Having just spent an unreasonable length of time trying to clean the old grime off a chain, I wondered if other people have a method other than this painstaking fuss with an old toothbrush, degreaser, bare hands, etc.

I’ve had to learn the lesson about not mixing lubricants more than once—I followed the advice to keep the chain lubed and just wipe off excess lube as a way of cleaning, but this chain had its factory lubricant overlaid with Green Oil, which ended up very sticky and dry, and did not dissolve much in degreaser. I even soaked it in water overnight to start trying to pre-soften the gunk.

Does anyone have a favorite chain cleaning machine that can scrub the chain all over? I plan to stick with just wax lubricants from now on, and never have to remove such a tenacious variety of muck again, but I’d appreciate hearing about anyone’s trusted approach to cleaning. Leaving the chain as it is now, with just the chain rings and jockey wheels to go (the cassette wasn’t so bad, relatively).