Best chain cleaning juice…

What’s the best for using with a/filling a chain cleaning device?

GT85 and a tooth brush/chain cleaning brush (other brands are available) or Rocky’s Rock Oil. Muc Off do an aerosol can that’s brilliant as well, but I have my suspicions that it’s just rebadged GT85.

I you take it off, leaving it in a jar of diesel is hard to beat.

Diesel every time.

Read a few posts like this.
Gunk green seems effective and reasonably cheap. Shall give it a go after my halfords citrus bike degreaser runs out, which is ok but pricey.

Diesel in a jar here too.

Degreasers leave residue in your links which affects whatever lube you apply afterwards.

2 chains
One on bike the other in diesel and swap over after every wash of bike, in winter generally after every ride in dry summer 3/4 rides before cleaning

I got a 5l carton of this degreaser called Gunk from the local car parts shop. Very effective, cost less than £10 and can be watered down. It works very well for cleaning the drive chain with a chain cleaner. Less messy than diesel!

Juice Lubes Super Gnarl works really nicely.

[double]

Paraffin, or heating oil (kerosene) is excellent. And heating oil can be one of (if not THE) cheapest cleaners, if you are lucky enough to either have oil fired heating, or know someone that does.

And before someone suggests it, PLEASE do not use petrol. Petrol vapour is incredibly dangerous and all too easy to ignite inadvertently. Ask me how I know! I was young, and it was a lesson I lived to share. I was cleaning a chain in it too (although an MX bike chain).

Ran out of degreaser the other week and used PVC solvent cleaner. Was brilliant but left a hell of a lot of solvent fumes in the conservatory………ooops!

Jizer, no other degreaser comes close

Paraffin or diesel, and stick it in a jam jar- actually faster than the chain cleaning devices as well as better.

Or, you could spend much more for something that works less well but has a picture of a bike on the can 😉

And the bonus with paraffin or diesel, is that they leave the chain mildly lubricated (i.e. not instantly going to rust at the first sign of humidity).

I’ve tried white spirit and that’s worked well.

Every time.

Every damn time.

Op: a question specifically about using chain cleaning devices

St: oh, I never use them- a toothbrush is soo much better!

Guess what- he probably doesn’t want to use a toothbrush to clean his chain- because compared to a chain cleaner it’s massively more time consuming, loads more messy and hugely less effective. But don’t mind me: carry on recommending removing the chain and washing it in processed unicorn blubber or whatever the most recent ‘best’ way is supposed to be!

/rant

theroadwarrior – Member

Guess what- he probably doesn’t want to use a toothbrush to clean his chain- because compared to a chain cleaner it’s massively more time consuming, loads more messy and hugely less effective.

Bit of mad overkill considering only one person suggested it in a thread with 16 responses, no?

As for shaking it in a jam jar- it’s better and faster than a chain cleaning device. So if you want us to talk about time consuming, mess and effectiveness, someone’s going to mention it. Sorry about that!

Finally after years of using a toothbrush bought a park chain cleaner. Love it, will buy some of ebay degreaser when the park one runs out. The park stuff is lasting quite well though for only 236ml

What’s the best for using with a/filling a chain cleaning device?

I use the Park ‘chainbrite’. I run a clean bottle and a dirty bottle. The first pass on the chain gets dirty (which goes back in the dirty bottle and settles out clean if you pour with care) the second pass if it needs it gets clean which again goes in the dirty bottle.

I find that no matter how long you let dry and wipe it leaves a slight residue so I generally wash it off with a hose. This is a pain so I plan on switching.

My mechanic mate has switched to finish line degreaser for that reason. He finds it better drying.

I run XTR so am very anal about chain cleaning.

used to use water and mucoff.
then I broke my chain cleaner
then I used a hose
my chains last as long if not longer now

What a load of faff! If you spray the chain with FS365 after each ride the mud doesn’t stay stuck to it. No chain cleaning machines or cloths or brushes. Just a wee hose off with water then spray on the juice.

trikolene is my method of choice 🙂

I use halfords citrus Aerosol Degreaser, tastes nice too

Diesel or petrol.
Ignore safety rants. Use common sense

my common sense says washing your chain in fuel is ott. Have you nothing better to do with your time?

Neat Fenwicks, then hose it off, blast of the air line to dry, then lube. 5L of concentrate is lasting forever.
Doesn’t damage carbon or plastic parts and takes less time than taking the chain off, putting it in a jar, shaking it about, putting it back on.
Also the detail of the stink of diseasel on my bikes (and given that they live indoors that matters to me).

+1 neat fenwicks, biodegradable unlike diesel or petrol

dirk_pumpa – Member

my common sense says washing your chain in fuel is ott. Have you nothing better to do with your time?

It’s faster than most of the half-assed approaches people use. Unclip chain, throw in jar, shake shake. Relubing’s also faster off the bike.

Matther01, diesel and paraffin are highly biodegradable apparently. But that’s a side issue, because biodegradability is only relevant if you throw it away, and why would you do that?

Northwind – never realised it was biodegradable…must tell all those seabirds 🙂

Toxicity and contamination, and biodegradability are not the same thing! A pointy stick’s biodegradable but seabirds don’t like it if you poke them with it… TBH I doubt seabirds like Fenwicks much either (would you drink it? You can drink paraffin, it cleans humans out just as well as chains 😉 )

But still a non-issue since your paraffin/diesel will poison no seabirds in the jar. Biodegradable is worse than reusable.