decent degreaser?

[bullet350]

i usually let my bikes get really crappy before resorting to the hose pipe and sponge, but i'm fed up paying up to £7 for a small can of degreaser thats useless.

yesterday i cleaned the cbr using halfords 'heavy duty' degreaser, and it was crap.
i left it on and then scrubbed it with a brush, but it still only had a limited effect on the chain lube covered rear wheel.

is it me or are degreasers getting weaker?

does anyone know of an easily available degreaser/bike cleaner thats actually worth the money? after all this stuffs not cheap.

bullet350

[guest146]

Gunk was always pretty good but I use spray brake cleaner on hard fast grease and oil. Not sure if it burns so be careful

Ken

[pigafetta]

I've recently bought a tin of something or other, the bloke in the bike shop said it was ok. I've not used it yet but if it's any good I'll let you know what it is. To be honest, I tend to use petrol to get most of the crap off.

[squirrelciv]

I tend to use paraffin in a spray bottle and an old tooth brush. 5L bottle is just a couple of quid and lasts ages.

[Steve H]

Parrafin, followed by diluted washing up liquid in a spray bottle, then loads of water.

[Steve Lake]

I agree, I think cleaners these days are rubbish...although, i found the halfords hand spray engine cleaner to be one of the slightly more effective ones....but gunk is the only one that seems to have any 'go' in it (and NOT the aerosol version) still need a toothbrush and an old paint brush and some elbow grease

[guest40]

I use kerosene, not as dangerous as petrol, and I use it in a parts washing machine with no ill effects to the pump system.

40 litres lasts about 3 years, then the remains become the 1st wash bucket(for the real tough crap) and then into the parts washer to get stuff spotless. still need to brush and scrape the sprockets tho, but it is relatively easy. Spray can degeaser is excellent for on bike degreasing with a brush, but its very expensive @$A2.00+ for 400 ml.

Do you call kero parrafin over there?

[Steve Lake]

yes m8...parrafin...but i find it cheaper to use heating oil (which is in fact kerosene, i think, slightly less refined than parrafin) which of course can also be used in deisel powered cars (so i'm told!)
mind you....the price of heating oil now being 50p a litre + !! it's no longer that cheap....if it gets any more expensive I shall be converting back to solid fuel

[SteveC#222]

....I know several people who use to run old Urals on 50/50 petrol & parrafin.........

[guest18]

I'll buck the trend here!
Autoglym bike cleaner... bl**dy expensive, but spray it on and go for a cuppa, if it's *really* bad (like my MZ  ) then spray another lot on and go for another cuppa.
Then jetwash off with a cheap Karcher.

Works like a charm on mine (or it does when I get round to washing the thing... at least once a year, sometimes even more often than that!)

I always found parrafin not that effective outside of a constant flow, and then it only makes a mess of the drive/me/everything nearby/everythng I touch... most tedious!

[Richard]

I use a 75/20 mix of paraffin and cheap washing up liquid or detergent in a spray bottle.  Spray on, agitate, wash off - preferably with a bit of force.  You can afford to use a lot more than you can of a commercially produced jobby.

For a penetrating oil I just use diesel.

Must get back to the shed now, reassembling the Beemer and cleaning off the carbon on the heads.  For which thin oil and a credit card are very handy.

Regards,

Richard

[themoudie]

I'll buck the trend here!
Autoglym bike cleaner... bl**dy expensive, but spray it on and go for a cuppa, if it's *really* bad (like my MZ  ) then spray another lot on and go for another cuppa.
I always found parrafin not that effective outside of a constant flow, and then it only makes a mess of the drive/me/everything nearby/everythng I touch... most tedious!

Agreed. Never put washing up liquid near a bike or alloys, theres that much SALT in it as a surfactant, that if the rinsing isn't 100%, you'll get corrosion! A pair of unobtainable Borranis rendered crap. Cheap Halfords car shampoo with no salt, does a good job after the Autoglym.

Autoglym left on paintwork, may create temporary dull patches, but it buffs out fine after the shampoo and a dose of MER or Autoglym resin polish dried to a haze afore buffing.

Toodle pip, Bill.

[Steve H]

Never put washing up liquid near a bike or alloys, theres that much SALT in it as a surfactant, that if the rinsing isn't 100%, you'll get corrosion! A pair of unobtainable Borranis rendered crap.

Bill, been using washing up liquid for nearly 30 years, will no adverse effects yet. Only problem Ive ever had was with "Muck-Off" which took ages to rectify.

[canolman]

I use a 75/20 mix of paraffin and cheap washing up liquid or detergent in a spray bottle.  Spray on, agitate, wash off - preferably with a bit of force.  You can afford to use a lot more than you can of a commercially produced jobby.

For a penetrating oil I just use diesel.

Must get back to the shed now, reassembling the Beemer and cleaning off the carbon on the heads.  For which thin oil and a credit card are very handy.

Regards,
Richard

  When you say a credit card is very handy Richard do you mean that you pay some one else to clean it?
sorry, I'll get my coat!

[guest24]

I seem to remember an article by Performance Berks some years ago where they tested degreasers. The best one they found was a mix of paraffin with a splash of squeezy. Then rinse off with water.

Personally, I use the cheap shampoo from Halfords etc. Real deep muck gets scraped off and binned using kitchen roll with WD40.

However, it rarely gets washed and I am proud of how many spider webs it has each morning as I like to see if any of the webs survive the trip to work! I have noticed the spiders hide in various places while travelling. I once had a rather large one crawl out over my hand at a set of lights. Hmm. Made me jump I can tell you!!