There are two grades of brake cleen available: the old red can which had carbon tettrachloroethelyne (or some near form to it), and the newer green can which contains mostly alcohol and is touted as environmentally friendly.
One guess which one works better.
We used to go through the old stuff by the case back in my military days. Once we went over to the green cans, it wasn't as popular.
When I had real oil soaked brake linings to clean, I would usually start by washing them in the solvent bath, then a couple good soakings with alcohol, and finally the brake clean. A sanding in between each soaking got rid of the oil which was brought to the surface. Of course, the normal precautions apply, since you will likely be sanding asbestos, so a reasonable dust mask should be worn.
Back in the old days, a set of brake shoes was worth about $20, and brake clean was worth $4 a can, so the difference wasn't so great. Last time I relined my carrier shoes, it cost me around $150 if I recall, so if cleaning is an option over relining, then cleaning is the way to go.
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