Chain scrubber tool worth it?

Equipment
45

We buy gallon sized Simple Green, regular household mix. Put that into a spray bottle, and then spray on chain and spray on scrub brushes. After cleaning the chain I spray Simple Green on the scrub brushes, let sit a couple minutes while I clean bike frame, and then high pressure hose off the scrub brushes.

46

At home, I use full strength Simple Green for degreasing, then 1:10 for general cleaning components on the bike. I buy a gallon of concentrate, then I have a spray bottle of 1:10 pre-mixed that I use. I also have a 1:100 pre-mixed spray bottle that I use for cleaning around the house. In the community shop where I volunteer, I use 1:1 for degreasing, and it does fine. There, Iā€™m not as concerned with things being scrupulously clean as I am on my own bike.

Simple Green has a lot of water already in it, so I wouldnā€™t use it on bearings or other components that arenā€™t going to dry quickly.

WRT greasy rags, once theyā€™re mostly covered, I toss them and use a fresh rag. Old towels work best, IMO, but the old t-shirt or cotton sock works too. A good tip for getting grease out from between the cogs is a rag strip, old cotton shoe lace, or even a thin bit of rope used to ā€œflossā€ between the cogs. Iā€™ve found those easier and more effective than a toothbrush or similar.

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47

Iā€™ve got Finish Line gear floss for those rare occasions its needed.

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48

I use Scott paper Shop Towels (or equivalent) on chains or anything greasy and avoid the problem. Every garage/home shop needs a roll of these on a conveniently located holder at all times! They work great on chains and will easily hold up for a wipe down. The uses on bikes and otherwise are endless.
https://www.amazon.com/Kimberly-Clark-Professional-Scott-Shop-Towel/dp/B00S0LBOQA

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49

Even then I find soaking the cassette in SG concentrate works well.

50

Iā€™ve got the bike cleaning routine down to 30 minutes start to finish, havenā€™t needed to remove and soak anything. Its pretty dry here in NorCal, most of the year, so that helps.

For cleaning micro fiber towels we use Griotā€™s Microfiber Cleaner solution in the washing machine. Some of the micro fiber towels (mostly used for dry washing cars) look dirty, but are still in great shape and Griotā€™s cleaner works well.

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51

I buy denture brushes - these have longer and harder bristles than regular toothbrushes, cost the same, and last forever. Not sure what the store checkout employees think when they see me buying 3 denture brushes at a time, however.

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52

That is profoundly bad advice. If you had sand up in your junk from a day at the beach, would you just slap on some baby oil and move on?

53

You missed the wiping part. He wipes the sand off before moving on, leaving a thin and moist film of oil.

54

No I didnā€™t. He said he puts more lube on until it drips and then wipes off the excess. That is not cleaning the sand from your junk. All itā€™s doing is making a nice wet sanding paste.

55

Lol. No itā€™s not perfect but Iā€™m not aiming for perfection. Iā€™m LAZY and chains and cassettes and chainrings donā€™t last forever. I just replace them at regular intervals.

Sure - your chain is cleaner than mine, but Iā€™m taking a nap instead of doing bike maintenance. Totally worth it for me. :slight_smile:

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