How to clean cotton-covered wire

[relay]

Has anyone got any tips on cleaning the cotton covering on wire so that I can at least tell what colour it is?

My King Kool (currently working fine) is a devil to fault-find because the colours of wires in the loom are impossible to determine due to dirt.

 

[JT.]

Maybe a watery-paste using Oxyclean?

 

[relay]

Thanks for the quick response.
I tried something similar (a mixture of salt and hydrogen peroxide), but it had very little effect - it left the cotton a little cleaner, but still not showing colour.

 

[JT.]

Perhaps brake cleaner then, tried on a small area at first: http://www.screwfix.com/p/aerosol-brake-cleaner-600ml/1396g

 

[RudeDogg1]

Thanks for the quick response.
I tried something similar (a mixture of salt and hydrogen peroxide), but it had very little effect - it left the cotton a little cleaner, but still not showing colour.

Why salt? Can't see how that would do anything other than corrode metals

 

[JT.]

Why salt? Can't see how that would do anything other than corrode metals

From the internet:

"Hydrogen peroxide is a good cleaner for organics, and salt is acting as a nucleation site for the decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water, speeding up the release of the corrosive oxygen. This happens when you heat hydrogen peroxide anyway, but the salt speeds it up. The sodium chloride will also produce reactive ions that help in the cleaning process. A slight amount of hydrochloric acid will be produced."

 

[RudeDogg1]

I just use oxy with it and works a treat

 

[relay]

Thanks, I'll give brake cleaner a try and let you know.