I think it’s hard to judge waxed chains by “dirtiness” because MSW is already gray and it flakes off. My chain could be scrupulously clean but it won’t look that way. The sound and feel are the way to judge, again IMO.
Mineral spirits isn’t a great solvent for wax. If you can get Naptha it much better at dissolving wax. I use it to clean up my cassettes when they start to get a wax build up on them. Works great. In the USA Naptha is sold at Home Depot, Lowes etc and good hardware stores.
I did this as I had read that if you remove it with the wax totally liquid, what’s in the rollers will also drip off.
I’ve found that anecdotally, if I take the chain out when the slow cooker is on ‘high’ it’ll start squeaking in ~100km, if I take it out when it’s on ‘warm’ it’ll last 600-1000k…
That’s quite a difference, Maybe I’'ll try it net time.
I should confirm that I have do initially have it on ‘high’ to melt the wax, and when the chain goes in, and turn it to ‘warm’ to let the wax cool a little while the chains soak before taking them out.
You can do that.
The idea is to get the wax + chain to 90C. Swish the chain in the wax to make sure the internal rollers are covered. You know you’ve got it when no more bubbles come from the chain in the wax. Then you can remove the chain and let it cool.
You can also let the wax cool so that it becomes thicker to ensure good coating on the chain and then hang the chain to dry
Either works. The confusion comes from the fact that Oz cycle has 3 different wax videos and he recommends a new method each time. The current method he currently advocates is one that MSW also suggests; heat to 90C with the chain in the wax then hang to dry.
My personal experience is that the 90C approach works very well and is less faff than the others. You’re going to re-wax every 300-400km anyways. Having to wait for the wax to cool to 50C makes the time to wax much longer. I didn’t notice any performance gains letting the wax cool vs the 90C approach so it’s not really worth it in my opinion
Edit: Changed temps to Metric. America please stop confusing everyone.
Is the wax even molten at 90° F? My garage gets to 90° F in the summer and MSW and regular paraffin wax aren’t anywhere near molten at that temperature. Or am misunderstanding what you are saying here?
Doh, metric vs American measures again causing the problem.
It should be 90C (200F)
The process is generally get the wax melted at a higher temp then you add the chain. The temp rises again as the wax gets into it. When it hits 90C (chain and wax), then you remove the chain as the wax has likely penetrated fully.
Again, try not to get paraffin wax too hot or it could flash ignite (see above). In a crock pot thats not an issue.
For the full MSW instructions, see here
I’ll edit above.
When I was visiting my parents and had a need to do an unexpected chain waxing, I discovered I could use these:
You put them right in the crock pot. Kind of like your ice cream tub idea but no need for a water bath.
This helps in a lot of ways - keeps the crock pot completely clean so it can still be used for food. When the wax cools it is nicely stored in a bag. It will also allow you to have multiple batches of waxes easily stored. It probably also would allow for using less wax in a large crock pot as you could somehow cinch up the bag at the top or something to get the chain fully submerged in wax.
That is an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing. I had given up on running different batches of wax, but this makes it totally feasible
That is neat. Basically a thick bag I assume 
Nice one @jfurner
Darn we even have them this side of the pond
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slow-Cooker-Liners-5-Pack/dp/B00TOR2ECW and
Sainsbury's online Grocery Shopping and Fresh Food Delivery
(Now I just have to work out how to, safely, get the MSW wax out I put in yesterday 
)
Hey all
So I bought new chains, but I worry that I may have already messed them up, while stripping them for waxing. Maybe some of you guys can help
So I placed 2 new chains (KMC X10 Grey) in an overnight soak last Saturday, in Weldtite Citrus Degreaser. I knew that there was a chanced that I wouldn’t have time to wax them on Sunday(3 year old and a wife that studies and works full-time), and that I maybe would have to leave them in during the week, since I’m away from home Monday to Friday.
So I checked on them Sunday, and they looked fine, so I figured I’d just leave them in the citrus degreaser. I didn’t want to take them out, being afraid of rust, now that they where stripped of oil.
Yesterday, after arriving back home, I check on them again, and to my horror, they developed black marks in several places. My guess is that it’s some kind of oxidation between the cirtrus oils and the chain, or maybe a reaction with the factory oil, since there was also a rusty-looking gunk on the bottom of the mason jar.
