Lubricants company Motul provides the oils and the way of cleaning oily components in an eco-friendly manner.
Motor vehicles operate in a variety of conditions and therefore attract dirt. Add in the fact that engines, gearboxes and other moving parts of vehicles require lubricants, greases or fluids to help keep them working properly, and the net result is that cleaning dirty parts is inevitable in the service and repair process.
Traditional cleaning systems have been using harmful cold cleaners and solvents. These fluids pose a danger to people because of their harmful substances and unpleasant odour-producing solvents. They constitute a hazard to the environment and also bring with them the danger of fire as well as the risk of damage to surfaces.
Furthermore, they consume high levels of energy, and incur expensive downstream disposal costs, together with all of the hassle of managing the waste they produce.
Motul, a brand long known for innovation in the lubricant and fluids sector (the first company to offer multigrade, semi-synthetic and fully synthetic motor oils) has been at the forefront of pioneering sustainable lubricants and a couple of years ago introduced its BioClean system which is a sustainable alternative to standard cold cleaning technology.
How does it work?
BioClean is an all-in-one efficient, environmentally friendly parts cleaning system that consists of a washstand and a water-based cleaning fluid that gets its cleaning power from natural bio-microorganisms.
The concept was to deliver a system that overcomes all the issues of traditional cold cleaning while, performance-wise, its cleaning effect in removing and decomposing mineral oils, greases, waxes, machining oils and other impurities – on a variety of surfaces from steel of all types, through aluminium, plastics and even painted surfaces – is at least as good as traditional cold cleaning.
In addition, BioClean retains its level of performance over a much longer period of time and, with 97 per cent of the cleaning fluid being instantly recycled, it means that refilling the system is a rare occurrence. All of which adds to the overall cost-effectiveness of the system. Also, it uses warm water so makes cleaning parts a much more pleasant experience than traditionally was the case!
The applications are obviously widespread, and BioClean is pitched at relevant businesses of every size, all of whom enjoy the many benefits of using it. Like many Motul products over the ages, BioClean was tested in the heat of competition through Motul’s motorsport programme.
“It is not always easy to reconcile environmental protection and work,” explains classic car race preparation expert and former BTCC Champion, Andrew Jordan. “Motul’s BioClean cleaning system helps us to reduce both the environmental impact of cleaning processes and the risk for employees in the workshop from dangerous chemicals. We are pleased that, together with Motul, we are making a major contribution to environmental protection and can still provide the best performance.”
Other sustainable solutions
Motul is also adding to its sustainable workshop solutions with its Bio Refill Range. This offers pressurised, refillable, cleaning sprays, which use air rather than a propellent gas.
With the smart metal bottles offering almost unlimited refills, Motul has also taken a keen look at the composition of the system’s cleaning fluids to ensure they are all free of silicone, Teflon and acids. It has also ensured that the volume of highly volatile components is dramatically reduced.
Given that traditional sprays often comprise more than 50 per cent propellant, Motul’s Bio Refill system uses only 20 per cent compressed air, meaning that 80 per cent of the bottle actually contains active cleaning ingredients, meaning they become empty much less frequently, and of course with none of the waste container disposal previously necessary.
The Bio Refill System not only reduces disposal, but also saves space and costs,” explains Motul UK sales director, Andy Wait. “At the same time, the products are VOCReduced and support employees’ health as they come without harmful propellants. It all forms part of how we see we can help contribute to a sustainable future.”
