I was asked by one of our viewers about how to make DIY homemade bike degreaser and chain cleaner. Some individuals have used Kerosene or Petrol, but we wanted something that is non-toxic and ecofriendly. We're going to look at 2 receipts on how to clean bike chain with DYI cleaners that looked the most promising on the internet and compare them to Finish Line Citrus Degreaser (manufactured for bicycle chain) and Simple Green (the one cheap one from the supermarket, not the degreaser for bike chain).
We removed an old chain covered with grime and dirt. You can do this if you have a removable reusable master link. Just make sure the master link matches the chain manufacturer and speed and only remove it the number of times stated by the master link. We then cut the chain into 4 smaller strips for our test. We'll place them in 1 cup of the above solutions:
We're going to place each section of chain in the following:
1. Citrus Degreaser from Finish Line (approx. 12$ for 20oz)
2. Simple Green Cleaner (not the degreaser but just the cleaner, (approx. $6 for 32 oz)
3. Receipt (1) Vinegar/Baking Soda/Dish Washing Liquid Dove/Water in the proportions described below - which are tablespoons so they make up 1 cup.
4. Receipt (2) Table Salt/White Vinegar/Borax/Water in the proportions described in the description
One word: We are not using Kerosene or petrol which are fine degreaser but rather biodegradable environmentally friendly liquids which all of these are.
The ratios are in tablespoons so as to make approx. 1 cup.
DIY Degreaser Receipt (1) above:
White Vinegar 6 parts
Baking Soda 2.5 parts
Dove 2 parts
Water 8 part
DIY Degreaser Receipt (2) above
Table Salt 2 parts
White Vinegar 8 parts
Borax 2 parts
Water 8 part
Let them sit in the solutions for 15 minutes, then the chains, place them in soapy water and scrub, rinse with water under the facet and dry.
Our result showed the following:
1. Finish Line Citrus Degreaser the best degreaser for bike chain in removing dirt and grime from between the links and around the roller of the chain.
2. Simple Green (from the grocery store, not the degreaser but the cleaner) came in a close second.
3. The homemade Vinegar/Baking Soda (1) did a fair to poor job.
4. The homemade Table Salt/Vinegar/Borax did a very poor job in removing the dirt and grime.
Our conclusion so far, is that the manufactured environmentally friendly degreasers such as that from Finish Line Citrus and even Simple Green performed significantly better than the homemade degreasers including bike chain cleaning using baking soda and another using Borax ans salt. We will be looking at other DIY degreaser cleaner as well as other degreaser for bike chains.
An interesting point is the fact that scrubbing Citrus Degreaser and washing still left a small amount of lubricant around inner bushing of the chain. Why is this good, it means that the seal around the bushings is very tight which is important if you get caught in bad wet weather.
Now this video is a comparison of degreasers. It does not mean you have to degrease your chain every time you clean. Rather, we use our 2-minute drivetrain cleanup (a link is in the upper right) about every 150 to 200 miles of riding and only use degreaser followed by washing with soap and water when the chain or bike gets exceptionally dirty which is exceptionally true for my mountain bike.
In our next video we'll demonstrate where lubricant penetrates the chain and why that's important.