Car screen wash makes a good bike cleaner

bahzob

A while back I popped into Halfords to get some screen wash and they had a bogof so I ended up with two big bottles of the stuff.

Had to clean the bike last weekend and found I had run out of muck off. I decided to try some of the spare screen wash I had, reasoning it was pretty much intended to do a similar job.

Worked fine. If anything it seemed to work better.

Garybee

I've been meaning to try that for a while, have you looked to see if there is anything in it that might cause corrosion? I'd like to think that there wouldn't be because of how it is intended to be used but it never hurts to check.

georgee

Everyone is also forgetting the bonus that it won't freeze, as thats a key issue in bike cleaning?

JustRidecp

and the wonders it'll do for your nearest water source as its tipped down the drain.

jedster

Yeah, mono ethylene glycol (which is basically what screenwash is) is a decent solvent but not very nice stuff

J

bahzob

I guess there is quite a long list of not very nice stuff that is associated with bikes in one format or another (with possible exception of the wooden bike featured in a bike mag a while back). Not sure 100ml of screen wash will lead to widespread death on planet earth.

schlepcycling

bahzob,

How do you use it?, do you mix it in water first or just apply it directly to the bike?.

JustRidecp

bahzob wrote:

I guess there is quite a long list of not very nice stuff that is associated with bikes in one format or another (with possible exception of the wooden bike featured in a bike mag a while back). Not sure 100ml of screen wash will lead to widespread death on planet earth.

Its just that they're better alternatives about. You can get both biogedradable cleaners and degreasers. Cleaning your bike and using degreasers, etc is inevitable. You have to do it. You can be responsible with it though. For example, if you're using screenwash/degreaser/turps/whatever just please do not pour it down the drain. Put it in your bin with some newspaper to soak it up. Drains feed direclty to the nearest water source whether this be a river, stream, burn bypassing any treatment that your household waste water goes through.
Same thing goes for soapy water. When you're finished cleaning, instead of pouring whats left down the drain put it down either your sink or your toilet in the house.

JustRidecp

JustRidecp wrote:

bahzob wrote:

I guess there is quite a long list of not very nice stuff that is associated with bikes in one format or another (with possible exception of the wooden bike featured in a bike mag a while back). Not sure 100ml of screen wash will lead to widespread death on planet earth.

Its just that they're better alternatives about. You can get both biogedradable cleaners and degreasers. Cleaning your bike and using degreasers, etc is inevitable. You have to do it. You can be responsible with it though. For example, if you're using screenwash/degreaser/turps/whatever just please do not pour it down the drain. Put it in your bin with some newspaper to soak it up. Drains feed direclty to the nearest water source whether this be a river, stream, burn and bypasses any treatment that your household waste water goes through.
Same thing goes for soapy water. When you're finished cleaning, instead of pouring whats left down the drain put it down either your sink or your toilet in the house.

graham_g

Yes but if 100 people do the same, then another 1000 and then 10000..... Every little bit counts - nothing wrong with taking a little responsibility for your actions even if the only benefit you perceive is a clear conscience.

HungryCol

I got a spray can of stuff from a motorbike garage called RS20 (I think that what's called) that they use on their motorbikes in the showroom. Shines up my alu bike good and proper 8)

gkerr4

it;s also worth noting that the anti-freeze ingredient in screen wash is a highly effective paint stripper.

Hudster

Lemons work very well and are far more environmentally friendly. Personally, I would want car screen wash nowhere near my bike and more importantly me. It's really nasty stuff - not that stops cars from spraying it all over you when they pass! Grr. It also doubles as a paint stripper as well...