That works quite well; for long while I removed the chain and stuck it in a solvent sink, but as I get older I get lazier thus the Finish Line Cleaning Machine came into play, it's much faster and cleans almost as well but I don't eat off the chain so it doesn't need to be sparkling clean! I still remove the chain though about once a year to give it real good cleaning, though I been finding that since I use Finish Line Cleaning Machine regulary that it really is never that dirty so I may stop removing it altogether.