Originally Posted by Al.canoe
Mineral spirits doesn't clean the internals of my chain with either White lightning (ATB) or Teflon-Plus (road bike) lubes. Letting it soak in Gunk (after an hour soak and a flush with mineral spirits) gets a lot more dirt out.
Simple green is simply a joke. It doesn't work for the tough stuff. I don't even use it around the house. I tried it then threw it away. Castrol Super-Clean works far better than about anything else for a general cleaner.
Al
I don't agree that Simple Green is a joke, but I've reached the point where I only use it on chains that I maintain. I buy used bikes as a hobby. When I get a really ugly, dirty chain, I use Kerosene or another petroleum based cleaner. As AL says, Simple Green just doesn't cut the bad stuff. However, once I've cleaned the chain, I have no problem maintaining it using Simple Green. It's a lot easier to dispose of Simple Green (on my lawn) than Kerosene (its best if I don't say how I dispose of it).