Actually, hydrocarbon cleaners have come a long way since mineral spirits and gasoline. New formulas have been developed with improved solvency, lower vapor pressure and higher flash points. These cleaners usually consist of long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons. Aliphatic esters are often added to raise the flash point and improve solvency. Soils Like still dissolves like.
Carbonaceous soils are tough and require heat or ultrasonics to enhance cleaning.
Hydrocarbons are not very effective against salts, fingerprints or resinous soils, but aliphatic esters may work on un-cured resins. Most hydrocarbon cleaners have low surface tension which improves cleaning of intricate parts. Substrate Hydrocarbon cleaners are non-reactive with metals but may swell or degrade certain types of plastics and rubber. Be sure to check for compatibility with your specific parts. Process Though vehicle maintenance shops are still probably the largest users, hydrocarbon solvents are also commonly used in precision cleaning, electronics and high voltage electrical applications.