There is no doubt that many companies, such as after-market auto parts manufacturers, will take a long, hard look at "traditional" chlorinated solvents. Included in this group of products would be trichloroethylene ("trike"), methylene chloride and perchloroethylene ("perc"). These are great cleaners and they work very well in vapor degreasers. They generally are used for coarse cleaning -- the removal of heavy, thick oils and greases where precision and reliability of the part is not a high priority. But they are not suitable for precision cleaning applications. Their main appeal is that they are far, far less expensive than more modern solvent choices.

But there are problems. For starters, traditional chlorinated solvents are very aggressive cleaners. This means they will be incompatible with most modern elastomers and plastics.

They boil at a higher temperature (which means they use lots more energy) and must be monitored daily for acid build-up (which means higher labor costs, more complex operations and a system which is not as resiliant to errors).

Lastly, there is a pervasive and lingering concern over the toxicity of many of the cleaners. For example, trike has been classified as a suspected carcinogen for years. Methylene chloride is basically a paint-stripper and has a new, perilously low toxicity rating of 25 ppm. All of these are regulated as NESHAP pollutants and can only be used in totally contained equipment. Any facility which is using them will need stringent air quality testing procedures or other risk-management controls. These products simply have no place in a modern precision cleaning application.

In contrast, Vertrel^® has a much higher (safer) AEL of 200 ppm. Vertrel^® is not a NESHAP-regulated solvent so it can be used in less expensive vapor degreasing equipment. Vertrel^® offers a family of cleaners so an engineer can select the best solvent for the application. This list goes on and on: if you have tough cleaning problems, then Vertrel^® specialty fluids are the choice for you.

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