Is 12 hours necessary?
Maybe, maybe not. If I am waxing new chains ahead of time at my leisure so they are ready for when I need them I don’t mind being extra thorough.
Yep, I only use squirt on training chains because as noted it can get pretty gunky, but it’s also half the cost, so for training chains that get a lot of miles, I’ll put up with the extra 5 minutes of de-gunking every other drip application.
Idea for a gizmo - something that attaches to the chainstay or turbo trainer that catches the wax debris after the initial waxing.
I use MSW (newest formulation) and wipe the outside of my chains down with a rag immediately after removing from the crockpot. This has all but eliminated flaking for me.
Looking at bike again now. I’ve done this in the past too.
On the tenth chain and the towels were basically free of flakes at the start of the count. I wipe the chain down basically after the dip to get rid of the bulk of the build up. The “black” is from Molybdenum Disulfide added to the paraffin (never again).
I just use a vacuum. 
Question about stripping factory grease. Has anybody just used an ultrasonic cleaner with hot water and something and a degreaser like the citrus degreasers from a hardware store? Will that do the trick or mineral spirits is a requirement? I’m not currently waxing chains I just use a wax drip lube
Silca Stripper is the easiest way to degrease a chain IMO, takes only 10 minutes and you’re done
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Yes, Adam at ZFC has covered this and so has Josb at Silca. You can even do degreaser in a bottle and shake it, Silca has videos on this on youtube.
Adam is currently testing mineral spirits baths vs. UFO clean vs. Silca Chain Stripper and I think they’re neck and neck.
So if your point is avoiding the mess with mineral spirits or equivalent, I’d look into UFO Clean or Silca Chain Stripper.
See Adam’s guide on how to chain prep and follow it. It’s all there.
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I’ve just never seen examples where he uses only degreaser. It’s always degreaser and acetone and denatured alcohol in older videos
Newer stuff is ufo clean and now chain stripper.
I think for the future I’ll use chain stripper since I can use it just to remove factory grease. And then for future cleanings either just use ufo clean or degreaser/cleaner or effete allpine extra.
Why chain stripper and UFO Clean? I’ve never see UFO Clean for both removing factory grease and periodic (on bike) cleaning. Works great.
I haven’t decided yet. Do you soak a chain in UFO clean to remove factory grease? I’ve used UFO clean just for cleaning off cassette chainring.
The chain stripper looks appealing since you just drip it on each chain link.
On bike cleaning
I’ve done that to remove factory grease too, on my grocery store bike and my wife’s Townie Electra. It’s not the best way to remove factory grease.
And @WindWarrior
https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Chain-prep-Guide-Concise.pdf (this has been posted here several times)
So UFO Clean and Chain Stripper are both better alternatives to mineral spirits + methylated spirits for home chain prep.
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I think what I’m not clear on is when using UFO clean from the spray bottle is it sufficient to just use the spray to remove factory grease or do you need to soak it. They describe it as soaking in 100ml of UFO clean which is 1/5 of the bottle.
So it almost seems from a cost effective standpoint using chain stripper initially to remove factory grease then UFO clean to just clean cassette, chainrings, and chain occasionally might be more cost effective. idk
Adam does not advise that use to strip a chain. Always soak and short agitation. He also offers the “on bike” alternative linked in the PDF.
Per his math, they’re both always more cost effective. For myself it’s the lack of mess and having to deal with disposal of chemicals.
Same
I think the best option is to soak & agitate in either UFO or Chain Stripper when balancing cost, mess, effectiveness, etc. I believe the spray method is really intended for people who want to use drip wax and not remove their chain, although I would still recommend initial prep with immersion in the one of the degreasers above even in that case.