For the last 2 months I've been going thru every system on my maintenance-deferred 92 Tracker, pulling a lot of hardware that (in some cases) was barely identifiable due to oil and dirt baked on. Been through half a dozen types of about 15 bottle/canned degreasers, at least a couple hundred disposable nitrile gloves from 5 different vendors (more on that...), and 6 (I just bought the 7th today) 24-count of terry cloth work towels (that I cut into quarters to use for degreasing/scrubbing) from O'Reillys. I've got the system down pretty well, using about a dozen different tools for scraping/chiseling, round/square or near/far or heavy/light deposits, steel stiff brush/lighter brass brush, often followed by coarse steel wool. Those dam strands shed worse than our dog....
For the last month or so have been getting itchy hands, itchy wrists, and little bumps on my fingers. Quit wearing gloves, and it diminished. Switched to other gloves, and it came back - sometimes the next day, sometimes a couple days later. Switched again, same thing. I'm not done, and I have to finish this. This is a problem.
Last week I said enough, and (like a lot of things) threw some $ at this problem to solve it. I've got a love/hate relationship with Amazon... but they do have the stuff... and they can get it to you pronto. The FedX guy backed it right up to my open garage door 3 days after I placed the order...
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A stainless steel 37 liter (appx 8-gallon) ultrasonic cleaner, big enough for a 1.6L valve cover - or a head (I think). Each piece of hardware on the right was encrusted with baked on oil/dirt. The oil/dirt contaminated baggie liquid is on the left. This is the auto tranny cooler line hardware and the front driveshaft bolts. Did not think to take a before pic - but there are plenty of before/after on u-tube.
Filled the reservoir with 4 gallons of distilled water, placed all the hardware in a medium sized ziplock baggie, filled the baggie 2/3 with a 50-50 mix of tap water and Super Clean degreaser (from Walmart), dropped the baggie into the DI water, set the temp for 50C, half an hour later it was at temp, turned it on high (there are...essentially 4 settings) and set the timer for 45 minutes.
While it was doing its thing, I was cutting new tranny cooling hose, figuring out new line holders, and figuring out other stuff. When the timer went off it shuts down the ultrasonic transducers - but keeps the heating element on - in case you want to run another cycle. Picked out the baggie (it floats with the seal out of water), dumped the parts into a strainer, rinsed with tap water, and the parts look...well... new would not be entirely correct, but "exceeding expectations clean" would be.
The best thing? No more gloves for hours at a time cleaning parts, no more skin reactions, and no more breathing degreaser chemical odors. A dishwasher for greasy/grimy/nasty car parts... it's awesome.
The only thing that bothers me is... why did I wait so long to get one of these?
A quick primer:
You can get this from jeweler size to a (almost) full car frame size! Realistically, 1L is the smallest and this one (37L/8 gallons) is about the largest you would use in a small shop. $50 to $600 range. Any smaller is useless, and any larger you are looking at 4 to 6 (or 7) figures, and are probably doing this as a business.
As indicated, you do not (usually) fill the entire reservoir with cleaner. My parts were small, so the cleaner (about a quart in a baggie with a 50-50 tap water mix) is inserted within the 4 gallons of distilled water I used. For this size unit, 3 gallons is the minimum fill depth. If you were indeed doing a 1.6L valve cover or cylinder head, or a 4-cylinder moto bank of carburetors, you would fill the receiver directly with water and cleaner. When using the baggie method, when the water cools you can just leave it there, or if it will be a few days before using again, drain it back into the gallon containers it came in, and put aside to use the next time. The Walmart DI water is about $1.50/gallon, and I used about a quart of the 1 gallon Super Clean gallon. The Di water is fully reusable (unless your baggie splits and contaminates it), and the quart of Super Clean was about $2.50.
There are a lot of cleaners to choose from - from the $10/gallon Walmart Super Clean, $3 dawn dishwashing soap (a lot of folks swear by this), to $40/gallon stuff suitable for aircraft parts. There are also specialty liquids for rust and paint removal. And... as in any human endeavor...there are outliers... in this case they use gasoline. Yes; gasoline. I'm not sure I would not do that... but hey... it's a free country. Personally, it sounds like a "Here, hold my beer ..." moment.
