salt is used in wup liquid to thicken it. micelles, trust me. It can be quite high levels too, but as long as you rinse well i doubt it'll do much harm in the short contact period.
That said, I use Halfords value car shampoo diluted down in an old Muc Off sprayer plus a soft brush and my dirtworker. About £4 for 5 litres if i remember and I've had the stuff about 3 years now and there's tonnes left.
Fenwicks and Muc-Off seem comparable to me.
I've found that car washing soap (Turtle Wax etc) works well too.
It helps that you can buy 5L of that for around £15 or whatever and that will last for a year or so.
I once cleaned my bike with Muc Off using a sponge - the next day the skin peeled off my fingers. That's how Muc Off etc work. It's caustic.
It does remove grime well as well.
Another vote here for car wash detergent, with Simple Green for tough spots and degreasing.
i used muc-off for the best part of two years and went through bearings far too quickly (and yes, i rinsed it off thoroughly, shortly after it had been applied). it was very effective in doing its job but these days i just rinse the worse of the muck off with a hose and let the bikes stay dirty! cleaning em with a toothbrush after every ride seems a waste of time to me.
I use this http://www.busters-accessories.co.uk/productinfo/578271/Bike-Care/Cleaners/Fuchs-Silkolene if you regularly check web site they often do two for price of one lasts ages aswell.
1 litre Bike Cleaner from local 99p shop for me, not that I ever clean my bike..
+1 for the poundland stuff. +1 for leaving the bike dirty too 
Another vote for car washing detergent here - but I make sure I get the stuff without the wax cos that makes my brakes squeal!
+1 for leaving the bike dirty too
That's why ive got ss bikes and get away with it on the mtb but the cross bike just seems to accumulate bucket loads of mud
I just use fairy. have done for 20 years, to no ill effects.
Squirt in a bucket of hot water for the frame wheels etc... and used neat on drivetrain with one of these, shifts anything....
rinse off straight away.
I use a hose pipe too. Bikes haven't melted away yet.
A hosepipe was the best thing I bought for my bike last year
Salt is used in the WUL recipe as a thickener, not very much either. Some of the alkalis used in some bike cleaners are just as corrosive.
A hosepipe was the best thing I bought for my bike last year
bought one this week, quite excited 
My 2p worth...
I've always washed my bikes with washing up liquid, hot water & a sponge, then hosed down with cold water to rinse.
Once clean & dry I spray the frame lightly with GT85, especially the seat tube, under the BB and the underside of the down tube. Unless it's particularly wet out, this seems to stop dirt sticking to the frame & makes cleaning a lot easier. Smells nice too.
Just don't get it on your discs. For obvious reasons.
What's all this talk of washing bikes? I ride mine on the trails so often, if I washed it 'properly' after every ride it would erode, not corrode.
When I get back, I swill the majority off with the hose, then attack the stuff that's stuck on a little better with a paintbrush, rinse, bounce the excess water off the bike, then spray the expensive stuff with WD40 to remove the water, then stick it in the garage ready to ride again the next day. 10-minutes, done.
If the weather's nice I might put it in the bike stand and do it properly, but with work, wife, kids, and lots of other stuff going on in my life that's rare. When I do I use something that makes bubbles. I sometimes wonder whether it's worth it though cos 5 mins in to the next ride it looks like sh1t again, as it's supposed to. Clean MTBs just look ghey.
Dont use washing up liquids - many have salts in them!!!
I use car wash which works fine for frame and then something like Shit shifter for chain etc.
hot soapy water 20 times better then cold with muc off etc personally and cheaper, rinse off after with cold job done
At home: degreaser on black/silver bits, warm water with car shampoo, luke warm rinse. All good in the hood.
In random carpark: Muc-Off (or similar), rub with a brush, hose with Dirtworker.
Like a lot of things, Muc-Off type stuff is designed with a job in mind. For that job it's very good. Washing up liquid is designed for washing dishes (and is apparently similar to shampoo, according to one hairdresser I know). To me it makes sense to use the best tool for the job where possible.
Finally if I want to wash my bike in salty water I'll dip it in the channel.
MUK OFF totally wrecked my burgtec penthouse flat Red anodised pedals. Ended up with mincey pink! very unhappy.
What do you guys suggest for matte black adonized frames, instruction manual says use water only, dont think that will do the job once it gets grubby. i gave my gloss white bike a good clean with soapy water, and a good spray with gt85 a few week ago, cleaned again the other day and didnt even need water, just a dry rag and the crap just fell off.
gt85 on adonized fram yay or nay?
