Cleaning Bike with Washing Up Liquid?

busyliving

Hey all

I've to give my bike a good deep clean this week, and was wondering for the cleaning process is it OK to use warm water with a little washing up liquid to get all the heavy dirt off...

I do plan on using degreaser on the chain, spockets, break shoes as well...

Would that be ok, or is there better agents to use, without going out spending €20 on some bike cleaner

Cheers in advance

07Lapierre

Mild green fairy liquid is the best. Kind to your hands too!

irishmotorist

I wouldn't use washing up liquid, based on what it does to car paintwork. I don't know how similar the paint on a bike and car are though so I could be scaremongering.

Paul Kiernan

Washing up liquid contains salt, makes things rusty.

Unless you like a rusty bike get some car shampoo (Halfords or maybe someone like Tesco stock it).

busyliving

Cheers guys, I'll ask in the bike shop when I'm picking up the degreaser and she what he may have for bike cleaning

Mycroft H

Hair shampoo. Smells nice too

busyliving

BX 19 wrote: »

Hair shampoo. Smells nice too

Are you serious?

Mr.Triffid

spirits used for painting is excellent for cutting through the grease and grime on a chain on a bike.

feck sake lads

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

Washing up liquid contains salt, makes things rusty.

Unless you like a rusty bike get some car shampoo (Halfords or maybe someone like Tesco stock it).

you learn something new every day;) mind you i've been washing my bike with fairy liquid this past 30 years and still they shine like new.
i think well actually i know :P when you wash your pride and joy you should also dry it .

emm maybe i'll try car shampoo;)

ThisRegard

Why not just use the degreaser to wash the bike ?

busyliving

ThisRegard wrote: »

Why not just use the degreaser to wash the bike ?

Mix it with water is it?

I have been told to use the degreaser to clean the chain, the cogs and mechanises(derailer,jockey etc) but have not been told to use it to clean

jimbo28

This is the stuff i use, spray it on and leave for a few mins, then i wash it off with water. Great stuff.


http://www.wiggle.co.uk/fenwicks-fs1-bike-cleaner-1-litre-bottle

manwithaplan

I suppose it depends how bling you want the bike to look. I used to use washing up liquid but I find now that a good going over with brushes followed by a bit of a wipe-down with wet rags or baby wipes does the trick. One advantage is that there's no rinsing required so the job can be done in the kitchen with minimal mess.

busyliving

manwithaplan wrote: »

I suppose it depends how bling you want the bike to look. I used to use washing up liquid but I find now that a good going over with brushes followed by a bit of a wipe-down with wet rags or baby wipes does the trick. One advantage is that there's no rinsing required so the job can be done in the kitchen with minimal mess.

Bling is not needed, I just want my bike to be clean and functional to be honest, its just my first road bike and I'd like it to last until xmas and then maybe I'll get a new one...maybe a carbon(drools all over keyboard )

fat bloke

I use a degreaser spray thing, and then fairy liquid to scrub the crap outta the sprockets and chain, and then I rinse and go again and then rinse rinse rinse rinse, and then I dry it out and oil her up real nice. A little dart of teflon lube all over the bike, and all the screws and bolts and, everywhere really pretty much, followed by a wipe down. Seems to work pretty well for me, though it is time consuming if you want to do it properly.

Those muck off style "Just spray on, leave to work and rinse off - hey presto, clean bike!!" yokes are expensive and rubbish.

RobFowl

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

Washing up liquid contains salt, makes things rusty.

Unless you like a rusty bike get some car shampoo (Halfords or maybe someone like Tesco stock it).

Not Sodium Chloride (tablet salt) though, its Sodoum sulphonite afaik which does not cause rust.

fenris

keep an eye out for deals on "Muc Off" or similar, you should very rarely have to pay full price for bike cleaner.

The longer you leave crud on a bike the harder it is to get off, so you can get away with cheaper cleaning methods if you clean frequently (and you get better at it), but to do the heroic once a year clean properly you usually need something with a bit of oomph!

fenris

RobFowl wrote: »

Not Sodium Chloride (tablet salt) though, its Sodoum sulphonite afaik which does not cause rust.

Sounds like something Rachel Allen would use!

busyliving

fat bloke wrote: »

I use a degreaser spray thing, and then fairy liquid to scrub the crap outta the sprockets and chain, and then I rinse and go again and then rinse rinse rinse rinse, and then I dry it out and oil her up real nice. A little dart of teflon lube all over the bike, and all the screws and bolts and, everywhere really pretty much, followed by a wipe down. Seems to work pretty well for me, though it is time consuming if you want to do it properly.

Those muck off style "Just spray on, leave to work and rinse off - hey presto, clean bike!!" yokes are expensive and rubbish.

That Teflon on stuff is really good, use it on my chain...

Just a quick one on the headset, would you put spray on that or just leave it alone?

colm_gti

What I do is cover the whole bike in a mild degreaser (autoglym engine and machine cleaner), agitate all the muck and dirt on the frame and wheels with a sponge, and do the same on the derailleurs, cassette, chainrings and chain with a special brush I bought for €5 in the bike shop, then get a spray bottle full of warm water and rinse the whole bike 5 or 6 times, brushing with a clean sponge while doing this, dry it off with a microfibre towel, disperse all the water from the derailleurs with WD40 and lube the chain with a good wet lube. Then I run the chain for a few revolutions on every sprocket before wiping off all the excess lube on the chain and derailleurs with a clean rag.

Opinions as to whether this is a good/bad technique would be appreciated, the bike looks mighty clean after it anyway...

Seve OB

Heya Busyliving

Like you I'm on my first road bike, it's a carbon one so I wanted to make sure I kept it in tip top shape.

I did a lot of reading up on all the cleaners etc. and read that the likes of Fairy Liquid is actually ok to use. Except you must make sure that you give it a proper good rinse off after.

I was going to buy a bike cleaner but read that Car cleaners are basically the same think so bingo, i had a bottle of Turtle Wax car shampoo inthe shed and it works great.

I did buy one of these for the chain, it was so well worth it, you won't believe the difference it makes to your chain.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=5783

Tip; if you have quick release wheels, take them off, makes it much easier to clean

07Lapierre

One of these/or similar also helps with cleaning. You can take the wheels off and everything is at "Eye level", much handier.

Seve OB

07Lapierre wrote: »

One of these/or similar also helps with cleaning. You can take the wheels off and everything is at "Eye level", much handier.

missed them when they were in Lidl last year at a snip! have my eye out to see if they come back

boege

'Gunk' engine degreaser for cleaning dirty chains and gear trains. Wash on with small paint brush and spray off with water. I used it on motorbikes for years and recently rediscovedred it for road bikes on advice of a bike mechanic. Think Halfords stock it.

Gunk down gear train first and then wash bike with hot water plus car wash detergent - agree with advice on teflon lube after wash.

I use the bike rack to mount bike which washing and remove wheels as others have indicated.

tomasrojo

Washing-up liquid may not be ideal, but I've been using it for decades with adequate results.

cycletheroad

tomasrojo wrote: »

Washing-up liquid may not be ideal, but I've been using it for decades with adequate results.

Same here, and i believe some bike shops are recommending you dont use muc off either, corrodes the bearings etc.

The tax man

+1 for Fenwicks
Dilute to wash the bike,use neat to degrease chain+sprockets etc.
McConvey Cycles They're up north so ship liquids here and free shipping. Eco friendly too,if you're into that type of thing.