I enjoy working on and fixing all manner of things. Very often I find that I have small items that need to be cleaned. As such I purchased a small ultrasonic cleaner. On this occasion I’m replacing the valve cover gaskets on one of our cars. I place the bolts into a small plastic jar of cleaning solution, then place the jar into the ultrasonic cleaner which is filled with plain water. The ultrasonic action still goes through the container and cleans the items, and I don’t have to use 2L of cleaner. I then strain the cleaning solution to get all of the items out and then pour it back into it’s own sealed jar for next time and thoroughly rinse the items of cleaner.
Now once I scrape and clean the gasket surfaces and covers I have clean, dry bolts which will accurately torque to specification.
That’s pretty cool.
Just never put white metal or some lower quality plated stuff into an ultrasonic cleaner. Bicycle components are a MASSIVE NO NO. The surfaces will fall apart within just a few minutes. I’ve seen this a ton while working in a bike shop where people come in trying to warranty components after ultrasonic cleaning them and the whole finish peels.
Very dull. Very satisfying.