I’m using Stans spooge for both my road and MTB wheels, and (per various previous posts) loving it. Only one problem – my road wheels in particular are getting to the point where I can’t open the presta valves by hand; the threads have gotten gunked up to the point that I have to use a pair of pliers to open and close them. I’ve tried a bit of wipe with a damp towel, no luck – it helped for about one use, but then they go back to being unable to open/close without the extra leverage of pliers.

Any ideas on how to properly clean the threads, and then maintain so that this isn’t a problem in the future?

Take the valve cores out every so often and pick the gunk out. You can also replace the cores by buying spares or “borrowing” them out of an inner tube.

Remove the core and take it apart.
Clean and re-assemble.

+1 to the above. If you unscrew the little knurled bit all the way you can disassemble the valve core and clean that out too. I find they get full of dry latex and air doesn’t flow as well.

only open them at 3 or 9 o’clock.

Thanks all. To clarify – it’s the threads of the core that are getting gunked-up. It’s not impacting the airflow, just my ability to unscrew (open) or screw (close) the valve with my feeble girlie-man hands. So I’m hoping there’s something (a bit of grease?) that would keep the Stans from turning to superglue on the threads.

Thanks again for ideas!

What if you get a puncture and it’s only lunch time?

After filling and inflating, I put a little m-prep on the thread. I imagine any grease would work though.

I’ve found removing the core and soaking it in petrol for several hours breaks down the goo really well.

I used to have this problem but now I always use a valve cap which I put a drop of oil in before fitting and don’t have the problem any more .

I just replace them as I fear getting stuck somewhere cold and wet and not being able to get the valves open

I managed to get a pack of 10 for about £6 last time I bought some. I can’t find them that cheap any more though, cheapest I can find is £10 for a pack of 10

IIRC they recommend the (obviously practical step) of stroring your wheels with the valves at 45 deg to vertical.

Doofer for removing presta valve cores (the black bit)