Speaking of warnings... using the wrong cleaning agent - or too strong - or too high a temp - or for too long - on aluminum or Zamac can cause your part to turn black. Or so I have read multiple places. Ya gotta be cognizant about what you're doing...
I would also recommend one with simple controls. These are all Chinese made, so less to go wrong.
After two batches... highly recommended. 
For the last month or so have been getting itchy hands, itchy wrists, and little bumps on my fingers. Quit wearing gloves, and it diminished. Switched to other gloves, and it came back - sometimes the next day, sometimes a couple days later. Switched again, same thing. I'm not done, and I have to finish this. This is a problem.
Last week I said enough, and (like a lot of things) threw some $ at this problem to solve it. I've got a love/hate relationship with Amazon... but they do have the stuff... and they can get it to you pronto. The FedX guy backed it right up to my open garage door 3 days after I placed the order...
A stainless steel 37 liter (appx 8-gallon) ultrasonic cleaner, big enough for a 1.6L valve cover - or a head (I think). Each piece of hardware on the right was encrusted with baked on oil/dirt. The oil/dirt contaminated baggie liquid is on the left. This is the auto tranny cooler line hardware and the front driveshaft bolts. Did not think to take a before pic - but there are plenty of before/after on u-tube.
Filled the reservoir with 4 gallons of distilled water, placed all the hardware in a medium sized ziplock baggie, filled the baggie 2/3 with a 50-50 mix of tap water and Super Clean degreaser (from Walmart), dropped the baggie into the DI water, set the temp for 50C, half an hour later it was at temp, turned it on high (there are...essentially 4 settings) and set the timer for 45 minutes.
While it was doing its thing, I was cutting new tranny cooling hose, figuring out new line holders, and figuring out other stuff. When the timer went off it shuts down the ultrasonic transducers - but keeps the heating element on - in case you want to run another cycle. Picked out the baggie (it floats with the seal out of water), dumped the parts into a strainer, rinsed with tap water, and the parts look...well... new would not be entirely correct, but "exceeding expectations clean" would be.
The best thing? No more gloves for hours at a time cleaning parts, no more skin reactions, and no more breathing degreaser chemical odors. A dishwasher for greasy/grimy/nasty car parts... it's awesome.
The only thing that bothers me is... why did I wait so long to get one of these?
A quick primer:
You can get this from jeweler size to a (almost) full car frame size! Realistically, 1L is the smallest and this one (37L/8 gallons) is about the largest you would use in a small shop. $50 to $600 range. Any smaller is useless, and any larger you are looking at 4 to 6 (or 7) figures, and are probably doing this as a business.
As indicated, you do not (usually) fill the entire reservoir with cleaner. My parts were small, so the cleaner (about a quart in a baggie with a 50-50 tap water mix) is inserted within the 4 gallons of distilled water I used. For this size unit, 3 gallons is the minimum fill depth. If you were indeed doing a 1.6L valve cover or cylinder head, or a 4-cylinder moto bank of carburetors, you would fill the receiver directly with water and cleaner. When using the baggie method, when the water cools you can just leave it there, or if it will be a few days before using again, drain it back into the gallon containers it came in, and put aside to use the next time. The Walmart DI water is about $1.50/gallon, and I used about a quart of the 1 gallon Super Clean gallon. The Di water is fully reusable (unless your baggie splits and contaminates it), and the quart of Super Clean was about $2.50.
There are a lot of cleaners to choose from - from the $10/gallon Walmart Super Clean, $3 dawn dishwashing soap (a lot of folks swear by this), to $40/gallon stuff suitable for aircraft parts. There are also specialty liquids for rust and paint removal. And... as in any human endeavor...there are outliers... in this case they use gasoline. Yes; gasoline. I'm not sure I would not do that... but hey... it's a free country. Personally, it sounds like a "Here, hold my beer ..." moment.
Speaking of warnings... using the wrong cleaning agent - or too strong - or too high a temp - or for too long - on aluminum or Zamac can cause your part to turn black. Or so I have read multiple places. Ya gotta be cognizant about what you're doing...
I would also recommend one with simple controls. These are all Chinese made, so less to go wrong.
After two batches... highly recommended. 