Anyone know a way to remove the black marks? I can kind of scrup the worst of it away, but the chain still looks dirty, compared to when I bought tven. So far I’ve tried leaving them overnight in denatured alcohol, an swishing it with new mineral spirits, but with no real succes.
Thanks for all the help!
My suggestion would be to get a new chain. Follow the process for de-greasing as is outlined. That is, mineral spirits, denaturated alcohol rinse (do not soak as there is still water in it), then wax.
You can leave your chain in mineral spirits near indefinitely because it does not contain water (I did this to really de-grease the chain and wait until I could do a full wax). In the future, if you want to avoid the chance of oxidation, put it in mineral spirits.
Follow the guides from MSW to the letter. It is the best way to do it.
If it was me - IMHO I would wax them up and throw them on and go ride. The little bit of oxidation will come off as it goes through the drive train. I can’t see the minor discoloration causing that big of difference (at least for training chains). Regular folk leave their bike’s outside in the rain and snow year around and their rusty chains continue to turn. For racing I might pick up a new chain for the marginal gains, but I definitely wouldn’t discard your new chains. Go wear them out, ride on.
Mike
Totally agree - if it’s first time you’ll wax a chain, at least practice with the ones you have, see how you like it and you’ll probably be hooked on the first ride. Unless you are exceptionally anal retentive about cleaning your entire drivetrain every week, the wax chain will likely be amazingly better and then you just have to decide if you want to spend the few mins per chain every few hundred miles to continue.
Wet waxed chain needs to be dried. A paper towel or compressed air can take of it. I had a lot of muddy cross races last year. I had best results getting the chain off as soon as I got home. The garage temperature is too cold in fall and it would never dry. Ideally you’d clean & rewax it right away, but I tended to just bring them inside to dry (possibly on a heat register). I would still get some rust spots, but not much and venture to say they are merely cosmetic.
I would save up 2 or 3 chains to wax in a batch. To clean the mud, I shook them in a jar of water several times until it was mostly clear. Then dropped them into the ultrasonic cleaner with simplegreen and heat to really get all the grit out of the rollers. Then a quick dry and into the wax.
I always wash the bike with the chain off. One less opportunity for water to be a problem. If the chain gets wet while I’m out on the road, but it’s dry when I get home, I don’t have any problems. If it’s warm/sunny outside, you might be able to get away with leaving the bike out in the sun to dry it off.
Yeah I wax my 12sp XX1 and KMC 12sp chain but have to do it every 7-10 hours on the mtb though vs 300-500miles on the road bike 11sp.
@killroy123
Yeah, I’ll probably end up buying a new chain, atleast for bigger rides. Then the “broken” ones can be used on the trainer and on shorter rides. In the future I will definitely follow the Molten guide more strictly. Already bought mineral spirits, which the chains are in now.
@Mike_M
I’v actually already waxed up one of the chains, the one that looked the best. It looks and feel fine, but the paraffin did become darker, so it probably wasn’t all that clean. I’ll give it a spin, and see what happens. Hopefully it’ll will go away, and otherwise it will become the new trainer chain.
@hvvelo
I actually already did it with my current chain, so that’s why I was so excited to do with the 2 new chains. I am already hooked, especially with how silent it is! 
And I did the overnight soak in citrus degreaser with my that one, so that’s why I didn’t think it would be a problem with the new ones
Thanks for all the help. I’ll just wax away, and worst case, I’ll have a good lesson learned/lesson identified about waxing chains. Nothings so bad, that it isn’t good for something.
Which solutions can you re-use?
My plan is to “save”/re-use the dirty mineral spirits from the initial baths that lead up to me having a clear bath where no more dirty, debris, and grease are coming off of the chain. I plan to pour the mineral spirits through a coffee filter into a container to re-use for initial baths for other chains.
Can you re-use isopropyl alcohol (it seems in Canada I cannot locate denatured alcohol or methylated spirits, if anyone knows where to get these in Canada please let me know, I feel like I have checked almost everywhere) from the baths just prior to dunking in the hot wax?
Thanks very much,