The use of Trichloroethylene (TCE) for degreasing purposes was suggested as an option. Only as last resort....... if nothing else works.....sort of like a Nuclear Weapon. And only in very small amounts. Obviously, I didn't consider the potential "collateral damage". Charlie Young has correctly pointed out that the stuff is a bad actor in the environment. Specifically, TCE will degrade to Vinyl Chloride, which is extremely toxic. I should also mention that millions of dollars are spent each year cleaning up soil and groundwater that has been impacted from past industrial uses of TCE. Charlie has made a good recommendation of xylene as an alternative. Xylene is a common solvent that is used as a carrier in spray paint. The US EPA's published Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for drinking water for TCE is 5 parts per billion (ppb) and 10,000 ppb for xylene. For those of you that care about that kind of stuff.
David Allen
Degreased in Marietta, Georgia