Bke cleaning and the other half...

Ruari
Ruari Posts: 217
edited January 2009 in The bottom bracket
Is there anything drastically wrong with washing down and cleaning/regreasing a chainset in the bathroom? I live in a one bed flat on the first floor, so no garage to tend to my Italian beauty.
I lay down enough newspaper, towels etc to protect everything, but still the girlfriend kicks off...
And a metal kitchen sink is easy to de-grease/clean/sanitise once you've dunked a gunky chain in it, is it not?
Yet the washing machine is 'perfectly capable' of washing a 6 foot square horse blanket that's still caked in mud?

Thoughts please...
FCN 1

Comments

  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Depends on whether you leave an oily scum in the sink afterwards! I use an old oven tray for cleaning the oily bits and certainly wouldn't contemplate taking any dirty bike bits into the kitchen or bathroom - life's too short for that sort of aggro!
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Ruari
    Ruari Posts: 217
    I always clean up after, so it's spotless, and can't clean my bike anywhere else in the flat as it's carpeted! I need to find a happy medium! I am taken with the 'old oven tray' for oily parts, that may soothe a few ills, ta.
    FCN 1
  • snakehips
    snakehips Posts: 2,272
    I tend to get criticised because I am prepared to spend more time (i.e. some) cleaning bikes than I am cleaning the car (i.e. none).
    That's irrespective of where I do it

    regards.jpgfrom.jpgsnakehips.jpg
    'Follow Me' the wise man said, but he walked behind!
  • Ed Moses
    Ed Moses Posts: 90
    I thought this was going to be a thread with advice on how to get the other half to clean my bike(s), while I get my (well deserved, in my eyes) rest.

    On a separate point, am I supposed to clean my car????? Where do I get the time/energy to do that in the training plan?
  • Ruari
    Ruari Posts: 217
    Ref cleaning the car, I've already got her to that.

    Try lines like 'The windscreens are SOOOmuch cleaner when you do them' and 'You clean the car SOOOO much better than I do, it's your attention to detail Hun'.

    I don't think I'll ever get her to clean my bike though, as she's rather fond of Scotchbrite and bleach... But she does think de-greaser smells 'citrusy'.
    Go figure.
    FCN 1
  • Not Another Hill
    Not Another Hill Posts: 382
    At our old house, after washing my MTB I used to bring it into the hall and use my wife's hairdryer on the chainset and cassette before relubing cos it lived down in a damp cellar and I was terrified of everything corroding up. Let's just say this caused the odd comment or two.
  • 1892
    1892 Posts: 1,690
    you could save time & take a bath with your bike :lol:
    Justice for the 96
  • Ruari
    Ruari Posts: 217
    Not Another Hill, thanks for the idea of the hairdryer, brilliant as it takes ages to dry off the chain/cassette after cleaning! I shall add that to my regime forthwith.

    Are there any female riders with male other halves who raise their eyebrows or voices at your cleaning methods or locations?
    FCN 1
  • aarw
    aarw Posts: 448
    throwing the chain in the oven after a thorough clean/degrease also works as good prep before lubing. i do it when my wife is out... she just rolls her eyes if she walks in.
  • fossyant
    fossyant Posts: 2,549
    I have a garage..thank goodness...... sympathy.......

    I can get away with fixing stuff in the kitchen if the wife is out and I have the kids...... but it has to be clean...having a ceramic tiled floor helps - now't sticks...just don't get carried away with Mr Sheen - tiles then become like ice......... :shock:
  • Mayniac
    Mayniac Posts: 174
    I'm currently servicing my summer bike.

    Its on the workstand. In the kitchen.

    Has been for a week now.


    (One of the benefits of being single. :D )
    This is not 'Nam, Smokey. This is bowling. There are rules.
  • stevekosky
    stevekosky Posts: 134
    I once read that using a garden leaf blower works wekk when you want to dry the whole bike off.
    Works well, as long as you don't mind the hastle of getting it out of a small packed shed and putting it back again........as long as you have a shed or garden or a leaf blower as well I suppose. :?
  • Sirius631
    Sirius631 Posts: 991
    Monty Dog wrote:
    life's too short for that sort of aggro!

    It will be if the missus kills you! :lol:
    To err is human, but to make a real balls up takes a super computer.
  • Sirius631
    Sirius631 Posts: 991
    Ruari wrote:
    Ref cleaning the car, I've already got her to that.

    I take it she doesn't do that in the kitchen sink? :wink:

    Of course most the working parts of a car do not need cleaning as they are internal. Bike components, being external, get cruded up. If you didn't clean them, you'd only have to shell out more of your hard earned cash as they wear out faster.
    To err is human, but to make a real balls up takes a super computer.
  • Sirius631
    Sirius631 Posts: 991
    Mayniac wrote:
    I'm currently servicing my summer bike.

    Its on the workstand. In the kitchen.

    Has been for a week now.


    (One of the benefits of being single. :D )

    Amen, brother! Two bikes in the lounge, one on the landing and the turbo lives in a corner of the kitchen. Cleaning gets done on a thick pad of newspaper on the lounge carpet, which will be getting thrown out soon (ten years ago).
    To err is human, but to make a real balls up takes a super computer.
  • spursn17
    spursn17 Posts: 284
    aarw wrote:
    throwing the chain in the oven after a thorough clean/degrease also works as good prep before lubing. i do it when my wife is out... she just rolls her eyes if she walks in.

    The Dishwasher is good for cleaning greasy/oily parts, just make sure you have permission from the 'guv' to do it. Works for car and motorbike parts as well 8)

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