Around 10 years ago I had wandered back to the Dremel repair center for something or other and came across one of our technicians putting the finishing touches on a rotary tool that had been sent in to us for repair. The repair was a conventional one (replacing a broken spline between the motor and the output shaft) but what the technician did next after fastening the two halves of the body housing back together was eye-opening for me.

The tool that had been sent in to us was obviously well worn and used, but what stood out to me was how absolutely dirty and dusty the tool was. I mean this thing must have spent most of its life on a shop floor in grease and sawdust. Instead of simply shipping the newly repaired and tested rotary tool back to its owner, the technician took out some Goop and a rag and started in on cleaning the tool. And when I say Goop I mean Goop®, the product used for hand cleaning and getting the spots out of tough laundry stains.

With just a little Goop on a shop towel and some thorough rubbing the technician had this ugly duckling of a tool looking out-of-the box new! I couldn't believe my eyes. So from that moment on, I’ve been cleaning the plastic bodies of my power tools at home with the same amazing results.

In the photos here I show the before and after shots of a Dremel model 395 rotary tool that had been sent in to us for service just like the one I saw years ago.

So now you know one of the behind the scenes shop tricks for cleaning a dirty tool of your own.

Keep it clean and keep making,

John

Behind the scenes secret to a clean tool