Myself, I use the blue "Shop Towels" product. Almost tough enough to survive scrubbing across ugly surfaces. Certainly enough for chains and tubing, small parts cleaning. And inexpensive enough that discarding after use is easily done, which helps keep the washing machine clean.

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Cleaning...5yc1vZcb3bZ44h

I did a mud ride in the rain on my last ride. I wax with paraffin and ptfe. I ran through the gears the other day on the stand. No squeaks, no grittiness, and running smoothly.

Hard to beat that.

I'm still trying to find the right balance of cleanliness and effort for me but I'm getting close with this:

1) Use silica chain stripper one time to clear out the packing grease, ideally when the chain is new. Basically just a soak and rinse.

2) Before washing my bike and lubricating my chain I apply White Lightning Clean Streak dry degreaser to the chain. This degreaser doesn't need to be rinsed off prior to the application of lube which I like.

3) Wash my bike, neither intentionally wetting the chain nor losing any sleep over it if it does get a bit wet.

4) Wipe the chain off and apply dry lube which makes sense for the clean, dry conditions that I generally ride in.

Compared to waxing, I've no doubt that my procedure is probably weaker with respect to cleanliness, performance, and corrosion. That said, it's pretty easy and yields chains that I find to be clean enough, quiet, and sufficiently long lasting. I still have to wear an apron to keep from getting grease stains on my pants when I do the work though. Luckily, my kids bought me a shop apron that makes me look like a medieval Viking blacksmith which I enjoy.

Hey... Just posted my methods in a Waxed Chain Thread. I would suggest going simple. WD40 is a great cleaner but not necessarily a lube. ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) is my choice. Chain getting dark? Hit ti with ATF and wipe clean. But then again you did not describe what kind of ridding you are doing...

https://www.bikeforums.net/23233209-post6.html

Thanks all for your replies, very helpful to hear what you all are doing.

I'm riding on residential streets, mostly with a portion on a major thorough. It's mostly moderate to well paved asphalt. But I do live in a dense part of the country (just outside of DC) despite the residential streets.

WD-40 is a lubricant. It contains 25% of the same (or similar) oil that is found in all oil based bicycle lubricants. That oil is in about the same ratio of oil to solvent as well. It’s not going to melt your chain if you use it as a chain lube but, because it is a spray, it is easy to get it everywhere. Bicyclists generally don’t use spray lubricants for that singular reason.

Simple Green may have had a corrosion problem when it was first introduced but it’s current formulation has a lower pH (less basic) that isn’t a problem. Simple Green also isn’t all that effective as a degreaser. I’ve been using Armor All Wheel and Tire Cleaner lately but have more recently discovered Dawn Powerwash spray which works even better. I even used it on clothing to completely remove chain grease from some clothes. It is wonderful stuff.

Oil, being liquid, flows. Put it on and no matter how much you wipe it, it will flow to the outside of the chain until there is no oil left. It will also make a black gunky mess anytime you use it because of metal fragments that get entrained in the oil along with the grit that causes the metal fragments.

You don’t really need to lubricate the pivot pins on the derailers all that often. Excess lubrication is bad because it collects grit which can act to wear the pins. Go very fugally lubricating the derailers. They don’t really need it very often even if you are riding off-road in dirt and dust.

I really like Muc-Off Drivetrain Cleaner for deep-cleaning of drivetrain parts, including factory-oiled chains and derailleurs gunked-up by oil-based lubes. Since switching to Silca Super Secret drip wax for the chains on all my bikes, the only time I need to hit the Muc-Off stuff is stripping a new chain in prep for wax.

My MTB and gravel bikes get a quick clean-up after every ride. My road bike I clean as needed, depending on what kind of conditions I've been riding in. My clean-up process...

Hose off entire bike (spray nozzle on "shower" setting). Wipe off all residual water with a clean-ish towel. Brush out any residual dirt from derailleurs or other parts, if needed (I have a couple of different brushes). Wipe off chain and jockey wheels. Lube chain. Put bike away. If I take a couple of breaks to throw a ball for my dog, it takes me about 10 minutes. I'm very happy that I no longer have to deal with the messiness of oil-based chain lube. I rarely find a need for soap or other cleaners on my frame.

