isn't paying enough attention to you, 500 wet brass in the clothes dryer for a spell would probably work... once :)
 
I take the sleeve from an old flannel shirt, put the cases inside, soak the sleeve with lighter fluid, grab each end firmly and shake it hard for a minute or two. Works like a charm and the lighter fluid evaporates off the cases very quickly. When the sleeve gets grubby, it just goes in with the wash, no problem.

If you're washing them in soapy water, once rinsed, you can put them on a cookie sheet in a low oven for a while and they'll dry out soon enough.

(Actually, I don't do much of it anymore. I switched to Imperial Sizing Die Wax a couple of years ago. Just tap your finger lightly on the wax and then roll the case between your fingers. None of that sticky goo from the dreaded green pad. Works very well and is not a pain to clean.)
 
Wash in soapy water and dry on a cookie sheet in the oven are 250F for 1/2 and hour.
I have also used sulisa's idea of the clothes dryer. Put the brass on a towel on the shoe rack in the dryer for 1/2 hour.

Most of the time I just throw them in the tumbler.

Throw a half a dryer sheet in your tumbler to control the dust.
 
I fill an old margerine tub with acetone, swish them around and let them air dry for about 30 seconds. Acetone evaporates quickly and is used in lab facilities as a table top cleaner.
 
Garand said:
I fill an old margerine tub with acetone, swish them around and let them air dry for about 30 seconds. Acetone evaporates quickly and is used in lab facilities as a table top cleaner.
Click to expand...

The acetone idea seems a good one. I'd be chary of storing it in a plastic container however. I'd like to be wrong, but I seem to recall that acetone will eventually dissolve most plastics. Or have you been doing it for years without problem?
 
I usually throw them in the tumbler. I use the red shell stuff for actual cleaning, and use the green corn cob for removing the lube. If the dust is sticking to them, then they aren't that dry. I use my RCBS case/media separator, and then take an extra two minutes to seive the dust and finer particles from the media when I'm done.

By the time I finish cleaning up my bench from the sizing operation, use the washroom, grab coffee and get set up for cleaning and uniforming my primer pockets, they are usually done in the tumbler.

I also only full length size every 2 or 3 firings. My redding neck sizing die means I get to skip that whole step 50%-67% of the time.
 
cleaning lube

Similiar to acetone, I place cases in a small bucket with solvent, replace with lid. Quick swish swish, drain using a sieve and place on a drying rack. The drying rack is simply a piece of plywood with 3" finishing nails driven in so any size case will slide on. I simply do this at the end of my day and the next day or evening your good to go.
 
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