Help please - cleaning cylinder head after regrinding valves

[schrodinger3]

Can anybody advise me as to what to use to clean a cylinder head once I have used cutting paste to reseat the valves.
My other half has said I can use the dishwasher but I don't think that ordinary dishwasher tablets will be the right thing to use.

I believe the head gasket has blown and I am yet to get the head off the engine (silver top 1.8 Zetec in my Stylus Kit Car) but think it may need to also need the valve seats to be recut, can anybody recommend somebody in the Inverness area, I have looked on line and found Precision Engineering Services as well as Auto Head Recon if anybody has any thought on these two it would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts (I know already I have an unusual Wife :-)

Keith

[crowfield]

I have always used paraffin.

[Little Pete]

Assuming you are getting a machine shop to do the work, the head will come back clean and ready to fit.

[tr7v8]

My race engine building clean has always been fresh petrol followed by celly thinners

[paul_c123]

I have just done this. After each pass of grinding with the paste, I'd roughly wipe away firstly the coarse, then the fine remains of the paste. Then once all the lapping is done (I'd do all the valve seats in one batch), instead of fitting the valves as I go, leave them out but carefully document which valve goes where. Then I'd use a degreaser gun on a compressor (so, about 10 bar - much more than a spray can) with brake/parts cleaner. Blast it initially from the exhaust/inlet ports, then all around and let it run out. It will do a pretty good job of cleaning up the head but obviously not quite as well as a parts cleaning machine if it were fully stripped and done at a machine shop.

[Lotobear]

I generally run the bare head through the dishwasher on a hot cycle without any cleaning tabs, works a treat.