Finding a decent degreaser for a small home workshop can be a bit of a nuisance. Plenty of products will shift grease, but some of them also make the whole shed smell like a rather grim garage forecourt for the rest of the day.
That is what made Gunk Ultra Degreaser worth trying. I had used Gunk Original in the orange cans for years and it certainly works, but it has a fairly powerful smell. In a domestic, enclosed workshop, that is not always ideal. Gunk Ultra Degreaser is marketed as a low odour alternative, so I put it to work on a dismantled Record woodworking vice and an AB Wood 4½ inch milling vice.
This was not a test on a dreadful old engine buried under decades of oil and road grime. It was a practical test on fairly light restoration work: old grease mixed with sawdust on the woodworking vice, and ingrained machine oil, way oil and swarf on the milling vice. That is exactly the sort of cleaning job many of us encounter when bringing old workshop kit back into use.
Why I Tried Gunk Ultra Degreaser
Online reviews are useful up to a point, but they can be a mixed bag. One person thinks a product is marvellous, another says it is useless, and often neither tells you what they were actually cleaning.
The main appeal of Gunk Ultra Degreaser was its low odour. It has a light smell, roughly comparable to screen wash, rather than the strong, lingering fumes I associate with the original Gunk product. For a workshop attached to everyday life rather than an industrial unit, that is a welcome improvement.
The test pieces gave it two different but realistic jobs:
- A Record woodworking vice: old grease, sawdust and general workshop grime.
- An AB Wood milling vice: old machine oil, impacted swarf and dirt lodged in the dovetails and threads.
Basic Safety and Setup
Before getting carried away with the scrubbing brush, it is worth reading the label. Degreaser is still a chemical product, low odour or not.
I used a waterproof plastic tub, poured a modest amount into the bottom, and worked the parts in there. The tub keeps the liquid contained and makes it far easier to deal with the oily mess afterwards.
The label calls for gloves and eye protection, and that is sensible advice. I would wear safety glasses for this sort of job regardless, because brushing oily parts has a habit of flicking muck precisely where you do not want it. A bit of stinging degreaser in the eye is a thoroughly avoidable way to spoil an afternoon in the shed.
How I Used Gunk Ultra Degreaser
The method is straightforward. I poured enough Gunk Ultra Degreaser into the tub to wet the parts, then used a short-bristled brush to agitate the grime. The instructions recommend allowing the product to soak for a couple of minutes, so I left each batch for around five minutes before giving it another scrub and rinsing it off.
- Place the dismantled components in a waterproof tub.
- Apply a modest amount of degreaser.
- Work it into the oily surfaces with a brush.
- Leave it to soak for a few minutes.
- Scrub again, rinse, and inspect the result.
- Repeat if stubborn dirt remains.
The woodworking vice went first. Its greasy residue was mixed with sawdust, which creates that familiar sticky brown paste that gets into every corner of an old bench vice. The product loosened a surprising amount of it after the soak, and the parts no longer felt tacky or greasy.
Results on the Woodworking Vice
The quick-release bar cleaned up particularly well. It had been properly grotty, with grease and sawdust stuck all over it, but came out clean without much drama.
The lead screw also improved substantially. The grease and slimy coating were removed, although a little crud remained down in the screw threads. That is not especially surprising. Threads are very good at holding onto muck, particularly when it has been sitting there for years.
A stiffer brush would have helped here. The brush I used was a touch soft for compacted dirt, and trimming perhaps 10 mm from the bristles would make it more aggressive. Alternatively, as the instructions suggest, a second application of Gunk Ultra Degreaser would likely finish off the more stubborn deposits.
The vice rods and the areas around the spring cleaned well too. Most of the grease was gone, leaving clean metal and a little surface rust rather than a lingering oily film.
Results on the Milling Vice
The milling vice was the sterner test. This one had old machine oil, way oil and swarf embedded in places that do not get much attention during normal use. I also used the same liquid after cleaning the woodworking vice, so by then it was no longer fresh. That made it a fair test of how well the product continued to work.
Gunk Ultra Degreaser did a good job of lifting the larger lump of greasy swarf from the body of the vice. The general surfaces came up clean and no longer felt oily. It also cleaned the lead screw rather nicely, with only a small amount of dirt left in the thread roots.
There was still impacted dirt down at the bottom edges of the dovetail. Frankly, that was no great shock. Swarf and oil get pressed into those corners over years of use, and they are unlikely to surrender without a stiff brush, more time, or a second treatment.
What Gunk Ultra Degreaser Did Well
For light to medium workshop degreasing, Gunk Ultra Degreaser performed well. It dealt effectively with old grease, oil, sawdust and loose swarf, and it did so without turning the workshop into a chemical fog bank.
- Low odour: much more pleasant for an enclosed home workshop than strongly scented traditional degreasers.
- Effective on typical restoration grime: it shifted greasy sawdust, old machine oil and loose swarf well.
- Good with a short soak: allowing around five minutes gave it time to soften the muck before scrubbing.
- Economical in use: only a relatively small amount was needed for the parts cleaned here.
- Usable as a soak: parts can be dipped in it for cleaning.
Limitations and Material Warnings
It is important to keep the test in perspective. I would not claim that Gunk Ultra Degreaser will magically clean the most appalling engine imaginable. The parts here were dirty, but they were not a decades-old engine block coated in baked-on filth.
For heavier grime, expect to use a second application and a stiffer brush. Mechanical agitation still matters. Degreaser can soften and lift the contamination, but it cannot reach deep into every crevice without a bit of help from you.
There are also a few restrictions from the product instructions:
- Do not use it in a parts washer.
- It can be used for soaking parts in a dip.
- Do not use it on cellulose or lacquered finishes.
- Do not use it on aluminium or chrome.
Those limitations are worth taking seriously, especially when cleaning mixed-material assemblies. It is always better to check what you are about to soak before discovering that a finish or plated part did not appreciate the treatment.
Verdict: Is Gunk Ultra Degreaser Worth Using?
For the sort of light restoration and maintenance work that happens in a home workshop, I am happy with Gunk Ultra Degreaser. It cleaned both the woodworking vice and the milling vice effectively, removed the greasy feel from the metal, and left only the deeply embedded grime that any cleaner would need a bit of assistance to shift.
Most importantly for me, it is low odour. That makes Gunk Ultra Degreaser a much more comfortable option when working in a small, enclosed shed or garage. Add sensible PPE, a plastic tub, a decent stiff brush and perhaps a second pass for the really stubborn bits, and it is a useful degreaser to have on the workshop shelf.
I would certainly use it again.
