Amt0571

I recently accidentally spilled DOT 5.1 fluid over my pads because of lazyness (didn't want to remove them to do a bleed). They were new, so I decided to try to save them.

I first tried to clean them with water, but they were still oily, so I tried to use a chain degreaser on them (it's the thing I had at hand) which seemed to work ok. I then mounted the pads back with an old rotor, just in case, and went out to try it. It braked like crap (impossible to go OTB with that brake, but I still didn't want to throw the pads. I went on a downhill street, accelerated to 30kph and braked as hard as I could twice. Brakes squealed like mad, but braking improved a little, so I went to the steepest street I have close to home (a 15% descent), and descended most of it dragging the brake around 30kph with a sharp brake at the end. That seemed to do the trick and burned whatever crap was left on the pads. I replaced the original rotor and it's been working fine since.

Not that I'm advising to do that. Especially considering the pads were less than 10€. Just wanted to say that it can be done.

In the case of the OP, I think it's better to bring the bike to a shop and let them do a bleed and replace pads as needed. It's not that expensive, and it's better not to mess with brakes if you don't know what you're doing.