What to use for a grease solvent in a pinch?
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What to use for a grease solvent in a pinch?
Hi folks--
I'm at home with my wife over the weekend while she recovers from sinus surgery (yep, she's pretty miserable about now).
I thought about spending some of my time tearing down my hybrid and cleaning it up. My LBS is an hour away and I need something to soak my chain and other greasy components in. I'm thinking kerosene is probably my best option, but wondered if anyone had suggestions on a good solvent that I can pick up at a local store. We have a couple of gas stations, a grocery store, a CVS pharmacy, an autozone and a Do-it-best Hardware in our lovely little town.
Suggestions on a good solvent that I can pick up at one of these places?
Thanks in advance.
Dewbert
I'm at home with my wife over the weekend while she recovers from sinus surgery (yep, she's pretty miserable about now).
I thought about spending some of my time tearing down my hybrid and cleaning it up. My LBS is an hour away and I need something to soak my chain and other greasy components in. I'm thinking kerosene is probably my best option, but wondered if anyone had suggestions on a good solvent that I can pick up at a local store. We have a couple of gas stations, a grocery store, a CVS pharmacy, an autozone and a Do-it-best Hardware in our lovely little town.
Suggestions on a good solvent that I can pick up at one of these places?
Thanks in advance.
Dewbert
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Mineral Spirits (paint thinner). Not too harsh and won't hurt most rubber parts. The odorless stuff is only a couple bucks more per gallon and smells way better.
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Originally Posted by Dewbert
Hi folks--
I'm at home with my wife over the weekend while she recovers from sinus surgery (yep, she's pretty miserable about now).
I thought about spending some of my time tearing down my hybrid and cleaning it up. My LBS is an hour away and I need something to soak my chain and other greasy components in. I'm thinking kerosene is probably my best option, but wondered if anyone had suggestions on a good solvent that I can pick up at a local store. We have a couple of gas stations, a grocery store, a CVS pharmacy, an autozone and a Do-it-best Hardware in our lovely little town.
Suggestions on a good solvent that I can pick up at one of these places?
Thanks in advance.
Dewbert
I'm at home with my wife over the weekend while she recovers from sinus surgery (yep, she's pretty miserable about now).
I thought about spending some of my time tearing down my hybrid and cleaning it up. My LBS is an hour away and I need something to soak my chain and other greasy components in. I'm thinking kerosene is probably my best option, but wondered if anyone had suggestions on a good solvent that I can pick up at a local store. We have a couple of gas stations, a grocery store, a CVS pharmacy, an autozone and a Do-it-best Hardware in our lovely little town.
Suggestions on a good solvent that I can pick up at one of these places?
Thanks in advance.
Dewbert
I suggest Simple Green or a citrus based degreaser. These are water based, but do the job just fine! And it's relatively low cost, smells decent, can be used for general house cleaning, available at most places described above.
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I have used Krud Kutter before on my bike's rear derailer. I got it from Ace Hardware. It isn't spectacular, but it seems to work. No glowing testimonial, but it would probably work in a pinch.
#6
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Originally Posted by Nessism
The odorless stuff is only a couple bucks more per gallon and smells way better.
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Originally Posted by Dewbert
Hi folks--
I'm at home with my wife over the weekend while she recovers from sinus surgery (yep, she's pretty miserable about now).
I thought about spending some of my time tearing down my hybrid and cleaning it up. My LBS is an hour away and I need something to soak my chain and other greasy components in. I'm thinking kerosene is probably my best option, but wondered if anyone had suggestions on a good solvent that I can pick up at a local store. We have a couple of gas stations, a grocery store, a CVS pharmacy, an autozone and a Do-it-best Hardware in our lovely little town.
I'm at home with my wife over the weekend while she recovers from sinus surgery (yep, she's pretty miserable about now).
