Barbara and Edward Kanegsberg

July 2023

Rust

[This article first appeared in the November 2013 issue of Clean Source] Yellow, Orange, Gold – Rust! Beautiful as autumn colors, desirable as a patina on some sculptures, terrible on manufactured parts. Corrosion compromises product quality, both by direct impact on surface quality and by contributing to contamination. In critical cleaning, […]
April 2023

Cleaning with Organic Solvents, Part 2: Iso-paraffins and Modified Alcohols

Professor Darren Williams, Sam Houston State University Barbara Kanegsberg and Ed Kanegsberg, BFK Solutions LLC Manufacturers are exploring critical cleaning processes that use a modified alcohol, or an iso-paraffinic blend. There are a number of reasons. Some manufacturers find that aqueous cleaning does not provide the appropriate cleaning efficacy. Many […]
March 2023

Cleaning with Organic Solvents, Part 1: Names and Structure

Manufacturers are exploring moving to new critical product cleaning processes that use either organic solvents or water blended with a bunch of chemicals, including organic chemicals. We’re going to get to know a little about molecules. Why bother? Perhaps you are reading product literature that asserts superlative cleaning performance of […]
January 2023

Interesting Times for Manufacturers

“May you live in interesting times” is a thinly-veiled curse, one that no doubt resonates with manufacturers involved in critical product cleaning. In the United States, current interesting times arise from a confluence of multiple factors. One set of factors is the regulatory activities at the Federal and State level […]
October 2022

Critical Cleaning, Wettability and Solvency

To clean effectively, the cleaning agent must access the surfaces of the product. In contrast with flat surfaces, it is very difficult to reach all the surfaces of complex, ornate, or miniature products. Electronics assemblies with spacing below 0.005” (125µ) are not as readily cleaned. The more surface area, the […]
September 2022

The Value of Direct Interaction

The Cleaning Lady and the Rocket Scientist were LIVE and in person at the recent Parts Cleaning Conference in Chicago. The refrain of the new normal goes something like: “Yippee! We’re talking to each other face-to-face, in person.” Was the conference useful?  In our opinion, yes. The Parts Cleaning Conference […]
July 2022

Degreasing and Fireworks

In line with Independence Day fireworks, here’s breaking news! The U.S. EPA is taking steps that will likely severely restrict use of chlorinated and brominated solvents used by manufacturers in critical cleaning and degreasing. On June 30, the EPA announced that they are revising their risk assessment for perchloroethylene (PCE). […]
May 2022

Higher Profits with Less Water

The Cleaning Lady and the Rocket Scientists are in California where there is a water shortage, so the water from cleaning veggies goes directly on our tomato plants. Water is a limited, valuable resource. In manufacturing, using water strategically in critical cleaning can cut the costs of the cleaning process […]
May 2022

Bubble, Bubble – Less Toil and Trouble

Action or Force are essential for effective critical and precision parts cleaning. As we explained in a recent Clean Source, while spray cleaning can be effective, it is line-of-sight. Ultrasonic cleaning and cyclic cavitation (also referred to as vacuum cycle nucleation or cyclic nucleation) are omni-directional. While both involve “bubbles,” […]