Good bulk degreaser?
01-24-09, 06:51 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,442
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Good bulk degreaser?
I'm faced with cleaning up our entire fleet of of police bikes. They were all stored outside for some time while our new storage shed was being built, and in the process of moving them I noticed that they were all really cruddy.
I need something I can buy in bulk; little bottles of boutique degreasers are nice but expensive. I've used simple green in the past; are those big jugs of orange-based stuff they sell in the big-box stores any good?
I need something I can buy in bulk; little bottles of boutique degreasers are nice but expensive. I've used simple green in the past; are those big jugs of orange-based stuff they sell in the big-box stores any good?
01-24-09, 07:00 PM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 33,656
Bikes: '96 Litespeed Catalyst, '05 Litespeed Firenze, '06 Litespeed Tuscany, '20 Surly Midnight Special, All are 3x10. It is hilly around here!
Mentioned: 39 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2026 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,096 Times
in
742 Posts
Those big jugs of citrus degreaser are pretty much the same thing as Simple Green and should work just as well.
Are the bikes really greasy or just splashed and dirty? If it's mostly dirt, dish soap in a bucket of water will be just as effective.
Are the bikes really greasy or just splashed and dirty? If it's mostly dirt, dish soap in a bucket of water will be just as effective.
01-25-09, 07:17 AM
#4
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,442
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
There's plenty of just plain dirt; at some point they had the garage where the outside bike rack was steam cleaned...Threw all manner of crud.
However, the drive trains are all gunked up as well.
However, the drive trains are all gunked up as well.
01-25-09, 10:43 AM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: SFBay
Posts: 2,334
Bikes: n, I would like n+1
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 127 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 133 Times
in
108 Posts
Kerosene/petroleum based fuel of your choice (Kerosene is the least likely to explode and/ or make you high) with good (go outside) ventilation. Citrus degreaser also works reasonably well if you add a bit of water to it, is friendly on plastic, and doesn't have the same fumes. However, if it says to add water, do. If you don't add enough water in my experience it actually doesn't work as well.
01-25-09, 10:57 AM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 33,656
Bikes: '96 Litespeed Catalyst, '05 Litespeed Firenze, '06 Litespeed Tuscany, '20 Surly Midnight Special, All are 3x10. It is hilly around here!
Mentioned: 39 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2026 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,096 Times
in
742 Posts
I use kerosene to clean individual parts after they have been removed from the frame but would never use it to clean an intact bike. I use it in a plastic pan with a brush and then discard the dirty stuff with recycle oil. I would not want to have it get all over the ground as it will if you try to clean an entire bike with it.
01-25-09, 11:07 AM
#7
Mad bike riding scientist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,359
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mentioned: 152 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6218 Post(s)
Liked 4,214 Times
in
2,362 Posts
I'm faced with cleaning up our entire fleet of of police bikes. They were all stored outside for some time while our new storage shed was being built, and in the process of moving them I noticed that they were all really cruddy.
I need something I can buy in bulk; little bottles of boutique degreasers are nice but expensive. I've used simple green in the past; are those big jugs of orange-based stuff they sell in the big-box stores any good?
I need something I can buy in bulk; little bottles of boutique degreasers are nice but expensive. I've used simple green in the past; are those big jugs of orange-based stuff they sell in the big-box stores any good?
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
01-25-09, 11:18 AM
#8
mechanically sound
For a fleet, I would use paint thinner or the cheapest equivalent and a large bucket or two. Remove the offending components, and sit outside with a brush. If they're really bad, use the first bucket for primary removal of most grime, and the second bucket for a "rinse" with clean solvent. For chains, a plastic 2-3 liter soda bottle and a minute of shaking followed by a hot water rinse and a blast from an air compressor.
