-=> Quoting Dennis Farkas to Richard Glazer <=-
 RG> What do you mean by varsol and karosene not being toxic??
 DF> Forgot what I originally posted, but what I meant is that varsol and
 DF> kerosene are less hazardous (ie. flamable/explosive) than other
 DF> solvents that people have used (naptha, gasoline, barbeque starter).
 DF> But yes they contain fewer toxins than some of the other solvents that
 DF> you could use. Any solvent that belongs to either the Keytone or
 DF> Benzine family should be avoided unless you take the proper safety
 DF> precautions. For example, a common industrial (Aerospace) solvent is
 DF> Methyl Ethyl Keytone. It has a flash point of about 18 degrees cent.,
 DF> is extremely toxic and just slightly safer to handle than
 DF> Nitro-glycerine. Benzine compounds are extremely toxic and highly
 DF> flamable.  But getting back to the original point, both varsol and
 DF> kerosene mix well with ordinary motor oil, are cheap, easily handled
 DF> and readily available at any Canuk Tire store.
 DF> They make the best chain cleaner/lubricants (when mixed 50/50 with
 DF> oil) going.
Actually there are now a number of non-flamable and biodegradable solvents
that work quite well for cleaning bicycles.  I don't recommend drinking them,
though and it is a good idea to keep the stuff out of your eyes.
I don't think there is any reason these days for any of us to be using any of
the chemicals you mention to clean our bikes, even the grungiest chain, these
days . . . not only because of the danger in use and storage, but the problem
of disposing the stuff when you are done with it.
    ===  ==== =   _@
    Ken Peck +  _ \<._
    =========  (_)/ (_)   Kenneth_Peck@clr.com
... Nobody notices when things go right.
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