If the lube or solvent is anything petroleum based, it can't go in compost or recycling, so garbage, this is for paper towels that I use. If a lot of solvent on them, I will spread them out on concrete in the sun with a rock or wrench on them and let them dry before putting in garbage. If cloth towels or rags, same thing for me, as the oil would just dirty my washer inner drum and/or clothes, this is not industrial cleaning. If I had access to "shop rags" like when I used the metal shop at my old employer, those go into the fire-safe (tight-lidded) shop-rag-can, where they are periodically sent out to get washed at the supplier for those, and returned clean.

I think WD-40 (original) may be formulated a bit different now. Back in the day, it was *prohibited* for use on aircraft linkage spherical rods ends (Heim joints) as over time it would dry to a varnish and the joints would stick or jam. WD-40 was originally developed as a Water Displacer, and perhaps the original formula had an intentional varnish to stay behind to help keep out water and/or corrosion resistance. Currently, it doesn't seem too bad as a chain lube if you have nothing else, it doesn't seem to get sticky over time. That said, chain lubes with "anti-wear additives" have been shown to reduce chain wear. You know what has that? Plain old motor oil (which I used to deride as too pedestrian for a serious biker). Recent tests have shown melted wax to be superior; I used wax for 15 years on my road bike because it was cleaner, went to oils thinking it was better lube, but I was wrong. I'm going back to wax with my next new chain and cassette.

According to this history from WD-40, the mixture is the same as it was when first introduced. I suspect that some components are more highly refined than they were in 1953 so that reactive double and triple bonded hydrocarbons have been removed as well as the solvent contains less benzene. As to “anti-wear additives” in chain lubes, they don’t do a whole lot. Additives to wax or liquid lubricants don’t really seem to increase chain life. Plan old Gulf canning wax provides just about the same chain life as oil does. There’s not much that can be done to a bicycle chain to extend life much past about 3500 miles on average. If “anti-wear additives” actually worked, I’d expect a significant increase in chain life…on the order of at least 25%…but that just doesn’t happen.

Motor oil additives are to prevent break down under the high temperature conditions that motor oil is subjected to. At low temperatures, the oil really doesn’t do much in the way of preventing wear.

OP here. Just to be clear, I'm not using WD40 as the chain lube. I was using it at movement points in the derailleurs and targeting the spray. I'm using Wolf Tooth chain lube. Right now, based on what people are saying. I think I'm not cleaning up the excess lube enough and the remnants are catching all of the grime and getting it all over the rest of the drive train.

As a NYC rider I would say that's the correct diagnosis. Everything turns black here, and oil attracts all kinds of dirt. I only skimmed the thread but did see someone mention Squirt wax lube, which is what I use now. It stays a lot cleaner but you need to apply it regularly. I can handle the chain without having black stains on my hands for a week after. And it makes it very quiet.

I would avoid WD-40 and degreasers altogether. In my opinion they aren't needed unless you have an extreme case. WD-40 actually is a pretty good degreaser for "grease". It can displace other oils and lubricants also, and, as previously stated, it is not a lubricant, it is a water displacement chemical.

I run a couple of my bikes with wax and two more with Silca oil. The waxed bikes don't need much attention and I only use towels to clean the oiled bikes. I'll use a heavy cotton string, from a big ball of string, to "floss" the cassette. Everything else gets the towel cleaning.

The only time I use degreaser is the citrus type and that is only to strip a new chain for a wax job. I don't use it on my old bikes either, even over-hauling. I just don't want any degreaser residue anywhere. Is that overkill? Yeah, probably but that method has worked for me for years.

I use Dawn Powerwash Platinum spray to wash pots and pans, but have never used it on clothes or bike components. No damaged to the chain even if not rinsed off soon afterward? On dishes it just reacts with the grease to become oily water.

I am not an expert on motor oil, but my understanding is, some additives are to reduce viscosity breakdown at elevated temperatures and duration, and (among others) there are anti-wear additives, what my father used to call "high pressure additives". The bike chain laboratory lube tests (of bike specific lubes) I read some years back, showed an increase in chain life with those lubes that had what they called anti-wear additives. Which is why I stopped using 3-In-1 oil.

For a time, I used ATF, but upon reading those tests, decided to go past motor oil and use synthetic 75W-90 gear lube which I happened to have a bottle of; It flows like motor oil, and stays very liquid even when cold. It thickens with metal particle buildup just like any wet lube.

