The importance of thread cleaning
There are many factors that determine the quality of a bolted connection. One of the most important factors is friction, which can be influenced in many ways. Overcoming the friction caused by external factors like corrosion, old grease or concrete residue is one of the most time-consuming parts of (de)assembling bolted connections. The amount of friction has great impact on the amount of torque that is needed to achieve the desired bolt load. Professional thread cleaning leads to a more predictable and lower coefficient of friction over the entire length of the thread. That is why cleaning nuts and bolts before re-using them is an important step in any bolting process.
The advantages of using BoltClean thread cleaners
- Up to 10 times faster than manual brushing: huge savings on labor costs!
- Cost efficient: not having to buy new fasteners results in much lower costs
- Accurate: machine-cleaning means less scatter in bolt load, and it reduces the risk of galling
- Health and safety: no physical strain for employees
- Heavy duty: many of our thread cleaners are still in use after more than 25 years of service
- Eco friendly: re-using nuts and bolts is a sustainable alternative to buying new fasteners
- Wide range: our thread cleaners can clean anything from bolt size M4 up to M230 (or bigger)
Cleaning methods
In general, we can diversify four methods for cleaning threads on nuts and bolts.
- Machine-Brushing
- Recutting threads
- Sandblasting
- Manual brushing
We performed laboratory tests to determine the effects of each cleaning method. The outcomes showed that machine-brushing has got many advantages over other methods.

- Procedure will not damage thread surfaces
- Mobile thread cleaning is possible
- No removal of material and therefore strength
- Both nut and bolt can be cleaned
- No significant material removal, not even after 100 brushings

Advantages of machine brushing over manual brushing
- Up to 10 times faster
- No physical strain
- Better results due to deeper cleaning
Advantages over recutting thread or sandblasting
- Procedure will not damage thread surfaces
- Mobile thread cleaning is possible
- No removal of material and therefore strength
- Both nut and bolt can be cleaned


Applications
BoltClean thread cleaners are used in a wide variety of industries.





