John Connolly, John Jensen,

A lifetime ago, when I was in the Navy, the old Bo'sun's Mate would make
us one and two stripers do all the painting on board ship. There were no
such things as throw-a-way brushes. They alway's had us clean the paint
brushes in a mixture of diesel oil and detergent soap, which would cut
the paint and then the brushes could be washed right out, remaining soft
and clean when dry. They knew what they were doing, those old guys. It
would appear they were right on targe with this oil, soap, detergent and
water thing, way back then.

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

John Rodgers wrote:

> Detergents are "Wetting Agents".
>
> "Soap" is not a detergnet, it has detergent in it. Detergents are
> chemical additives to soap to do exactly what you have said, break the
> water tension, which allows the deeper penetration of the soap. In
> combination they do a better job of cleaning. Detergents without the
> soap can be acquired, if one want to run without the soap. it may be
> that the soap also serves a purpose on the racing circuit. Not sure
> about that part.
>
> Saw an interesting experiment once. A clay hardpan had been developed to
> hold water. Just clay sediment allowed to settle out from water in a
> puddle on the ground. The clay fines plugged the spaces in the soil so
> the water would not pass through into the ground and dry out the puddle.
> The water sat for days slowly drying due to evaporation. The Prof.
> spritzed the thing with detergent and in a little while all the water
> was gone.....passed right through the hardpan and into the soil below.
>
> Neat stuff.
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver
>
> John Connolly, Aircooled.Net wrote:
>
>> NASCAR guys have been putting 2 drops of Soft Soap in their coolant for
>> years for the same effect, even if they run the Water Wetter sticker
>> on the
>> bodywork. ;-)
>>
>> Detergents eliminate the water tension, that's all it does.
>>
>>
>> John
>> Aircooled.Net Inc.
>>
>>
>>
>