Originally Posted by
capsicum
D-limonene is "citrus solvent" in its pure form for oils it is stronger than odorless mineral spirits, about equal to turpentine, and weaker than tolulene. The strongest around is an equal mix of toluene and MEK, if you have some old dry grease cake that the others won't soften a day soak in this will. Mild heat helps.
Above that you go to nitroamines for varnish like deposits.
Some cruds respond better to semi-polar solvents like acetone alcohol and MEK, like dumond tech.
How much solute dissolves in a solvent is dependent on the identity of both and the interactions between the solute and solvent. Some solvents can dissolve infinite amounts of solutes like sugar in water, ethanol in water, acetone in water or even oil in mineral spirits. Other solutes only have limited solubility in certain solvents. Even the measures of solvent "strength" depend on the solute and the solvent as well as what you are measuring.
And that doesn't even take into account the cost, toxicity or flammability of the solvent. d-Limonene may be a great solvent but it costs around $40 a gallon. A gallon of mineral spirits cost $15 per gallon.
MEK and xylene cost around $20 each but are more flammable and more toxic. The reason I list xylene rather then toluene is that toluene is more difficult to find because of its toxicity. For the casual home user, mineral spirits is a better choice for cleaning chains and and bearing surfaces. It's cheap, relatively safe and efficient.
In my experience, mineral spirits will take care of even varnish deposits in 5 to 10 minutes.
Originally Posted by
capsicum
Coffee filters are good for about 20 microns and auto oil filters are also good for 20-30 microns.(ish, tests and rating types and efficiency vary) large truck bypass oil filters are about one micron.(they are secondary to the main oil filter and only handle about 5% of the oil flow)
Honestly, 20 microns or 0.02mm is good enough for a bicycle chain. One micron...0.001mm...is overkill for the application. And it won't remove the dissolved oils at all.
It is possible to over think this and trying to find a "better" solvent or a filter to take out smaller particles is certainly overthinking the problem.