Many moons ago I etched the inside of my polymer/plastic mag well with the wrong kind of GunScrubber. Lucky thats all that got etched.

 

Some posts on gun cleaning are proof of our OCD. We all been there.

Polymer guns have been around for some time now. We don't hear stories about cops melting their Glocks because they used the wrong gun oil.

I tend to stick to bog standard products. It try not to let things go so far that I need really aggressive chemicals. If I am worried about it, I test a little bit on a spare part or someplace unobtrusive before I go whole hog.

I try not to overthink it.

 

Gun scrubber safe, Powder Blast not safe.

 

Birchwood Casey has two products called Gun Scrubber; one says synthetic safe on the label and one does not. Are both safe in your experience?

 

I have tested Super Tech carburetor cleaner from Walmart on both polymer and polyurathane finished stocks to see what would happen if I managed to accidentally get some on them. No damage at all. It was just to see if I had to worry about overspray when cleaning internal parts.

 

So what I think I have learned is, and I'M PROJECTING THIS ON TO OTHER CLEANERS, is that unless the product says some version of 'polymer safe' then it's not.

Why would you assume otherwise? Kinda falls into the "duh" category, dontchathink?

 

I was the range officer at my dept for years. When we went to the polymer framed Sig 320 we got the Shooters Choice Polymer Safe cleaner, no problems. When I clean my personal polymer frames at home I use hot water, an old toothbrush, and Dawn soap. Got the frames exceptionally clean with no worries about damaging the polymer. Compressed air for drying if available.

 

I break up my cleaners into 2 categories, easy & hard.

Most commercial gun cleaning products are what I’d call easy. Designed not to mess up plastic & wood. Anything branded a CLP. What I use for regular cleaning.

Hard stuff would be the really aggressive bore cleaners/copper removers and any old school brake cleaner (chlorinated). Must have at least one warning, preferably with a skull & crossbones too. This is stuff I typically use once on old used firearms, stuff that usually has never seen a cleaning or looks like it was salvaged from a lake. I think Simple Green or Greased Lightning is pretty harsh on bare aluminum.

So if we’re talking any ol’ over the counter product like Breakfree CLP, Ballistol, Remoil, Hopps, etc, I wouldn’t worry about furniture unless it’s bare wood with a linseed or Tung Oil finish, which might be prone to staining, but not damage.