Quick q… after cleaning off the chain in a kerosene bath, how do you guys make sure there is no kerosene left on the chain before applying fresh lube/wax? Seems like madness to wash the chain in water…suggestions?

Why are you washing your chain in a bath of kerosene, just out of curiosity?

I’ve left old 9 speed chains I was rotating, in a pasta jar of turps for a few days, and I just washed them with fairy liquid and left them to dry before any lube – Squirt – but kerosene?

@nickc To degrease and clean it. It’s a cheap alternative to silly shop bought degreasers. A 5l can of it lasts years.

Wouldn’t you just hang dry them? That’s what I’ve done if I’ve cleaned with White Spirits…

After a paraffin bath, I just wipe the outside and stick them straight into the fryer with Putoline. It’s a paraffin (kerosine) based wax so all that’s happening is a minute dilution of the heavier parts of the wax.

Warm water, washing up liquid, jam jar, shake, wipe down. That’s all a chain needs. Any thing else is OTT. Not saying you shouldn’t do it, but you certainly don’t need to, and it avoids having to have 5L of fuel sitting about.

Kerosene will leave a film. There are too many fractions in it that wont evaporate.

Your wax wont stick.

Warm water, washing up liquid, jam jar, shake, wipe down.

Only if you’re using a water based lube or something with low viscosity that forms a thin liquid film.

It will barely touch the contents of the rollers of it’s anything half decent.

I used to use Mobil Jet A1 (aviation fuel which is basically refined Kerosene) for chain cleaning duties, back when I worked in Aviation and could get as much of it as I needed. I always hung the chain up after and gave it a quick spray of IPA to remove the A1.

Had no problems with wax not adhering.

@ScienceOfficer what would you use pre putoline then? I either degrease, rinse, dry then into the wax or just chuck it straight in off the bike, but it would be nice to use something like kerosine instead and just dump it straight from that clean into the fryer.

I just did 2 chains this afternoon and used white spirit to clean them. Great tip, came out spotless with very little effort.
Quick rinse under the tap and shake then into the fryer with speed wax set to 100c.
Good shake in there in the chip basket then hang up on an old spoke for 5 minutes.
You have to manipulate each link as the chain is so stiff afterwards, so the wax must be sticking well.

Presume science officer is thinking about ‘dry wax’ lubes where the solvent/wax/kerrosene would just make a sticky mess?

I dont clean my chains pre putolining. After about a decade I pulled the solid lump out the fryer and scraped off the grit and carried on. The chains pretty clean when it goes in anyway, it’s only if Ive been caught out and had to top up with something else that it gets mucky.

Kerosene will leave a film. There are too many fractions in it that wont evaporate.

Your wax wont stick.

I’d be pretty confident that kerosene would be very miscible with Putoline & similar concoctions – much more so than water would be.

Just dunk it in and swill it around.

Do you properly dismantle your chain first?

If so, it’s no problem. After the weekly clean in kerosene, polish each link with your wife’s toothbrush to remove residue.

Technique as recommended by Sheldon Brown https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

When I can be bothered to give my chain a really thorough clean I pop it in the oven to dry off the water.

It will barely touch the contents of the rollers

if you’re lining up for the Olympic sprint final, I’m pretty sure the extra .25 watts gained from having an immaculate chain is deadly serious stuff. For the ave weekend warrior MTB’er or commuter, not so much. Chains are (checks notes) about 95-98% efficient, even when they’re covered in filth this time of year, and it’s a disposable item.

sure, by all means clean away the tiniest spots of dirt, but you are wasting your time…

What are you getting on your chain that needs kerosene to remove it?

if you’re lining up for the Olympic sprint final, I’m pretty sure the extra .25 watts gained from having an immaculate chain is deadly serious stuff. For the ave weekend warrior MTB’er or commuter, not so much.

I don’t care about extra power, I care about longevity. More lubricity would seem to make a chain last longer.

scotroutes

What are you getting on your chain that needs kerosene to remove it?

probably putoline 😉

More lubricity would seem to make a chain last longer.

impossible to prove. There are so many variables from chain material, manufacturing tolerance, design to type of soil to age of other drivetrain components, to lubrication…in the end as long as you’re getting (what each individual regards as) a decent service life from your chain (measured in years or mileage, another variable) it doesn’t really matter.

look, I’m not saying don’t do these things, by all means knock yourself out, spend as much time cleaning and lubing a chain as you want but at least understand it’s probs a bit pointless in the grand scheme of things

I agree with Nick (to an extent).

A filthy, un-lubed chain wont last as long as a clean well oiled one. But in the real world for MTBs thats never going to happen. You lose that cleanliness the moment you leave the car park.

