economical degreasing,why i never thought of it before

[jackthelad]

guys I was using muc off degreaser to clean my cassette about £6 a tin.I would angle the wheel so the cassette was facing to the ground and spray the cassette,this way no degreaser got into the hub.Then I would use fenwicks fs1 in a chain bath to clean the chain.Then back to the front crank to spray with the muc off degreaser and scrub with a brush,then rinse the lot with water for clean chain cassette and front crankset.But today I ran out of muc off degreaser and thought hold on a minute if I place some fs1 in a small tub and brush onto the cassette then rinse off then it should work the same as muc off degreaser,because basically you are rinsing it off anyway with water.So this is what I did.I then used the remainder in the tub to pour into the chain bath to clean the chain.Now the stuff in the chain bath was starting to look dirty but thought why not use it to clean the front crankset and again brushed the dirty degreaser onto the crankset using a half inch brush,Then rinse the lot off with fresh water,the crankset came up brand new along with the cassette and the chain and I had barely used a couple of inches of degreaser.I had noticed that the degreaser in the chain bath even dirty still had plenty of life in it to clean the crankset.
So the moral of the story is if you are buying all these different products it can be quite expensive when there is no need to.So basically saying the couple of inches of degreaser that you use in the chain bath is all you should be using to clean your cassette, front crankset and chain.Ok it looks dirty at the time on the crankset and the cassette but it all gets rinsed off anyway.

Hope this has helped to save some cash.

jackthelad

 

[Globalti]

If you use paraffin to clean oily components you can even pour it back into a jam jar and leave it for a few days to settle then pour off the clean stuff from the top and reuse it.

 

[Cubist]

Another tip to save yourself buying Muc Off or any other "extreme" cleaners. I buy Gunk Green degreaser at about 9 quid a can, then dilute it about 5 to one with water in an old spray bottle. Diluted it's far gentler than straight degreaser, which is a bit dodgy on freehubs or near bearings. Yes I know you're being careful, but shimano hubs in particular don't seal very well.

The advantage of the spray bottle method is that you can remove built up grime from the frame with it as long as you wash it off thoroughly.

 

[Brandane]

Being a canny Scotsman, I use diesel! Remove the chain and soak it, then brush it onto the cassette. Rinse with hot soapy water then re lubricate. Works a treat.

 

[jayonabike]

White spirit and Sugar soap also work well for getting the crap off the chain/cassette.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Being a canny Scotsman, I use diesel! Remove the chain and soak it, then brush it onto the cassette. Rinse with hot soapy water then re lubricate. Works a treat.

You are aware that diesel is carcinogenic?

 

[Brandane]

You are aware that diesel is carcinogenic?

To be honest, no I wasn't. Will take sensible precautions next time, like rubber gloves.
They couldn't have known that 30 years ago when I was in the Merchant Navy, working on a tanker. It was on a contract to Pemex (Mexican petroleum company) carrying refined petrol and diesel between pipelines on the Pacific coast of Mexico. We used to regularly get covered in petrol and/or diesel on a regular basis while working with the cargo.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

To be honest, no I wasn't. Will take sensible precautions next time, like rubber gloves.
They couldn't have known that 30 years ago when I was in the Merchant Navy, working on a tanker. It was on a contract to Pemex (Mexican petroleum company) carrying refined petrol and diesel between pipelines on the Pacific coast of Mexico. We used to regularly get covered in petrol and/or diesel on a regular basis while working with the cargo.

Yes I know what you mean. For years I regularly cleaned down steam engines with rags soaked in diesel. Never gave it a thought.

 

[Ste T.]

Oil, in its various forms, is responsible for some serious shoot. For many years now mechanics have been warned not to keep an oily rag in the pocket of their overalls as it can lead to scrotal cancers.

 

[lukesdad]

I just whip off the cassette and clean with white spirit Much, cheaper ,quicker and thorough.

 

[Muddyfox]

Clean Them ?

 

[Alembicbassman]

Some pound shops sell a big can of WD40 stuff that can be used as a degreaser/cleaner. Works pretty well.

Best way is to remove the cassette with the correct tools for deep cleaning

 

[Davidc]

Why degrease a cassette? Just scrape the excess grot off and wipe it. Don't even need to take it off.

The hub shouldn't need degreasing. It just needs to be packed with grease or similar (FF uses vaseline, I have in the past, for the present I have a big tub of cheap lithium grease)

Chains seem to last longer if not degreased - see Mickle Method for a degreaser free maaintenance regime that works.

I don't quite agree with Muddyfox, but not far off, and between us we've probably been cycling for not far off 80 years without any problems!.

 

[cargo-cycles]

Other retailers of degreasers to consider are;

Toolstation @ £7.15 per 5 litres : My link (free delivery on orders over £10)


Screwfix @ £6.19 per 2 litres My link

 

[Lien Sdrawde]

Just a word in favour of muc-off...

Those of you with consevatories with white pvc will know it gets grubby, and its a bugger to clean - just spray some muc-off on a rag and wipe the grubbyness away in a flash - no effort required. Millions of brownie points from The Mrs.

Also does the stains that you get on caravans in the same way. HTH