Context: Mostly commuting and utility in Houston so home every day and frequent unavoidable rain.
Immersion Waxing Time: 11 minutes consisting of 3 minutes to plug in crock pot, remove chain using quick link tool, wipe chain with paper towel and set chain on top of solid wax. Go away and live life and come back 1-2 hours later. 8 minutes to swish and fish chain out of partially melted wax, wipe off excess with paper towel, air cool to touch, remount on bike and test ride. And unplug crockpot….
Frequency: When I hear squeaking or after rain exposure (because it is going to squeak). Sometimes months, sometimes days.
Cost: $15 dedicated crockpot. Canning wax and lantern oil replaced when it looks too dirty (over 2 years) so less than $10/ replacement. Biggest “cost” is dedicated space on workbench for crockpot.
Worth it? For my context the cleanliness is worth it to me.
After about 90 minutes the wax is melted enough to swish chain and pull it out. Wax is at melting temperature.