There was a heating oil leak in my basement, which I soaked up with spill absorber. It worked like a charm, but then I made the mistake of trying to clean up the mess with the shop vac. The oil-soaked spill absorber was too heavy and too slimy for the shop vac, so it just lined the inside of the hose and clogged everything up. Now I have to clean out all the hose and tube segments. My question: What is the best way to do so? I thought about just filling a big tub with water and dish detergent and soaking everything, but do I need something stronger?
How to clean shop vac of oily residue
cleaningoiltools
Related Solutions
Orange oil (limonene) based cleaners dissolve sticker residue as well or better than acetone. Put some on, let it sit a bit, scrub a little with nylon,and wash off. There are zillions of different brands of the stuff.
Filter bags
One of the cleanest way to empty a shopvac is with a filter bag. Most dust will be caught in your bag and not in the shopvac tank. You just have to remove the bag and replace with a new one. If you use your shopvac a lot, it can become expensive on the long run.
Cyclone Collector
Another solution is to add a separation stage to your shopvac. That's usually done by adding a cyclone collector. The idea is pretty simple, it's to collect bigger chips and dust particles in a regular trashcan or bucket and then send the rest in your shopvac. That way, you won't have to empty or clean your shopvac as often. It can also be combined with the filter bags to reduce the amount of bags you use.
Extra reading on dust collecting and cyclones
- Bill Pentz has done some extensive research and work on this subject. Keep in mind when reading his site that he has developed some allergies to saw dust.
- Phil Thien also has a separator lid.
- You can also most likely buy a pre-made one online or at a local retailer.
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Best Answer
Start out by soaking the hoses in hot water and blue Dawn dish soap. It's the best for dissolving grease and I'm not affiliated with them in any way. Then you'll want to thread a heavy string or rope through the hose and wrap one end around a big rag and pull the other end so the rag gets pulled through the hose. You'll have to do this a few times to get rid of all the residue. If your rope is long enough, tie the rag in the middle of the rope and you can just pull it back and forth without re threading it through the hole each time. Replace the rag if it gets too oily.