I just had a comprehensive answer in my bike maintenace thread.
It got me wondering how easy is it to take off the cassette to clean it.
I know how to take off the rear wheel now. But cleaning the cassette
without gunking up the spokes and rim eludes me.
I have a Norco hybrid. Do I need a specialised tool?
How easy is it to remove the cassette?

You need two "specialized" tools, a lockring tool to fit your brand of cassette and a chain whip to hold the cassette stationary while you unthread the lockring. A big open end or adjustable wrench will be needed to turn the lockring tool but there is nothing specialized about it. A lockring tool with a center pin is steadier if you have a quick release hub.

BTW, you really don't need to remove the cassette to clean it. It can even be done on the bike without removing the rear wheel but it's easier if the wheel is off the bike. Just get some rags and a little solvent like kerosene or mineral spirits.. Dampen the rag with the solvent and "shoe shine" with it between the cogs. A few minutes and the cassette will be sparkling clean.

Hillrider answered your question about removing a cassette or freewheel.

As he also added, you don't have to remove it to clean it, and most people don't.

As for keeping the wheel clean, that only takes a bit of creative effort. Find a sheet of cardboard and cut it out so you can slide it behind the cassette as a bib.

There are a number of ways to cut it out and place it, but it I told you, it would take the creative out of the effort.

Short answer - Yes, It's easy to remove and re-attach a cassette IF:
-you have the proper cassette tool and a chain whip. If not, don't bother trying, just take it somewhere.
-you are organized enough to keep the cogs and spacers in the right order.

Cleaning cassette without removing it is easy:
1. Remove your rear wheel - hold it horizontally on your workbench.
2. Fold a rag or shop towel in half. Spray it with some WD-40 or the like.
3. Use the folded shop towel to floss between the cassette cogs. The cogs will spin in only 1 direction so you'll get the whole cog.

Boy,most of those responses on their own are more than adequate.
Together they are nigh on perfect.

In truth I would have trouble keeping a cassette together neatly.
I thought all the gears stayed fixed together.
Also,aside from taking care of my bike I am just not fastidious.
A clean bike means I have looked the bike over from stem to stern and
ascertained it works well mechanically. Besides I enjoy having the best looking bike in the rack.

or.. there's gear floss :-)

I replaced the SRAM cassette on our tandem yesterday. The inner 6 or 7 were fixed together. That varies by manufacturer and model.

Might work better than the strips of rags that I use.

Sprockets have only 1 position, they can't be assembled wrong, and usually most of them are riveted together.

Interesting🤔
That may have answered my question.
It being that it must be hard to get a cloth inbetween the gears.

Sometimes what looks like rivets actually are long thin bolts with small heads (either hex or allen) and they can also be undone to separate the individual cogs. I know that at least some SRAM cassettes are like this.

About half the time that I do a thorough cleaning of the cassette, I will remove it for ease of cleaning. I can take it off in a couple minutes and another couple to put it back on. If you get a chain whip and lockring tool off of ebay, you can get by with only spending about $10 and these tools are nice to have on hand so you can swap out cassettes when the time comes.

I have gone to a melted paraffin wax based lube so this has done a great deal to keep the drivetrain clean for longer periods of time.

Use a lock-ring tool and grab the cassette with the other hand using a leather glove for protection. They come off pretty easy!

Unless you are using a water based degreaser you don't rinse it off with water + soap, but rather with clean degreaser, or perhaps WD-40. If you are using water based degreaser washing afterward with water + soap is redundant. Rather you need to rinse with water alone. Neither type of degreaser is "dissolved" with water + soap.

If you can do that, it wasn't installed with enough torque.

Welcome to BikeForums.

My lockring tool has a 3/8" square drive socket (and a pin) so that a torque wrench can be used to tighten the lockring correctly; 40N-m/30lb-ft is a lot more than you might think.

Dynema is used in bow strings so I can probably turn some up.
If not I have some kevlar cordage.

Thanks

I scrape with plumber's strap. A couple of careful backspins, clean the strap, repeat. Cloth flossing is for chumps.

Regarding the chainwhip--a short length of old chain (I use some ancient 7spd) looped through a 15mm boxend. done.

Most of us just use a chainwhip to hold the cassette, but as mentioned, you don't need to remove a cassette to clean it.

Soap IS degreaser - thus redundant with water-based degreaser, and no, a solvent like mineral spirits does not dissolve in water, but at most is perhaps rinsed off by it. With soap added the degreaser is essentially bound to the soap and carried away. More importantly adding water (with or without soap) after cleaning with mineral spirits is not only unnecessary but potentially counterproductive. Bye.

I like your DIY approach, definitely will try that next time I remove my cassette. Maybe sell my Park chain whip tool if that works.

But have to ask about the cleaning, do you mean the typical pipe hanger plumber's strap of metal with the holes in it? I mean the metal doesn't soak up any dirt. Today the first time i heard about the floss, and even found cheaper bulk floss than the brand type mentioned above. that seems a good idea, better than my rags in the cassette. Or were you just kidding with the strap? If no, please explain how that exactly works.

Yes, the proper torque is a lot more than most riders would use without a torque wrench and I don't think any one can just hold a properly torqued cassette with their hand while removing the lockring.

My Park and Shimano pinned lockring tools have 1" and 15/16" (24 mm) outside hexes respectively so a matching 1/2" square drive socket can be used on a torque wrench to tighten them.

What is the advantage to getting the cassette that clean, as opposed to a wipe-down and knocking the dirt etc out from between the gears?

It's the same advantage you get from taking your chain off every 500 miles and soaking in gasoline and then putting it in the crockpot with molten wax.

Careful, that might be so subtle that someone will take you seriously!