Tom McNally, vice president and general manager of the environmentally conscious ChemFree Corp. in Norcross, Ga., fits the stereotype of a seasoned chemist. McNally's hair is grayed and he wears a pair of round thin-framed glasses and a denim shirt with the company logo embroidered on the lapel.

"My wife says I have the world's largest collection of unused power ties," he chuckles.

SmartWasher

Photos by Jennifer Preyss/Cox News Service

Tom McNally with his Smart Washer.

With unintentional enthusiasm, McNally describes how ChemFree, an aqueous machine parts-washing business came to be one of the largest eco-friendly manufacturers and distributors of SmartWashers for domestic and international companies such as Pep Boys, among others.

A company green before green was vogue, ChemFree has been committed for more than 15 years to producing a quality method of cleaning machine parts without harming the environment, humans or animals.

"My favorite [clients] are the national zoos. If you think about it, you have machines that are used in zoos, and you sure don't want use potentially hazardous solvents when you have panda bears in the next enclosure."

Still in beginning stages of what would eventually become ChemFree Corp., McNally researched and developed several water-based fluids capable of cleaning oil from dirty machine parts. By accident, he came upon an absorbent, which he explained is usually poured over oil spills to soak up the oil.

But he uncovered a microbial component in a few of the absorbents tested, and when coupled with water, the microbes in the absorbent were activated and ate away the oil.

"We eventually isolated the microbes in the absorbent and invented a way to deliver the microbes into a parts-washer," he said.

And that's exactly what he did. McNally invented a bio-remediating parts washing machine, otherwise known as a SmartWasher.

In a plastic sink structure, available in various sizes and colors, dirty machine parts are washed with a harmless clear fluid ChemFree lovingly refers to as Ozzy Juice.

The bio-remediation process occurs in the washer when the oil, lubricant and grease are cleaned and captured in a special filter with freeze-dried microbes. The filter holds on to anything inorganic, leaving behind zero harmful waste.

But what exactly is a parts-washer and where can they be found? For many, machine parts-washing is an entirely unfamiliar area of big business.

"Parts washers are ubiquitous, they're everywhere. You may not know that they are everywhere, but every gas station that does repairs, every place where there is a machine you have to have a parts-washer," McNally said. "So if you think about the world out there today, there is no place there isn't a parts-washer."

The problem with the traditional method of parts-washing, however, is the potentially deadly solvent used to remove oil and grime and the harmful environment waste left behind.

Traditional solvents used to clean contaminants from oily parts are generally flammable and can be harmful if ingested. McNally claims that even with large warning stickers on traditional washers, numerous companies continue to use them.

"Many of the labels on current parts washers say, Ôwatch out for this, watch out for that and by the way this can cause respiratory arrest and death, and it says it right on the label and yet people use them all the time," McNally said. "We decided there should be a more environmentally friendly way to do parts cleaning."

Introducing the SmartWasher 15 years ago, McNally soon learned that big businesses weren't interested in a product that was environment friendly, even if it worked just as well and didn't cost more money than traditional ones.

Melissa Page-Hale, ChemFree's marketing spokesperson, has worked for ChemFree since the company was founded and remembers the daily grind of convincing clients the machine was a worthy investment.

"The interest wasn't there, we didn't say 'green' in our presentation, we didn't say 'environmentally safe,' we didn't focus on what we truly were." Page-Hale said.

But times are changing and green interest is ever increasing. Last year, ChemFree had a 70 percent increase in sales. To date, they have shipped more than 50,000 units domestically, 10,000 internationally and hold 11 patents in the United States and 16 other countries.

"The kids that were in elementary school when we were still pushing the product up hill were coming home telling mommy and daddy to recycle and now they're taking that out to the workplace and they're wanting to be around safe, healthy products," Page-Hale said.

McNally, soon to be a first-time grandfather, hopes his SmartWasher will eventually replace traditional parts-washers for good. He hopes his grandchildren inherit a world that doesn't have harmful solvent cleaners. He hopes companies will realize that going green doesn't mean substituting quality or cost.

"We have most of our research and development money into developing new aqueous-based fluids that clean as well or better than solvent," he said. "And you don't have to take our word for it, NASA agrees. Ozzy Juice finished at a 99 percent effective rate in a study NASA did in 2005. Solvent had the same rating."

SmartWashers are indeed a smart purchase for big and small businesses that wash machine parts. More information can be found at ChemFree's Web site, www.chemfree.com.

Proudly gazing at a framed photo of his children, he considers the impact the green movement and his environmentally friendly SmartWasher could have on the world and his future grandchildren.

"If you put the combination together, it's environmentally friendly and the bottom line is the damn thing works! Why wouldn't you use it," McNally said.