Wax has been proven superior. Like I said, I went away from it for quite a while, thinking oil was better, after all, wax is dry. But tests show it is better. On the outside of the chain, it just flakes off, leaving no deposits. So if it's actually superior, I can only imagine it is because the hard wax inside the inner plates and rollers, stays in there and actually keeps the metal parts apart, and seems to be durable. Back when I used wax, I think I needed to lube the chain maybe once a month after it started to squeak? Most days I rode 35 miles.

I wouldn't call WD-40 a "degreaser". It is a lubricant with 25% of the liquid involved being oil. The term "degreaser" is kind of a misnomer. It should probably be called a "deoiler" because that is what is being removed but that is never going to catch on. The point of a solvent is to remove the old oil and the grit it carries efficiently. The old oil isn't the problem , however. The grit is.

A good degreaser shouldn't leave any kind of residue when used. An organic solvent like mineral spirits will evaporate cleanly once all the oil is removed. A water based degreaser like Simple Green, the Dawn Power Wash, or the tire cleaner I suggested earlier needs to be rinsed off with water to remove completely. That, however, does introduce water into the equation which really should be removed fairly quickly to prevent oxidation of the chain. If you live in the arid west, that can be done with sunlight and a bit of exposure. Water will evaporate fairly quickly from the 102° meridian west to the Pacific (the extreme eastern Cascades excluded) here in the US. East of that and the humidity is just too high for evaporation of water to be effective which means it needs help. Acetone or denatured alcohol does a nice job.

It shouldn't be a problem on bike components as long as you rinse it and chase the water off as suggested above. For clothes, I found that all I had to do was to scrub the spot a little with a brush and then wash. I even let it dry out first (in Tucson so I knew it was "dry") and it still worked like a treat.

Here:
WD-40 SPECIALIST® DEGREASER & CLEANER EZ-PODS | WD-40 (wd40.com)

I didn't call it a degreaser. I stated, " WD-40 actually is a pretty good degreaser for "grease". Which is true. It is not a degreaser but acts as one very effectively in many applications. About the only time I do use it is on my salt water fishing rods and reels to "disperse" the salt water and then follow-up with a water bath, thorough drying and re-lubrication.

In my own casual research I have found that even a little bit of residual WD-40 in the nooks and crannies of a newly re-greased bearing will begin to "dissolve" and flush-out the new grease. It's sometimes a real PITA to get all of the WD-40 off of a part, which is why I seldom use it.

Don't get me wrong, WD-40 is great stuff for getting rid of water where water shouldn't be. It just isn't very effective as a lubricant.

As the OP wanted to clean the bike, my thoughts on that are it's not a good idea to "clean" it with WD-40 as it may cause more problems than it solves.

In the bike shops I worked at, we let the chain soak in solvent or Simple Green (I worked at three different shops, one just out of high school, one at my university campus, and a different shop during summer break) while working on other parts of the bike. Before remounting and relub, we used the air compressor to "dry" the chain. That normally keeps the chain pretty for a week or so. On my bike, I spray Simple Green and let it soak while cleaning other parts of the bike. I flush it with plenty of water, dry it off with a rag, and repeat if the rag is not clear. That normally keeps the chain pretty for 2-3 rides. I switched to wax a few years back, and now it stays pretty. FWIW, I really don't care about the look, but I switched to wax to keep the carpet clean. I was rear-ended and almost run over by a minivan and, since then, have been losing the argument with DW on riding outdoors. Now, I'm truly a weekend warrior and group rides only.

Decades ago when I worked in a bike shop, we soaked chains and bearings in varsol to clean them up. I still remember the smell, which wasn't too bad as solvents go. Nothing is ever as thorough as removing the chain and agitating it in a good solvent and drying it well. The key step that is mentioned several times here is to make sure that after you lubricate the chain, wipe it down thoroughly when using a liquid (oil) lubricant.

After cleaning my chain with an on-bike cleaner and then wiping dry, I apply chain lube (75W-90 gear oil) via a covid-test dropper bottle, one drop at each roller. That doesn't leave much excess after wicking into the roller and inner plates and pin.

But yeah, gonna go back to wax.