The reason hot-wax based lubes work so well is they delay the point at which the chain is ‘dry’ or contaminated to a point long after the average ride is done so you’ve got a clean(ish) lubed chain the whole time. All you have to do is re apply it before its all gone and the chain lasts a very long time. I was clearing out my spares box the other day and turned out that between singlespeeding and putoline I’d not actually worn out a 10s drivechain to the point of replacing a cassette! Ok that use is split across several bikes at a time, but still not bad going. Makes me feel better about the cost of 12s cassettes now 🤣

Cleaning the chain in kerosene/degreaser/ultrasonic baths is like pushing a rock up a hill, the moment you put it back on the bike its as filthy as when you started.

the moment you put it back on the bike its as filthy as when you started.

Unless it’s had a bath in hot wax?

The idea of dumping it in a jar of something like kerosine, and maybe agitating it with a brush in there, before transferring it straight into the fryer, appeals not so much because it’ll make a huge difference as because it takes nearly no additional time. Or indeed materials assuming the kerosine gets reused. And would be quicker and easier than a water and degreaser approach for those who do that.

In that context it seems to me to serve a purpose unless it either
1. reduces the effect of the putoline
or
2. is entirely pointless because the putoline will clean the chain just as well if it goes in filthy, and the tin will last near enough as long despite years of chain muck going in it.

I don’t know the answer on either of these points. Kind of get the impression the the jury’s out?

nickc
Chains are … a disposable item

Not for me.

Use steel chainrings and cogs, protect chain from dirt, keep it clean on a simple driveline, eg SS or hubgear, and they last a very long time.

But I don’t really do it the Sheldon Brown way as above. 🙂

This wasn’t meant to be ANOTHER putoline thread. I’m not a putolinist. I like using self shedding waxy lubes…they tend to stick best on chains that are very clean.

In the winter i find the wax lubes no good, so when it comes to a dry spell I clean the black wet lube muck off the chain… clean the chain as best i can with a kerosene dunk and scrub…and then relube.

The reason i asked the question…was i did this process the other day, before putting the bike on the zwift rig… and was amazed at how much dirty wax was left on the floor after the first session. I wondered if this had been because i had lubed the chain too soon after the degrease, and whether people cleaned the (necessary) degreaser off…

keep it clean on a simple driveline, eg SS or hubgear, and they last a very long time.

sure, you’re one end of a spectrum that has at its other end £10000 “x-particle stretch resistant micro roller chains” and “super-duper Nano particle Xtreme super lube” at £10000 for a 10ml dropper at the other…

both are doing the same thing; pandering to the needs of men with a hobby. Your chain, and pretty much everyone else’s chain are going to last about the same regardless.

BTW both of those snappy product names are trademarked, so don’t get any funny ideas

Have you a compressor? If so compressed air through a nozzle will remove residual kerosene.

Don’t think that’s true. On various threads where people have said how long they get out of a chain and cassette, there are always vast vast differences. I’ve about 10,000 miles on my road chain and cassette at the moment (I’ve ridden London to Istanbul and back on it, plus all my riding in the UK, a tour of the Pyrenees etc. etc. etc.) and will only be changing in the next couple of months.

@Lotto yep i think that’s probably the best idea – sadly my workshop is under equipped! That’s what we used to do after using the parts washer when i worked in the bike industry.

lots of faff for a chain. I just use Squirt lube.
After a ride this time of year, I wash down with water in a chain bath scrubber thing. let the drips fall off, quick rub with a rag then let it air dry (might get a bit of surface rust) then reapply Squirt the next day. Takes 5 minutes max. The lube stays on longer than I can ride for in winter and the chain lasts long enough to make it an inconsequential expense when I replace it at .5%

I have only ever broken 1 chain in some 20 years of riding, just put a new quick link in and all was well.

I’ve definitely never measured the wear on a chain, not even on my motocross bike.

I treat a chain as a consumable, especially on a push bike which are pretty cheap compared to a motorbike o-ring chain!

Pressure wash, gt-85 then some chain lube.

Thats if I can be bothered to wash it!

I tend to wax (Vs shaving) after a Radox bath…..IGMC

Alcohol. Or meths. Gets rid of residue. Recommended by
https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/waxing-how-to-zen-master-guide-v3.pdf

When I can be bothered to give my chain a really thorough clean I pop it in the oven to dry off the water.

the microwave is faster

lots of faff for a chain. I just use Squirt lube.
After a ride this time of year, I wash down with water in a chain bath scrubber thing. let the drips fall off, quick rub with a rag then let it air dry (might get a bit of surface rust) then reapply Squirt the next day. Takes 5 minutes max. The lube stays on longer than I can ride for in winter and the chain lasts long enough to make it an inconsequential expense when I replace it at .5%

compared to :
After every half dozen rides take chain off, chuck it in the putoline, put in on the hob, wait five mins and take the chain out, hang it up to drip / cool. wipe and put back on bike.

yes yours does seem a lot of faff