Meths is very easy to get hold of as Isopropanol is harder to find locally, both about the same cost, using for cleaning disc’s, spraying inside fork tubes etc etc is there any real difference?

Cheers

Stu

Meths can leave a residue so is not that great for using on discs

IP, or electrical Contact cleaner which is very similar.

Ipa I ended up getting from Maplins for a tenner. When I asked for it (and a syringe for a fork lower service, ) in Boots pharmacy they looked at me like I was a crackwhore.

Use meths for what you list.

IPA has no additives to leave any residue, so ultimately cleaner.

Disc brake cleaner is often in Poundland/99p stores and leaves no residue, but not good for cleaning rotors due to the holes and grooves trapping contamination.

I clean my contaminated discs using Vim/Ajax scouring powder and a scrubbing brush to remove any brake fluid or oils, then a boiling water rinse and air dry…they are stainless steel so rusting is minimal. This is done off the wheel!

PaulD

Ebay has IPA. Search on “IPA alcohol”

great stuff. I use it regularly and it makes a big difference to brake performance. People spend ££ on pads etc. when a disc clean would do the job.

Meths can leave a residue so is not that great for using on discs

Oh come on, it’s a bicycle
the very small amount of residue left by meths is neither here nor there

I bought a 500ml spray bottle of IPA, lint free cloths & umpteen syringes for about £10, from a place on Ebay.

(IPA as in the meths stuff, not the Ale). 🙄

It depends what you’re cleaning.

Meth’s is a Mineral oil based fluid and hence MAY attack seals designed for use with Vegetable oil (like those inside some brake calipers) it also leaves a residue which may or may not contaminate your pads.

Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) is not an oil (Mineral or Vegetable) and hence will not damage brake seals whatever fluid are in them. It also leaves no residue and evaporates very quickly off any surface. It’s what brake manufacturers use and it’s what I would recommend for cleaning stuff. Only downside is it is highly flammable and IF it catches light it burns with an almost invisible flame.

Oh come on, it’s a bicycle
the very small amount of residue left by meths is neither here nor there

+1 – it’s fine IME. Cheap and readily available.

Car disk brake cleaners I’d be a bit more wary of, I heard some contained oils that would make the disks look shiny, but bike disks wouldn’t get hot enough to cut through. That too could be rot though.

Meths makes your brakes screech and ip cleans themselves properly what’s cheaper pads or the cleaner.

Meth’s is a Mineral oil based fluid and hence MAY attack seals designed for use with Vegetable oil (like those inside some brake calipers) it also leaves a residue which may or may not contaminate your pads.

Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) is not an oil (Mineral or Vegetable) and hence will not damage brake seals whatever fluid are in them.
Correct, though in reality meths isn’t all the same, though you can only really buy MineralisedMS:
INDUSTRIAL Meths is mostly just ethanol and methanol, MINERALISED meths has some other shite in it that’s mineral oil derived and DENATURED ALCOHOL is ethanol, butanol with some bitrex added
IPA is propanol

If you can get IMS or denatured (prob only if you work with it), they’re as useful as IPA

Why do people feel the need to clean their disc rotors as much? Do you wash the discs on your car?.

Nobeerinthefridge – Member

Why do people feel the need to clean their disc rotors as much? Do you wash the discs on your car?.

No but then I rarely drive it through axle-deep oily mud, or stupidly get brake fluid or lubricant on my car’s discs 😉

Why do people feel the need to clean their disc rotors as much? Do you wash the discs on your car?.

Just what I was thinking. Discs on 2 bikes & none have been cleaned with anything other than Fenwicks when I’m washing the bike.

IPA is readily available from Maplin in an aeorsol or pot. Probably the best thing to use though a can of brake and carburettor cleaner should be as good.

Personally my brakes mostly just get washed with the rest of the bike, the IPA comes out when I want to clean ready for a sticker or similar.

If you spill meths on the floor of the van, even after flushing with copious amounts of water, it still leaves a slimy residue everywhere. And this is on a textured floor paint.

I wouldn’t let it go anywhere near my bike…IPA from Maplins/RS components/ebay every time. Bought it in aerosol form from maplins last time, much easier to use than the bottled variety.

Why do people feel the need to clean their disc rotors as much? Do you wash the discs on your car?.

I only worry about after the bike has had a long trip on top of the car roof. A film of diesel-y grime on disks = non-functional brakes and buggered pads.

I asked my pharmacist to see if they could order in some IDA (industrial denatured alcohol) back along – (ie meths without the methelated / emetic compounds which make ‘meths’ undrinkable). They could … but it was ~£35.00 ex-VAT for 500ml a ltr so I stick with meths in my trangia any carry my fuel outside my bag – (I only wanted IDA as any spillage in my bag wouldn’t stink everything out).

I did get them to order me some isopropyl in tho’, as I use it as an electrical contact cleaner, or when trying to get outfitting to stick to a rotomoulded PE hull – It was [only] about £4.50 for 500ml.

I don’t think I’ve ever cleaned my rotors in a structured way, certainly not with any kinda degreaser – at most they get the odd rinse through from the water my bidon at the end of a ride.

I got a litre of 99% pure IPA with a good quality trigger bottle from lincsbiofuels on eBay. Was only about £8. Got it for brake discs but I end up using it for all sorts. It’s especially good at getting the inside of the car windscreen clean, and the black chrome plug sockets in the kitchen are now free from paw prints. Very useful stuff to have around.

Very useful stuff to have around

For £8 a litre I should bloody well think it is!

My mrs gets those alchoholic wipes from work, if & when I need them. Don’t often need them. 😐

Washing up liquid will degrease your rotors, despite its alleged bike killing salt content. You are being ripped off….

IPA. I don’t really use it for regularly cleaning rotors (what’s the point?). It gets used when changing pads (clean the pad material off the rotors), bleeding brakes and servicing suspension as it’s all stuff that I don’t want contaminated. For most other cleaning jobs that are past washing up liquid, I’ll use white spirit.

just think what would happen to your bike if you mixed meths and washing up liquid and washed it off with a jet wash

I suspect it would probably spontaneously combust

get some perspective.

1 litre of IPA will clean your discs for years! So what if it’s £8, that’s….oooh, £2 a year to have clean discs. Call the ripoff police I’ve been had.

WUL will make your brakes squeal like banshees.

I think crikey has shares in Fairy!

Crap VFM if / when it ruins your pads, what with pads at £10+ a pop.

5 liters of IMS for £16 + vat and delivery – prob £30 all in http://www.safechemdirect.co.uk/index.php/Optical-Supplies/Optical-Laboratory/IMS-99.html – £6 a liter.

+1 for Isopropyl from lincs bio fuels, it smells like the same stuff as RS’s “Solvent Cleaner” but much cheaper per volume.

It’s the daddy of all multisurface cleaners – it takes off label residue like there’s no tomorrow. We used to use it to melt the lacquer of printed circuit boards so there’s no doubting it’s potency.

A litre will last a while if you’re just taking oil of your discs, but I reckon a rogue stain and an inquisitive nature will quickly find you using it a lot more…

Isopropanol 🙂