The humble story of brake cleaner

Well, you might be wondering what is there is to tell aboutit? What is the story of brake cleaner? After all, it is nothing special, just another useful workshop chemical that does its job in a safe and unremarkable way.

But that would be a mistake, because before it was introduced things looked quite different in the workshop. When checking and cleaning the brakes during a service or replacing brake or clutch friction components, mechanics would often just blow the dust off using compressed air, not giving it a second thought!

THE HEALTH BENEFITS

In most workshops you could see clouds of contaminated friction material wafting across the workshop, just waiting to breathed in and clog the lungs! In most workshops, a scenario like that is almost unimaginable these days.

Before brake cleaner was introduced, it was normal practice to clean away friction material using compressed air. However, once the dangers to health associated with asbestos became common knowledge, it was clear that this way of doing things simply could not continue. No longer would mechanics have to breathe in friction material, either containing asbestos or asbestos free. The likelihood of suffering from respiratory illness in later life was about to be significantly reduced. The advent of brake cleaner was an overdue health and safety measure to protect mechanics’ health at work.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Increasingly stringent rules regarding the management and disposal of hazardous waste also meant that a method had to be found for cleaning friction material off components without it getting into the environment.

So, as you can see, the story of brake cleaner shows it is not just really useful for its intended purpose – often doubling up as a universal cleaning agent – but it has also made a significant contribution to improving safety at work and protecting the environment.

So, the next time you have a tin of brake cleaner in your hand, just consider how much of contribution it is making to protecting your health and the environment.

Now, you hadn’t thought about that, had you?

BIZOL offers Brake Clean+ c31, the Technical spray that leaves no residue.