Home > Parts > Pat's TECH TIPS BLOG > SPF Solvents: What to Use for Everyday Cleaning



We have 2 solvents. SPF-6. We use this everyday to clean foam and polyurea from the guns. Heating isn't required, but on guns we are sent from customers, we will turn the heat on for an hour then turn it off and let it site overnight.

This solvent work extremely well on polyurea and will melt it in 30 minutes with no heat.ISO Solvent. This product only melts cured ISO. (the brown stains on you handle and equipment) This product is only used occasionally as it only melts the ISO. Other manufacturers in the SPF industry have used both and claim they are better than anything else they have tried.

Two interesting facts on our solvents:

1 - After removing your parts from the solvent, you need to rinse them in Xylene or MEK (available at Lowe's and Home Depot) Failure to remove solvent residue will cause your o-rings to fail very early unless you use our Blue Rings. The MEK or Xylene will remove all residue and make it easier to see spots that may need to be scrubbed with our brushes. Factory reps claim solvents "condition" the o-rings and they are correct - They condition them to fail by drying out the built in polymer and lubricants that make them seal when the see pressure.

2 - Our solvents are packed in 1 quart and 1 gallon cans. SPF Depot is the only manufacturer that offers 1qt cans of solvent. We don't offer 5 gallon buckets because you don't need that much in any rig. In our service shop, we clean over 200 guns/year for customers throughout the world and we don't even use 1 gallon/year in our shop.

Simply strain our fluid through a metal colander from the dollar store to remove large particles and strain a second time through a shop towel to remove finer contaminates and add more solvent as needed. We clean our vats 1 time/year and refill them. 1 quart is all you need in your rig to clean parts.

Anything larger, your guys will throw out so they can get some fresh solvent and all they are doing is throwing out cash.