It's easy to wash and wax your car, just get it soapy, rub it a little, rinse. But if you've ever found yourself looking at a car or truck part covered in years of road grime, grease, hair or anything else you wish you weren't looking at, you've surely thought about what the best thing to clean that part would be. The problem with parts cleaning is you have such a variety of products out there, it's hard to know what to use.

On top of that, some household cleaning products work just as well as their more expensive car-specific relatives. There are many factors to consider before choosing the product. Here I'll go over some of the issues you'll face when choosing a parts cleaning product.

Read the label. This may seem like a given, but I'm not talking about the giant yellow sunburst on the front of the package that reads "Best Cleaner You'll Ever Try!" I'm talking about the little bitty words on the back of the label. There is a lot of valuable information here. Some cleaners will destroy a paint job and should never be used near the vehicle's painted body -- this will be listed on the label. Some products may advertise themselves as "natural" but a closer read will reveal that they are using a "natural" turpentine derivative to cut grease! Natural, maybe, but hardly environmental.

Is it too much? You may be tempted to buy the most hardcore cleaning product you can find to make the job easier, but getting something too harsh can be a mistake.

Not only do you risk damaging something with an overly harsh cleaner, these products tend to be a little rougher on the environment. I always suggest starting with something mild like dishwashing detergent and a stiff nylon brush before I break out the really smelly stuff.

Home products vs. automotive. Sometimes you need to bring out the professional degreasers, but there are a number of products you use at home that can work just as well for most jobs. Lots of cleaners in your cleaning bucket are actually degreasers. Fantastik and Formula 409 are both excellent degreasing agents. We use these all the time around the shop. Simple Green is another product that is useful both at home and in the garage. For removing tougher crust, a short soak in toilet bowl cleaner can get the job done. I do try to avoid using household painting supplies and chemicals on car parts as they can be just as harsh or more brutal than the powerful automotive products.

Professional style parts cleaners. If you visited a shop 20 years ago you would have seen a big, red, metal box plugged into the wall. This box contained a little sprayer and a few gallons of very chemically parts cleaner. These are still available today, and many people use them. The upside is they are a proven way to clean parts, but many people mistakenly think they are like a dishwasher for car parts. There is still plenty of scrubbing and rubbing involved in getting the gunk to come off. And the chemicals are harsh so high grade chemical-resistant gloves are a must, as well as adequate ventilation. These days there is an alternative. Gone are the nasty, volatile chemicals, replaced with biodegradable degreasing agents that actually recycle themselves! The cleaning box has come a long way, too. The finest iteration of a parts cleaner we've found has been the BenchTop Pro. We reviewed it about a year ago and love it more every day. Unlike some of the crazy high end units, this one is affordable for a hobbyist! The degreasing solution contains microbes that actually dissolve the grease, and you can use the solution over and over because it doesn't really evaporate. The little spout in the middle of the old box has been replaced with a flexible hose with an amazing stiff bristle brush on the end. After a year of abusing this thing, the brush hasn't even started to fray. I know I'm going on and on, but compared to other offerings, this BenchTop Pro is amazing. Check out the review.

Ultrasonic cleaners. Ultrasonic parts cleaners are the creme de la creme of degreasing machines. Simply drop a part into the cleaner, run it like a dishwasher, and it will come out looking as close to new as a week's worth of scrubbing would give. The downside? They are very expensive. A very small unit is somewhat affordable, but if you want something big enough for an old carburetor you're opening your wallet fairly wide. The prices will come down over time, but right now they are pretty steep. Too steep, in my opinion, for the hobbyist or average DIYer.

Whatever you use, be sure to take all of the proper safety precautions to protect your skin and eyes from toxic solutions. Safety first!