degreasing in apartments

G rock

any apartment dwellers out there care to tell me how they degrease and lube bike without destroying the place?

can't keep putting it off!

Beasty

I don't know - maybe take it outside? I live in a house, and that's what I do.

Chips Lovell

Balcony or carpark. That's what I used to do.

TinyExplosions

Bath

Blowfish

My shower is big enough to squish the bike into, though I usually just do it outside unless it's freezing.

velopeloton

Take it to the carwash.

Nietzschean

chain cleaner tool + plenty of rags below/near bike tends to work pretty good , need a stand or turbo to keep it in place nicely ontop of the rags....though i'd still want to keep anything white far away

el Bastardo

I've used my spare bathroom for any bike mechanics, cleaning, oiling etc, but these days I usually remove my dirty bits and stick 'em in a sealed glass jar full of degreaser. give 'em a shake and a once over with a few clean rags, and maybe use a chaincleaner - All done in my kitchen with a large bike box covering most of the floor.

Glencarraig

Go to Woodies and buy a big sheet of plastic for the floor, you will get it in the paint accessory department, only costs a couple of euro.

G rock

thanks for the replies

will have to give it a go at weekend, especially if we get the wet weather that's forecast

enas

The way I do it:

- use a SRAM chain (or any chain that can break easily - you can buy a SRAM Powerlink as a spare to fit to any chain as far as I know), and remove the chain to clean it. I use Sheldon Brown's method of putting it in a bottle with a volatile solvent (the neck must be wide enough to remove the chain!) and shaking and letting soak in for a while, then replacing the solvent and repeating the process till the solvent stays sort of clear (typically around three repeats).
- let the chain dry (very important so that the newly applied lube doesn't get instantly killed by remaining solvent) by lying it flat on newspapers in a well ventilated area for a few hours (which is why you need a volatile solvent, otherwise some will stay - and never use water, it won't go away unless you bake the chain in the oven at 200 for 10 minutes or so), then lube it back (the newspaper should prevent the floor from getting messy).
- now the funny part. Use baby wipes to clean you bike. Really! I read this trick somewhere on the web, and you just wouldn't believe how efficient it is! You can make your bike sparkling clean, to a showroom-bike standard, without any hint of a mess. Use it to clean the cogs, they will come as new (those wipes tends to be very resistant and won't tear easily). It will even remove with no pain at all stuck on tar.
- put back the chain and you're done.

Alternatively you can keep the chain on and use a chain cleaner. But my method has two advantages: you spare the €30 or so of buying a chain cleaner (seriously why are they so expensive?), and, it's much easier to carefully clean the cassette without the chain on it.

Jawgap

Somebody posted up Sheldon's mehtod before:-

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

When I've time I've done it this way and found it to be very effective.
The Coke-bottle aspect of it probably makes it relatively apartment friendly.

Previously when I live in an apartment I used the car park.

Only once did I do it indoors in the kitchen sink.........then the wife came home early......

enas

Jawgap wrote: »

Somebody posted up Sheldon's mehtod before:-

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

When I've time I've done it this way and found it to be very effective.
The Coke-bottle aspect of it probably makes it relatively apartment friendly.

That's the method I was referring to.

Jawgap wrote: »

Only once did I do it indoors in the kitchen sink.........then the wife came home early......

I know... but my method is guaranteed wife-friendly

Jawgap

enas wrote: »

I know... but my method is guaranteed wife-friendly

It sure is! There were reasons I only did it once! Anyway, it was her fault for coming home early - if she had come home when she said there wouldn't have been a problem!

tomasrojo

enas wrote: »

- now the funny part. Use baby wipes to clean you bike. Really! I read this trick somewhere on the web, and you just wouldn't believe how efficient it is! You can make your bike sparkling clean, to a showroom-bike standard, without any hint of a mess. Use it to clean the cogs, they will come as new (those wipes tends to be very resistant and won't tear easily). It will even remove with no pain at all stuck on tar.

I tried the Babywipes when I had to clean the bike indoors once. Somebody here on Boards had mentioned it. It seemed to work fine. I found wiping everything down with what is essentially a cloth a bit finicky, so if I have the option of cleaning out of doors using brushes I do that instead.

I don't know whether there are long-term downsides to using Babywipes. I presume not. (I'm thinking of them ruining the finish or something like that.)

enas

tomasrojo wrote: »

I don't know whether there are long-term downsides to using Babywipes. I presume not. (I'm thinking of them ruining the finish or something like that.)

Well I thought about that too. But I said, hang on, I use the wipe on my baby's butt with no second thought, and then I am worrying on the effect they could have on my bike? I should be ashamed!

I instinctively thought then all right it should be OK on my bike too. But then I wanted to sound responsible to myself and actually tried to make sure they're not bad for my baby either. And I've convinced myself they're little more than a cloth with water. I think it's mainly the material of the cloth and the fact they're only slightly damp that makes the effect, both on my baby's butt and my bike

tomasrojo

enas wrote: »

Well I thought about that too. But I said, hang on, I use the wipe on my baby's butt with no second thought, and then I am worrying on the effect they could have on my bike? I should be ashamed!

Yes, disgraceful. But understandable.

G rock

thanks for that lads

should i just go with old toothbrush or somethin in the meantime? don't think i can get round to buying a new chain/powerlink quite at the min, so will have to make do until i can.

good idea about the babywipes for the cogs etc though!

was gonna head to lbs to get citrus degreaser and lube etc, but would the wipes do the chain just as well? apart from their finickiness

gman2k

Jawgap wrote: »

.........then the wife came home early......

Kinda like the Bonnie Situation

uberwolf

enas wrote: »

The way I do it:

- use a SRAM chain (or any chain that can break easily - you can buy a SRAM Powerlink as a spare to fit to any chain as far as I know), and remove the chain to clean it. I use Sheldon Brown's method of putting it in a bottle with a volatile solvent (the neck must be wide enough to remove the chain!) and shaking and letting soak in for a while, then replacing the solvent and repeating the process till the solvent stays sort of clear (typically around three repeats).
- let the chain dry (very important so that the newly applied lube doesn't get instantly killed by remaining solvent) by lying it flat on newspapers in a well ventilated area for a few hours (which is why you need a volatile solvent, otherwise some will stay - and never use water,

Any recommendations for a volatile solvent?

seamus

enas wrote: »

the neck must be wide enough to remove the chain!

Protip - even if you use a widemouth bottle, this can be a pain in the ass if the chain loops around a few times. Instead use a large plastic "jar", like a peanut butter or coffee jar, where the mouth is about the same width as the body.

Alternatively you can keep the chain on and use a chain cleaner. But my method has two advantages: you spare the €30 or so of buying a chain cleaner (seriously why are they so expensive?), and, it's much easier to carefully clean the cassette without the chain on it.

Chain cleaners are great, but despite the fact that they're designed to make cleaning your bike less messy, you still need somewhere that you can empty and wash out the chain cleaner after use, otherwise it's ability to clean the chain diminishes very quickly.

enas

uberwolf wrote: »

Any recommendations for a volatile solvent?

I guess anything you can find in car shops that motorcyclists would use. I currently have white spirit which is perfect (paraffin is said to be good too, but I never tried).

seamus wrote: »

Protip - even if you use a widemouth bottle, this can be a pain in the ass if the chain loops around a few times. Instead use a large plastic "jar", like a peanut butter or coffee jar, where the mouth is about the same width as the body.

Yes even better I guess Anyway I've been happy with my plastic bottle that's dedicated for the task (the chain falls easily when I shake the bottle upside down).

uberwolf

a slightly bewildered me to be found in the baby section of boots earlier. That said the wipes seemed to work.