Cleaning components with petrol

kao123

I've been using home heating oil (Kerosene) to clean all the grease and oil off the chain and sprockets, I use a small paintbrush and run it over the sprockets and chain. The same jam jar full of Kerosene has so far lasted for a really long time, once the sediment settles it's clear for the next degrease.

I leave it for a few mins then apply some fenwicks to remove all that. I then give the bike an overall clean using good old fashioned soap and water with rags and sponges etc....

Once it's all dry I re-lube the chain and sprockets, been doing this for a long time now and so far it works very well for me.

And I too wear latex gloves - saves scrubbing the oil and grease off afterwards, got a box of 50 somewhere last year for a fiver!

CJhaughey

Motorcycle chains transmit more power, are larger, greasier(auto lubers) and many have O-rings which need more care than bike chains which are tiny and cleaner.
Most bikers that I know use kero as a cleaning agent, cheap, dries away leaving no residue and works very well.
I haven't tried my italian chain cleaner with kero as I find it fiddly, just a tooth brush and a paint roller tray of kerosene.
Those with sensitive noses might want to look at odourless lamp oil which is refined kero with the odourising agents taken out.
Once it settles it can be poured off and reused.

Mamil biker

I use baby wipes for a quick clean of the chain and bike. It works. Simple as.

Mamil biker

I use baby wipes for a quick clean of the chain and bike. It works. Simple as.

doozerie

For the bike generally I often just wipe with a damp j-cloth, rinse/clean the j-cloth with washing up liquid afterwards or as and when it gets particularly dirty while wiping the frame. For stuff that resists removal by that method I use a damp multi-fibre cloth and a little elbow grease.

When I actually wash the bike, which is a rarity, I use diluted Fenwicks. I mainly use it because it comes in a convenient spray bottle (which I refill from a cheaper bottle of undiluted Fenwicks as I need to), otherwise I’d use some mild and non-abrasive detergent or other diluted in water in a bucket and applied with a multi-fibre cloth.

For my chain I use ProGold ProLink, one of several lubricants which “self clean” the chain. After each ride, or every other ride if I’m feeling particularly lazy, I wipe the chain (and jockey wheels and chainrings, and cogs too if I’m feeling enthusiastic) clean with a rag or kitchen towel, apply more ProLink, and wipe off the excess. I do that in my kitchen, which is possible because it’s not a messy task (I lay a rag on the ground under the chain, and another over the chainstay to stop drips/splashes getting onto the rear rim). Once in a blue moon I’ll use a chain cleaner and Park Tool degreaser to ensure the chain is “fully” clean, which is definitely an outdoor job.

I’ve used the like of white spirits on chains before but for me it’s too smelly, too harsh on my skin (no matter how careful I am to avoid contact with it), too messy, takes too much time, environmentally conscious disposal of the mucky residue is a problem, etc., to be a good regular option.

For gloves I use nitrile gloves, not latex, latex is an irritant for some plus nitrile has much better resistance to harsh chemicals than latex. I find nitrile gloves much tougher too so they last a lot longer. Nitrile gloves are only marginally more expensive than latex ones, if you buy them from somewhere that sells medical supplies, and Lidl stocks them occasionally too - by contrast, the Park Tool branded nitrile gloves are very expensive and while they look like they’d be more robust than some I’m not convinced that they’d prove to be good value for money.

WillyFXP

G1032 wrote: »

That's expensive though. You can get 5L of Jizer in a motor factors for about €22......

Which isn't water soluble, is full of solvents and has to be disposed of the same way oil or diesel does. The autoglym stuff is very economical, a couple of sprays does the whole drivetrain, I've done 3 bikes at least 3 times each and I've still more than 3/4 of the bottle left.

Lumen

Jawgap wrote: »

I've been using BikeHut Citrus degreaser - looking at it's MSDS - it looks like I've been using orange flavoured soapy water.....:(

I may have to move on to something a bit more industrial.

From my reading the toxic ingredients are the solvents. The surfactants (your soapy water) are not acutely toxic and can happily be poured down the drain.

I think it makes sense to do the least harm possible. Is a solvent really required for cleaning a chain?

Jawgap

Lumen wrote: »

From my reading the toxic ingredients are the solvents. The surfactants (your soapy water) are not acutely toxic and can happily be poured down the drain.

I think it makes sense to do the least harm possible. Is a solvent really required for cleaning a chain?

I suppose the question is do you really need solvents? Chain lube doesn't strike me as being particularly 'heavy.'

Some warm soapy water, from my reading, looks like it would be reasonably effective. Especially as the chain gets changed regularly. I'm not sure washing up liquid is the way to go because of the salt, but what about sodium stearate?

Despite my earlier suggestion, I won't be heading down the petrol / diesel / kerosene route - it's not the type of stuff I'd like to have around the shed.

Solvents might be more efficient and give a cleaner chain, but is the marginal gain worth it?

endacl

Good lord!

Simply have your footman dispose of the chain when any dirt appears! And replace with a new clean one.

Peasants.