Has anyone here ever used Certified Labs FREE penetrant and release agent? A few of the mechanics I see on YouTube have been touting its virtues and if it is as good as they say it is I'm looking to pick some up. It seems to be quite pricey, but if it works as well as I'm seeing on channels like Fab Rats I'd say it would be worth the money.

I see. And there's no charge for it?

If it’s free, you are the product.

Oh... it's not free as in in at no cost, I'm guessing they mean it will break "free" rusty nuts and bolts and whatnot. It is actually quite pricey.

I have changed the title of this thread so as to hopefully clear that up.

Yes, I do use FREE and find it works very well, it's the only Certified product I still buy as their products tend to be overpriced. Just last week I had an oxygen sensor I couldn't get to budge, I sprayed FREE on it overnight and the next morning it came out easily. Would WD40 soaking overnight done the same thing, maybe, but I've had good luck with FREE.

It is similar to Kroil, in that it uses acetone component and a light oil.

Kroil is similar to 50/50 mix of acetone and hydraulic oil. (We called it "weasel pee" in the US of Air Force)

All are good at breaking chemical/physical bonds of rust and galvanic corrosion.

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(We called it "weasel pee" in the US of Air Force)

In the foundry I worked in 40 yrs ago we referred to Liquid Wrench as "weasel piss".

I can't remember the exact name - it was something like "Farmboy Research" on youtube which tests all manner of stuff used on a farm.

The penetrant tests said to use Kroil. Should be fairly simple to see how to duplicate a test, and test it relative to Kroil.

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I can't remember the exact name - it was something like "Farmboy Research" on youtube which tests all manner of stuff used on a farm.

Project farm maybe? I recall him doing a test on penetrants.

Kroil has worked so well for me over the years that I've never considered trying something else.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Kroil has worked so well for me over the years that I've never considered trying something else.

I'm of the same opinion of PB Blaster. If it doesn't work immediately*, break out the torch or get a bigger impact & a drill.
I'm sure there's a better formulation and/or a 'best' formulation for every situation, but stuck bolts are going to be a PITA no matter what. Overall, I've probably saved time breaking them right away & just getting it over with.

*If it's something that can wait until the next day, I'll let it soak & often I'll hit potentially problematic bolts a few days before I plan to remove them.

Kroil works real well in cleaning the old carbon and crap out of old rifle barrels.

I did recently try some “Free All”. How did it work? I dunno. Okay I guess? How do you know how any of it works compared to something else? (yes I’ve seen the project farm video a time or two lol. One thing I liked about people’s comments was that it was unrealistic to wait so long for it to work. My thoughts were, those people must never work on anything important. When I’m working on “if this bolt snaps I’ll have to pull the engine out” type stuff, I’ll apply it several times a day for a week if I need to.)

I love Kroil but the price they get these days, it keeps be from using tons of it. I’ll buy PB blaster and just use a lot more over a longer period of time.