We buy gallon sized Simple Green, regular household mix. Put that into a spray bottle, and then spray on chain and spray on scrub brushes. After cleaning the chain I spray Simple Green on the scrub brushes, let sit a couple minutes while I clean bike frame, and then high pressure hose off the scrub brushes.
At home, I use full strength Simple Green for degreasing, then 1:10 for general cleaning components on the bike. I buy a gallon of concentrate, then I have a spray bottle of 1:10 pre-mixed that I use. I also have a 1:100 pre-mixed spray bottle that I use for cleaning around the house. In the community shop where I volunteer, I use 1:1 for degreasing, and it does fine. There, Iām not as concerned with things being scrupulously clean as I am on my own bike.
Simple Green has a lot of water already in it, so I wouldnāt use it on bearings or other components that arenāt going to dry quickly.
WRT greasy rags, once theyāre mostly covered, I toss them and use a fresh rag. Old towels work best, IMO, but the old t-shirt or cotton sock works too. A good tip for getting grease out from between the cogs is a rag strip, old cotton shoe lace, or even a thin bit of rope used to āflossā between the cogs. Iāve found those easier and more effective than a toothbrush or similar.
1 Like
Iāve got Finish Line gear floss for those rare occasions its needed.
1 Like
I use Scott paper Shop Towels (or equivalent) on chains or anything greasy and avoid the problem. Every garage/home shop needs a roll of these on a conveniently located holder at all times! They work great on chains and will easily hold up for a wipe down. The uses on bikes and otherwise are endless.
https://www.amazon.com/Kimberly-Clark-Professional-Scott-Shop-Towel/dp/B00S0LBOQA
2 Likes
Even then I find soaking the cassette in SG concentrate works well.
Iāve got the bike cleaning routine down to 30 minutes start to finish, havenāt needed to remove and soak anything. Its pretty dry here in NorCal, most of the year, so that helps.
For cleaning micro fiber towels we use Griotās Microfiber Cleaner solution in the washing machine. Some of the micro fiber towels (mostly used for dry washing cars) look dirty, but are still in great shape and Griotās cleaner works well.
1 Like
I buy denture brushes - these have longer and harder bristles than regular toothbrushes, cost the same, and last forever. Not sure what the store checkout employees think when they see me buying 3 denture brushes at a time, however.
1 Like
That is profoundly bad advice. If you had sand up in your junk from a day at the beach, would you just slap on some baby oil and move on?
You missed the wiping part. He wipes the sand off before moving on, leaving a thin and moist film of oil.
No I didnāt. He said he puts more lube on until it drips and then wipes off the excess. That is not cleaning the sand from your junk. All itās doing is making a nice wet sanding paste.
Lol. No itās not perfect but Iām not aiming for perfection. Iām LAZY and chains and cassettes and chainrings donāt last forever. I just replace them at regular intervals.
Sure - your chain is cleaner than mine, but Iām taking a nap instead of doing bike maintenance. Totally worth it for me. 
1 Like