Hey mate - I'd follow the manufacturers instructions, so clean water only to wash off the crap. An oily rag or kitchen towel with oil is good if you want to polish the frame up, and as you say, it makes it easier to clean the next time. Also stops overspray getting near your brakes!
I drop by bikes into a huge bag of salt give it a good shake then drop it back into the garage.
Does less harm to it than riding it through winter. 
Serouisly some of you guys need to get a grip. It's a bike. It gets mashed through muddy/shitty/gritty/nasty conditions and you worry about stuff that's kind to hands in a bucket full of water. 
Ride the f****r and stop poncing about.
Been using washing up liquid for years on the bikes, no problems to report, Mrs been using muc off on the dishes, again no problems, its whatever works for you, funny though only last week one of the lads said on a ride " how does your bike always look so clean especially your gears" so I'm more than happy to stick with one squirt of w.u.l in a bucket of hot water.
A rag/cloth with WD40 or GT85 on it and wiped over the frame has always worked for me. I wash and dry and then wipe over with WD40. Just keep it clear of the discs for obvious reason.
Nikk, I agree that WUL has salt in it, most cleaners do I reckon. AFAIK it is there as a water softener so you get bubbles. I also agree that it has the ability to get into every nook and cranny as it will reduce the surface tension properties of water. I still remember that experiment at school. That is how cleaners work so they can lift the dirt off. Leave any untreated metal out side and it will corrode, washed in WUL or not. I was not suggesting that you leave the bike unrinsed.
+1 for turtlewax car shampoo for general bike cleaning esp mtb. Completey agree avoid washing up liquid due to salt. Mucoff is great for cleaning ingrained road dirt of road wheel rims though- nothing comes close for me.
I got told using car shampoo was a no no due to waxes being in there and playing havoc with your brakes??
I can't believe that any rational person would seriously believe that washing up liquid would harm a bike in any measurable way whatsoever.
If you want to buy fancy stuff, fine, go ahead - you don't need to justify it
I still have my dad's old Cartlon racer that got washed weekly with washing up liquid since 1969, last time I looked it hadn't dissolved into a pile of rust particles
Joda that is my camp as well. If you want then go and get the fancy stuff but not sure that you 'have to'.
Each to their own.
I got told using car shampoo was a no no due to waxes being in there and playing havoc with your brakes
Just avoid the stuff described as "wash-n-wax" and stick to the plain "car shampoo" and your brakes will be fine...
if people are hell-bent on denouncing washing-up liquid as the work of the devil, then
show us what happens when it's used! tried muckoff, didn't seem to do much, certainly didn't shift the mud any quicker than washing up liquid in water with a sponge... I'VE NEVER KILLED A BIKE!
Bless - It's like the cable people in hifi. Bucket of whatever is at hand seems to work as well as anything and the idea the WUL damages things seems a bit silly TBH. However if someone wants to spend more on pink stuff in a bottle who am I to stop them.
Found fairy makes the chain go rustier than when using ither cleaners. I tend to use turtle wax in the bucket and muc-off. Got it cheap from wiggle when it was £2 a bottle. The ahlfords stuff is also pretty good
Sticking a nail in a dish with water containing salt is not a viable experiment to ascertain the effects Fairy liquid would have on your bike!
When have you ever submerged your bike in a swimming pool of salt water over night?
A squirt of washing up liquid in hot water would contain little salt! After it going on the bike and having a high pressure hose or jet wash blown over it with cold clean water just how much salt is going to be left on the bike! I would say there would be far more trace elements of salt in the air you breath especially if you live on the coast! Come on that is really not an issue. Not to mention the mud contains salt, large amounts where I live as the mud if left on the bike for ages can corrode some parts. What about the salt they stick on the road too!
Washing up liquid never damages my hands and I use it everyday! You can make an argument for anything and trying to say washing up liquid ever damaged a bike any more than the salt in the air or mud on the ground in which its exposed to is lame.
A fool and there money!
water mainly and a brush
Occasionally washing up liquid but mainly because the kids like the bubbles
The effect of the salt [ compared to trail detritus] is so negligible that I am willing to ignore it. Others may wish to pay more for peace of mind but I am not one of them
i put my chain in a tub with a mixture of washing up liquid and water and forgot about it, when i took it out it was very rusty, i cleaned it up and gave it a good lube. I got a lift to work and set off on a 25 mile ride home, after 8 mile thechain broke, i fixed and another 4 mile it broke again, i fixed it again and rode home very gingerly as i had no more links left.
You've convinced me
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