Parts cleaning is essential to many industrial processes, as a prelude to surface finishing or to protect sensitive components. Electroplating is particularly a sensitive to part cleanliness, since molecular layers of oil can prevent the coating adhesion. ASTM B322 is a standard guide for cleaning metals prior to electroplating. Cleaning processes include solvent cleaning, hot alkaline detergent cleaning, electro-cleaning, and acid etch. The most common industrial test for cleanliness is the water-break test, in which the surface is thoroughly rinsed and vertically held. A quantitative measurement for this parameter is the contact angle. Hydrophobic contaminants such as oils cause the water to bead and break up, allowing the water to drain rapidly. Perfectly clean metal surfaces are hydrophilic and will keep an unbroken sheet of water that does not bead up or drain off. ASTM F22 describes a version of this test. This test does not detect hydrophilic contaminants, but the electroplating process can displace these easily since the solutions are water-based. Surfactants such as soap reduce the sensitivity of the test, so these must be thoroughly rinsed off. Definitions and classifications For the activities described here, the following terms are often found: metal cleaning, metal surface cleaning, component cleaning, degreasing, parts washing, parts cleaning. These are well established in technical language usage, but they have their shortcomings. Metal cleaning can easily be mixed up with the refinement of un-purified metals. Metal surface cleaning and metal cleaning do not consider the increasing usage of plastics and composite materials in this sector. The term component cleaning leaves out the cleaning of steel sections and sheets and finally, degreasing only describes a part of the topic as in most cases also chips, fines, particles, salts etc. have to be removed. The terms 'commercial and industrial parts cleaning', 'parts cleaning in craft and industry' or 'commercial parts cleaning' probably best describe this field of activity. There are some specialists who prefer the term 'industrial parts cleaning', because they want to exclude maintenance of buildings, rooms, areas, windows, floors, tanks, machinery, hygiene, hands washing, showers, and other non-commercial objects. Elements and their interactions Cleaning activities in this sector can only be characterized sufficiently by a description of several factors. These are outlined in the first image above. Parts and materials to be cleaned First, consider the parts to be cleaned. They may comprise non-processed or hardly processed sections, sheets and wires, but also machined