So I get to keep my bike by my desk (software developer) and just had this idea. When I use the bathroom at work, instead of tossing the paper towel from drying my hands in the trash there, I bring the now moist paper towel back to my desk and use it to clean my bike. :-) It's a bit of a time waster, but after not having cleaned my bike in several months, now I'll have it nice and clean in a few days, and that makes me happier than being at work.

Good job on recycling.

I like it.

Good sustainable idea! I may start doing that myself.

I've dusted with my hand damped paper towels for years... i'll try it on my bike next chance I get.

- Andy

What is this talk of cleaning bicycles? Has the world gone mad?

Once every 2 or 3 years.

My backpack got muddy from a day when I mistakenly rode a bike without fenders when rain was in the forecast. So every morning when I arrive at work and change my clothes, after I wash my hands I take the damp paper towel and clean off a little bit of the pack.

I figure I should have a clean backpack by November 2016 at the latest.

You can clean bikes? I had no idea.

few write to this site from other places than at work , now go back to your Job.

I though I was only one waiting for a bicycling wash to open up in my neighborhood.

That's a good idea; I wish I had thought of it when I had my bike in my cube every day of 2013. Now I am in a different building up on the 5th floor, doesn't work so well to roll the bike in so I lock it up in the parking deck.

BMC Bike Wash - Tour de France - Bicycling Magazine - YouTube

Gotta keep a clean machine...

- Andy

I also recommend products such as Finish Line - Bicycle Lubricants and Care Products - Super Bike Wash?

I think it might be carnauba wax dissolved in water. It does not seem to attack lubricants, so I spray it liberally everywhere. The dirt jumps off my bike and runs away. Used in combination with used restroom paper towels, you have a very nice plan.

Power washer 2 or 3 times a year for me.

The chain is the only thing on my bikes that get regularly cleaned. Mineral spirits then lube.

Bet your employer doesn't think your bike dusting is cheap..being as its on his dime

What do you figure it costs the employer to finance a couple of seconds wiping with a paper towel that is otherwise garbage? I'd like to see the numbers you are using.

I come up with $187/year (assuming a burdened labor rate of $150/hr, 30 seconds to wipe off and dispose of towel, 3 days per week of cleaning, and 50 weeks per year of riding; of course, YMMV).

Pretty cheap way to keep morale up, eh?

I live in England, it rains, a lot.

wash hands after going to the bathroom?

Rain is the all natural bike cleaning method for my bike, when the rain stops all natural air drying takes place.

BTW wouldn't carrying and reusing a cloth rag or old piece of clothing for drying off hands and then using it for dusting/wiping bicycles and whatever else the OP thinks needs such attention be even more environmentally friendly and cheaper than using new paper towels every day?

To be fair, I haven't seen paper towers in a bathroom in a very long time.

Bathrooms at my work have paper towels on hands-free electric dispensers (which I believe are D-battery-operated, so how's that for environmentally friendly?). Sure, it would be better to use a non-disposable wiping solution, but the same could be said about the bathroom.

So if one is going to insist on using non-disposable towels on the bike, they should also have their own non-disposable towels to use instead of paper towels in the bathroom as well.

But given a situation where paper towels are what is provided in the bathroom for public use, isn't it better to get two uses out of the towel before disposing than just one?

In Frankfurt, we had towel rolls that would be washed and replaced. They were non-disposable.

Reusable Cloth Roll Towel (in English apparently).

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Re...w=1280&bih=631