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Posted: 3/1/2025 6:59:48 PM EDT
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I see it mentioned from time to time in gun cleaning threads. Is it the same Sea Foam used to clean vehicle carburetors or something else. If you can use it in guns, how do you use it, will it remove bluing and painted finishes? |
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I imagine it probably would clean well, I wouldn't use it on anything you painted I'm sure it would strip paint. I'd imagine phosphate, blueing, and other more durable coatings would probably be fine. I personally wouldn't reccomend it. There's less volatile and toxic cleaners that work just fine. I'd use brake cleaner before I used seafoam. |
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A long time ago I experimented with Seafoam and also tried Berryman's Chem-Dip. I was unimpressed with Seafoam and although Berryman's worked well, the fumes where way too strong. Nowadays I use Birchwood Casey's Bore Scrubber 2-in-1 cleaner (the solvent, not the relabeled brake cleaner spray), and it works great. It smells like carburetor cleaner and that's probably what it is, but it's cheap enough and a little goes a long way. I've also noticed that the Birchwood BS also removes brass & copper, although not overly aggressive. Seafoam to me always smelled mostly like isopropyl alcohol. As for removing finishes, most solvents are safe on metal treatments like parkerizing, anodizing, melonite/ nitride, phosphate, or bluing. You do have to be cautious however with painted surfaces, plastics, wood, rubber, nitrile, ect. |
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Seafoam is a hydrocarbon base and alcohol according to their SDS.https://seafoamworks.com/wp-content/uploads/public/resource-library/2021/08/SFMT-SDS-US-ENG-v20191016.pdf I've heard it has a lot of naphtha, but if so it's one of the hydrocarbons that is a trade secret. It might not be the strongest of cleaners and is not cheap. You're better off mixing alcohol and kerosene in a 50/50 blend. Almost identical to Hoppes #9 without the 5% ammonia and 5% banana oil. |
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TX, USA
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It doesn't hurt to try it out to see if you like it. I never really liked harsh chemicals though. Not so much that it'll harm my firearms but more like I'm worried about the carcinogenic properties of it, especially when the chemical meets carbon or combustion such as when firing a round and you inhale the burnt gas that includes the chemical you used. I'm not sure what the cancer level is but keep in mind most mechanics won't directly touch the stuff and very rarely be near engines that are running with the stuff. I do know some mechanics who end up with cancer that includes something within the stomach - probably from ingesting the chemicals they touched or from inhaling it or touching/handling it. With that said, I try to use as much bio safe things I can find. My current use is Breakthrough Suppressor cleaner that I use everywhere on the firearm including the bore and inside the bcg. It works very well when you let it soak in a long time. I then clean everything off using dawn dish soap and really hot water. I then blow it off and wipe everything with some light grease on a patch. After which I wipe it off and grease the heavy rail areas of the bcg and hammer. So far it has worked very well for me and I've been doing this now for about 2 years. Before that I did something very similar with froglube and their solvent. |
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It's mostly alcohol and some napthalene same family of hydrocarbons as benzene. The SDS doesn't specify that it's naptha, it just says hydrocarbons, so it could be a few other things, but everything I've read, whether old or new says it's naptha. Which makes sense since it's supposed to clean a fuel system including the carb or fuel injectors and valves of carbon. It'll work, but it costs more than some made for guns cleaner. I like Mpro-7 for carbon removal. It works great and isn't very expensive. Also non-toxic. And a foaming bore cleaner in the bore. Hoppes Elite now. For copper removal I'll use something with ammonia like Sweets 7.62 or one of the very mildly abrasive removes like JB Bore paste. If you want something very cheap for carbon, you cam mix a 50/50 solution of kerosene and denatured alcohol. |
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