I thought about spending some of my time tearing down my hybrid and cleaning it up. My LBS is an hour away and I need something to soak my chain and other greasy components in. I'm thinking kerosene is probably my best option, but wondered if anyone had suggestions on a good solvent that I can pick up at a local store. We have a couple of gas stations, a grocery store, a CVS pharmacy, an autozone and a Do-it-best Hardware in our lovely little town.
Sheldon "Don't Drink It" Brown
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Prepsol, if they have it. Will remove grease, oil, wax, and any silicone based lubes (the hardest to remove). Naptha is another good choice and you can pour a pint of it in your gas tank to clean the injectors (main ingredient in many fuel injector cleaners). Acetone, MEK, or Alcohol (as mentioned by Sheldon Brown) also works. Just be careful with many of these solvents..the fumes and volatility (flammable).
Personally, I'm not a fan of citrus or alkaline cleaners, water based or not, since many of them are either acidic or high-alkaline. Simple Green has a warning about using their product on aluminium and recommends min exposure, no longer than 10 min exposure time, and "extremely thorough" rinsing of any SG residue. Here's an old VeloNews article...just read the reply by SG marketing rep...recommends using their "Extreme Simple Green Aircraft & Precision Cleaner" formula over their other SG products for bicycle chain cleaning (don't forget to read the label instructions and recommendations): https://www.velonews.com/tech/report/...es/9216.0.html
Anybody ever see Extreme Simple Green Aircraft & Precision Cleaner stocked at a local store or hardware store?
Personally, I'm not a fan of citrus or alkaline cleaners, water based or not, since many of them are either acidic or high-alkaline. Simple Green has a warning about using their product on aluminium and recommends min exposure, no longer than 10 min exposure time, and "extremely thorough" rinsing of any SG residue. Here's an old VeloNews article...just read the reply by SG marketing rep...recommends using their "Extreme Simple Green Aircraft & Precision Cleaner" formula over their other SG products for bicycle chain cleaning (don't forget to read the label instructions and recommendations): https://www.velonews.com/tech/report/...es/9216.0.html
Anybody ever see Extreme Simple Green Aircraft & Precision Cleaner stocked at a local store or hardware store?
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Originally Posted by I_bRAD
So does it smell better or not at all?
The label on the can will say "Odorless" however it will still smell somewhat.
#13
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Originally Posted by Sheldon Brown
Rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol.
Last edited by OLDYELLR; 12-30-06 at 03:35 PM.
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Originally Posted by 2manybikes
Beer.
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I have had good luck with mineral spirits. It is cheap and I have yet to find something it won't clean. The odorless still smells but not near as bad as the regular stuff. I soak my chain in the stuff for about thirty minutes and it is spotless.
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Originally Posted by RockyMtnMerlin
Best suggestion in the thread. Won't work but after you discover that, you can get on with the drinking of it.
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I needed to clean my chain and the only stuff I had was Coleman fuel. It did a remarkable job on it. By the way, I had tried the water based clearner I got at Performance, diluted it 5-1 as per instructions for chain cleaning, soaked overnight and it did very little. This chain had a 30 year build up on it, however. After the Performance de-greaser stuff I just went with the Coleman fuel and it was dynomyte! Probably very flamable, however, and not very good for the hands.
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Originally Posted by mirkee
I needed to clean my chain and the only stuff I had was Coleman fuel. It did a remarkable job on it.
Originally Posted by mirkee
I had tried the water-based clearer I got at Performance, diluted it 5-1 as per instructions for chain cleaning, soaked overnight and it did very little.
My personal favorite is mineral sprits. It will not damage rubber so you can wipe down your rims where the brake pads contact them so as to remove built up crud and improve brake performance without taking the tire off the rim. Soaking a chain or anything else in mineral sprits will dissolve the crud making final cleaning with citreous cleaner easy. I clean the chain on the bike by taking a big fuzzy pipe cleaner bent in the middle to make it double width dipped in mineral sprits and pushed through each link and a rag to clean the outer surfaces while the chain is still wet with mineral sprits. A final wash with "good quality" citrus cleaner and stream of water will have your chain clean of all collected crud and looking like new.