Super Clean Vs Purple Power Degreaser

Similarities and Differences – Super Clean Vs Purple Power

Similarities

Super clean and purple power are two of the same kind of degreasers used by various household houses and buildings for several things. Such as cleaning greasy surfaces in the bathroom, floors (floors have to be cleaned from time to time after all), carpeting, stairs, etc. However, they are treated differently than other more acidic type acids such as muriatic acid or vinegar.

These two degreasers only work when sprayed on the surface, so it’s not advisable to pour them directly onto a surface to dissolve grease because they would bubble up instead of dissolving into liquid form first. The reason behind that is because of the surfactants (surface active agents) and other chemicals deep in their composition that are responsible for dissolving fats and oils on contact.

A surfactant is a substance that lowers the surface tension of liquids or solids, making them spread more easily over what they’re touching. An example would be soaps, detergents, shampoos…etc., as it doesn’t work well if you just poured a soap bar directly onto tough grease to wash it off instead of lathering up first with water then rubbing all around with how you’ve lathered it into foam. This same idea in purple power lies when using purple power or super clean: spraying it onto greasy surfaces works better than pouring it on because the surfactants are affected by water.

If you were to pour super clean or purple power directly onto a surface, you might notice that they would bubble up, not dissolve into liquid form, which is not how it works. It only works when sprayed onto greasy surfaces so that the surfactants can be distributed throughout the bubbles of air for them to break down fats and oils. The same principle applies in dishwashing detergents: the action does not work unless after applying soap onto hands. Then, rubbing around as if using your bare hands instead of just plain soap on them without any added help from the water will yield no results.

Another similarity between super clean and purple power is that they both have their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to cleaning grease off surfaces. First off, these two degreasers are excellent for cleaning greasy appliances such as stoves and ovens from the inside out: just spray the surface with super clean or purple power, then wipe everything down using a towel after being sprayed on.

The reason behind this is because of how strong both of these chemicals are towards fats and oils: each time you apply them onto a surface, there will be an immediate reaction between them due to how the surfactants are present within their composition, which dissolves all kinds of fats or oil even if it’s burn on (extremely hard to remove without the right chemicals, but works instantly when using these two degreasers) onto surfaces.

Another example would be spraying purple power or super clean onto greasy floors to clean them up. It’s best to do this after purple powering first since spray purple power and super clean onto a wet surface yields quicker and more impressive results than plain water alone. However, you should avoid using these degreasers towards vinyl siding because they would degrade the siding by leaving yellow tint marks and permanently whiten your clothing due to the strong acids within their composition.

Differences

Many have touted the two as being the same thing with only slight variations in their formulas.  However, suppose one takes the time to read their Material Safety Data Sheet and look over their ingredients. In that case, it becomes clear that they are not identical, although they may be similar from looking at how much of each ingredient is present.

These products have some similar traits, such as both are good for cleaning aluminum-based parts and both contain a base solvent of mineral spirits (aka Naptha).

The main difference between the two products lies in volatile solvents vs. detergents.

Purple power contains the following volatile solvents:  Ethanol, Phenol, Methyl Isobutyl Ketone (MIBK), Xylene, and Trans-1,3 -Dichloropropene. [ Note: The E number on these ingredients is for European countries and does not indicate if the ingredient is a pesticide.]  The detergents present in purple power are Tallow Amide DEA, Tallow Phosphate ester, Cationic Tall Oil Phosphate ester. These can be present in either white spirit or turpentine, which gives them an odor more pleasant than mineral spirits.

The super clean contains mostly mineral spirits in its ingredients, with a few exceptions.  It also has the following volatile solvents:  Butyl Cellosolve, Xylene, Trichlorofluoromethane, 1,1 -difluoroethane (HFC 134a or gazogen), and Tetrachloroethylene. Pure butyl cellosolve is an ingredient available in purple power. The detergents present are not on their MSDS. Still, when cross-referencing other products containing these same ingredients, it becomes clear that the main detergent is probably alkyl dimethyl amine oxide which would make this product more effective than purple power.

So when we compare purple power to super clean, it becomes clear that they are not identical products. Purple power was designed specifically for cleaning aluminum car parts and still has that market. Whereas super clean has a wider range of uses though some car manufactures prefer the term “super clean” used only on certain parts, such as GM who states:

“Parts cleaned with Super clean may have any of the following markings: Dip – Parts must be clearly marked by purple powering in paint containing 0.63% lead by weight.”

This shows that super clean is more concentrated than purple power and therefore could be more expensive per fluid ounce/squirt.