Found a trick for cleaning flux off boards with something cheap I already had

So I've been using isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush forever to clean up after soldering. Works fine but takes forever and uses a ton of wipes. Last week I was fixing a power supply for a buddy and the flux was crusted on bad. I grabbed some... denture cleaner tablets from the bathroom. Dissolved a couple in warm water and dropped the board in for like 10 minutes. Rinsed it off and the flux was completely gone. No scrubbing. Anyone else tried this or got a better hack for stubborn flux?

2 comments

2 Comments

wilson.sam12d ago

Oh dang that's actually brilliant. I never thought about using denture cleaner but it makes total sense since those things are designed to dissolve gunk in hard to reach places. I bet the effervescent action helps lift the flux out from under components too which is usually the hardest part. Now I'm wondering if you could speed it up even more by using an ultrasonic cleaner with the denture solution instead of just soaking. Might be worth trying on some old boards I've got sitting around that are caked in no-clean flux that's been sitting for years.

ellis.mia12d ago

Omg my buddy tried this exact thing with an ultrasonic cleaner and denture tabs on an old GPU and said it came out looking brand new. He just warned me to rinse it really well after cause the residue can mess things up if you don't.