I use DIY case lube made from isopropyl alcohol and liquid lanolin.  It works brilliant for lubing the cases and is extremely inexpensive.

My normal process is to wet tumble brass for about an hour to remove the bulk of the crud/residue.  Cases get seperated from the pins and air dried at least overnight.  Next cases are decapped and sized using a standard sizing die.  During this process they get a light spritz of the case lube and a shake in a container to distribute the lube.  This is repeated if the first case or two offer unexpected resistance during sizing.  Next the brass is trimmed to length if needed.

At this stage I like to pin tumble the brass again for three purposes:

• Pin tumbling will soften the sharp edges of the case mouth post trim saving me the step of chamfer
• Tumbling will remove any residual lube
• Clean and shiny primer pockets that don't mean a thing by look really nice

I tumble in a Franklin tumbler using stainless pins, water a tablespoon of dish detergent and a teaspoon of citric acid.  They get tumbled for 2 hours, then the tumbler is drained from the bottom.

The issue I have is the lanolin lube doesn't get broken down by the detergent.  Cases come out a dingy gray color and still a little greasy to the touch.  Handling them will turn your hands black.

I can toss them in the walnut media for 15 minutes and they come out nice and shiny.  But then I have shell in the flash holes of some of the cases I have to deal with.  Not an ideal solution.

Has anyone had and solved this issue? I think I might just need a different detergent to better break down or hold the lanolin.  I suspect a quick dip in acetone or a spray with non-chlorinated brake cleaner would fix the issue, but I really don't want to use those products if I can avoid it.

Thanks.
Anyone know of a detergent

I use One Shot case lube for the convenience, so no experience with lanolin. Dawn dish soap works perfectly in my wet tumbler. Other brands, not so much.

My only thought would be dishwasher detergent. It's a bit better at breaking down grease and will still work well with the citric acid as an anti spotting agent.

I completely understand you wanting to avoid an acetone or brake cleaner step.

Well I love wet tumbling but you are going to extremes I feel. First decap the brass first to open the flash holes. Second I do use Dawn and Limishine and I use stainless steel  chips. After about 1/2 hour the brass is better than new. I cook it in a George Forman grill for 20 minutes to dry it out and it is good to go!! Each to his own but I haven't even heard of half the stuff you use. I do use lube for rifle cases as needed but most of my reload is pistol so no lube needed!!  Craig

Thanks Graybeard.  Dishwasher detergent is a good thought, as is making sure the blue stuff my wife puts in the "pretty" dispenser on the counter is Dawn.

Gadabout, I am plenty lazy.  My process grew from doing almost nothing and scaling up as I had more volume and more challenges. I process a LOT of brass.  The current run was about 1k 22-250 cases, which are in the process of being trimmed now.

Pistol brass is easy-peasy.  Not lube, comes out of the pins looking new.

Small volume rifle brass is also not an issue.  300 Win Mag I use a universal decapper and clean in the pins once.  After sizing and trimming I just wipe the cases down.  But I probably only shoot 50-100 of that a month.  Same for 6.5 Grendel and 260 Remington (so far).

But when you get into the brass that goes through the self-feeding rifles, volumes go way up in a hurry. My brass, my families brass plus several non-reloading friends brass. Way to much to trim and clean by hand post sizing.

  sqlbullet

There's a serious flaw in your reloading plan. Reloading for other than one's personal needs borders on insanity. You might look for help at the clinic.

I only said I get their brass, not that I provide them ammo.  My reloads are only shot in my guns.

I reload for my wife and kids more than I do for me.
I found using very hot water with Dawn and Lemishine in the tumbler takes the lanolin off my brass.

Sqlbullet, have you tried a separate dish, bowl of alcohol to cut the lube, finish off? Sorry to chime in so late, hiw did you solve this?

Haven't had a tumble session since the post.  I generally save up brass and then will have a brass processing weekend a couple times a year.

With the the lack of primers I have altered my training sets to be low round, high value per shot training.  Repetition now comes from dry fire.  Also, during winter my shooting slows down as access to the property where I shoot is limited to tracked vehicles, and this year there was an avalanche to get past as well.

I will be starting some 308 load development this weekend, as well as dialing in an LR-308 pattern rifle that has languished too long.  That should generate some brass and I will let you know.