Cleaning bikes and which degreaser. Advice needed.

[Cyclopathic]

I have got an old cast iron mountain bike that I am cleaning up to give to a friend. It is a bit of a beast but it works and just needs a good clean up. My first methid of attack will be good old fasioned hot soapy water and a scrubbing brush. However when it comes to the grease caked chainset and gears I am in a quandry about degreaser.

If I avoid the sprocket and bottom bracket as much as possible is it ok to just use parafin to get the bulk of the crud off the parts and finish of with hot saopy water again or have I got to use expensive, bike specific citrus flavoured degreaser that is biodegradable and nice on a salad presumably. Or is there a better solution (no pun intended) than parafin or something cheaper than special magic stuff with lemons in it from my lbs? Perhaps someone knows some Kim and Aggy type home made alternatives.

Advice, opinions and gentle mockery welcomed.

 

[tyred]

Paraffin (or diesel) and old paintbrush or toothbrush will work fine, or you could go and buy something like Gunk from your local motorfactors (likely to be cheaper than buying degreaser in a bike shop).

Personally, I would probably remove the rear mech, the chain, the freewheel and drop it all into a biscuit tin full of diesel and allow to soak overnight. Clean thoroughly, allow to dry and work some fresh oil into everything afterwards.

 

[subaqua]

washing up liquid with a good squirt of vinegar ( malt or spirit) will degrease virtually anything on a bike.

 

[Gareth]

I like to use diesel as my initial degreaser; I got lucky a few months ago when I acquired an ex-North Sea support vessel s/h 1000 litre bulk liquid container as it still contained about 100 litres of marine diesel. This I've drained into 25 litre drums and I occasionally add to it used white spirit and gunwash paint thinners.

Then I like to remove that from what I am cleaning with either Swarfega or Janitol de-greaser that I buy in 5 litre containers (about £7.50) from toolstation. Then I let all dry for a while before lubing up again.

For the record I use 15w40 multi purpose Agricultural oil and EP2 lithium based grease; although I am experiencing great success with spray on PTFE lube for all my bike chains (2 years now and not a hint of a single problem). I have worked in the Agricultural Engineering and Industrial Lubrication industries long enough to know that you will not beat these as general purpose lubricants for bicycles. An EP2 lithium based grease suitable for use in Bottom brackets, wheel hub and headstock bearings is only £2.71 per 400g cartridge from toolStation, and will last the average cyclists re-lubing needs for 3-4 years. I have had my hybrid 5 years now having covered 25,000 miles on it, I strip and re-lube all the bearings once a year after covering around 5000 miles P/A and I am still on the original cups and balls.

 

[Cyclopathic]

Fantastic, thanks folks. I bloody knew that all that fancy bike specific stuff was just basic ingredients with fancy packaging but thanks for your advice as it just gives me the confidence to put common sense into practice.

I'm also grateful that there are people out there to check with just incase I'm about to do something really stupid that will cause irrepairable damage.

 

[LizardEye]

I use that Swarfega degreaser too. £6 from Screwfix.

Diluted down it's a fraction of the price of that Muc-Off stuff and
just as good, if not better.

A lot of stuff is priced for the cyclists pocket rather than its true value.

 

[goo_mason]

It's also worth considering using babywipes - packets from Tesco cost under a quid.

They'll lift grease & oil off in a jiffy, and are a great way to clean a bike indoors without using any water. They're also fabulous for cleaning oily hands.

Goodness only knows what they used to do to my daughter's nether regions when she was a baby....!!

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

I use that Swarfega degreaser too. £6 from Screwfix.

Diluted down it's a fraction of the price of that Muc-Off stuff and
just as good, if not better.

A lot of stuff is priced for the cyclists pocket rather than its true value.

Do you use that stuff on the frame too? Just I was going to buy some Fenwicks FS1 on the recommendation of a work mate, as you dilute the stuff down 10:1 making it much cheaper at £9.99 compared to Muc-Off. Just wondered what ratio do you dilute the Swarfega please? Just I am about to order some stuff from Screwfix so will save on postage, and I also hate getting ripped off for cycling specific items.

Is this the Swarfega stuff that you mean by the way please?

http://www.screwfix.com/p/swarfega-oil-grease-remover-5ltr/20817

 

[subaqua]

It's also worth considering using babywipes - packets from Tesco cost under a quid.

They'll lift grease & oil off in a jiffy, and are a great way to clean a bike indoors without using any water. They're also fabulous for cleaning oily hands.

Goodness only knows what they used to do to my daughter's nether regions when she was a baby....!!

the value ones are not as good as those in the blue plastic packs. I don't need them to be fragranced for use on the bike. i did go through a few last night cleaning the crud out of the chain on the MTB

 

[400bhp]

Do you use that stuff on the frame too? Just I was going to buy some Fenwicks FS1 on the recommendation of a work mate, as you dilute the stuff down 10:1 making it much cheaper at £9.99 compared to Muc-Off. Just wondered what ratio do you dilute the Swarfega please? Just I am about to order some stuff from Screwfix so will save on postage, and I also hate getting ripped off for cycling specific items.

Is this the Swarfega stuff that you mean by the way please?

http://www.screwfix....over-5ltr/20817

I'd be interested in an answer too. I guess it should be ok, so long as it gets dried off.