Mechanical repair is a quintessential “getting your hands dirty” job. Professionals at repair shops are constantly handling parts and products saturated in chemicals, some of which can be harmful if not carefully handled.

Those chemicals can include degreasers. Degreasers are cleaning products used to break down stubborn greases, grimes, residues, and other contaminants. Many traditional degreasers contain hazardous air pollutants and carcinogenic chemicals that can pose dangers to the workers who use them – not to mention their customers, their families, the environment, and the community members who live nearby.

That’s why in 2021, to help reduce exposures to some of the worst chemicals used in degreasers, the Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County launched a new project to promote safer degreasing methods. The Haz Waste Program provides expert advice and thousands of dollars in financial support so small businesses can make the switch to safer products and equipment, all while keeping costs down and operations efficient.

Eligible businesses can contact the Haz Waste Program to learn more about switching to safer degreasers. Request a free consultation at 206-296-4692 or haz.waste@kingcounty.gov.

To get a better sense of what it’s like for businesses to shift to safer degreasers, we talked to two automotive repair shops that have been working with the Program to assist their transition. Here’s what they had to say.

Shoreline Auto Clinic

After managing an auto center in Shoreline for several years, in 2021 Jori Wink partnered with a property owner to open Shoreline Auto Clinic. From the very beginning, Wink has been committed to running a clean shop.

An early visit from the Haz Waste Program helped guide best practices for his new business. Right away, Wink was interested in the Program’s degreaser project. Wink was particularly intrigued by a machine that uses ultrasonic vibrations to shake the gunk off automotive parts in a tub of water. This is a less toxic approach to degreasing parts, but Wink had a practical reason for his interest in an ultrasonic cleaner.

“It works,” Wink says. “Before, you would spend 40 hours fixing and resealing an entire motor, but we wouldn't really have a way to make it so that the metal is shiny again. This is something that helps get all the dust and grime and oil and everything else out of those cracks that you can't really get to otherwise, because it just breaks it loose with the ultrasonic. It’s very effective.”

On top of being effective, it’s also cost-efficient. Before the ultrasonic cleaner, Wink guesses about $300 worth of brake cleaner was needed to do the same job, and his shop was using a case or more of the stuff every week.

The Haz Waste Program helped Shoreline Auto Clinic cover most of the cost of its ultrasonic cleaner. Wink estimates his business paid only $1,000 for the machine’s $4,400 price tag. “We use it probably at least five times a week. In three or four months, it was paid for.”

Wink has no love lost for the toxic brake cleaners his shop used to churn through.

“It’s way more hazardous to the people inside the shop, also the environment with the waste that comes with it,” Wink says. “It's pretty bad. Like, if you're spraying it in the shop, you have to be ventilating it or else you'll start to hear colors, you know what I mean?”

West Seattle Autoworks

West Seattle Autoworks opened its bay doors to customers in 2010. Owner Chris Christensen says he has always had an interest in establishing environmentally friendly practices at his shop, as evident from the business’s EnviroStars certification.

But it was an unusual mishap that forced Christensen to explore new degreaser options.

“We had a break-in,” he says. “They rammed the door, and the parts washer exploded. So that's what prompted me. I said, ‘OK, I want to get something better in here.’”

Christensen reached out to the Haz Waste Program for guidance, and the Program connected his business with vouchers to help pay for a new washer. The new system employs a washing process called “bioremediation,” which uses microbes to break down hazardous chemicals. This process requires minimal energy usage, and it reduces contaminants in the resulting waste down to healthier, more environmentally-friendly levels.

Christensen says he was hesitant about investing in the bioremediation washer at first, noting that he had used an earlier model years ago and had issues. But he says manufacturers have made great strides since then, and it shows.

“I’ve had no issues whatsoever,” Christensen says. “It's going to give you the same result with very few of the harmful effects. We don't have to use any (personal protective equipment) with this. We do, but we don't have to, because it's not caustic.”

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The Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County works with dozens of other businesses to help them transition to safer degreasing solutions. Does your small business use degreasers? If you’re curious about switching to a safer, efficient, and cost-effective degreaser option, contact the Haz Waste Program at 206-296-4692 or haz.waste@kingcounty.gov.