umm...
For 3 bucks,you cant beat a can of Gumout or similar carb cleaner!...its the best,safest for the carb,and cheapest way too...
Cheap oven cleaner works,but is very corrosive to the zinc carb castings--only leave it on a few minutes at the most,or you wont HAVE a carb to worry about cleaning for long!..
I've used "Vanish" toilet bowl cleaner to clean carbs I had all apart for rebuilding,you submerege the carb parts (no plastic or brass!!) in a 5 gallon pail half full of water,and add the "Vanish" slowly..cover it and let it sit no more than 10-15 minutes(best to watch with a close eye!)...then flush with lots of water ,making sure to get it all out of the nooks and crannies..
This method can destroy a carb if your not careful!...so can soaking it in battery electrolyte,that you can buy at parts stores..it'll clean the white crud water leaves behind,and "boil" out the passages and jets internally--by removing a bit of the carb itself!--...--neutralize the acid with baking soda and water,then flush thouroghly--..this treatment is for carbs that are badly oxidized from weather exposure...and is usually a last ditch effort to save it..
I've reclaimed a few old briggs and stratton carbs using battery electrolyte,and watched a few dissolve into bubbles, and crumble like broken glass too!
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