Disc brake cleaner - rims

MissedTheBreak
MissedTheBreak Posts: 173
edited March 2019 in Workshop
Would disc brake cleaner be an effective solution for cleaning wheel rims. I have a couple of cans of cleaner but only one bike with discs (which I don’t ride very often). The rims take a battering on my commute and stopping is pretty poor, thought this might be a neat solution?

Comments appreciated. Ta

Comments

  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    I have only recently discovered brake cleaner because I needed to do brake jobs on 3 cars. Clever stuff, and I've subsequently found a gazillion other uses for it. It's particularly good at removing wax and adhesives from glass and mirrors.

    If you spray it on a cloth and wipe the rims I imagine it should be pretty effective at removing road grime and brake residue. I'd probably avoid spraying it directly on a rim and soaking the tyre
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    It's an environmental disaster and only because you don't want to use sponge and bucket?

    Don't do it, please
    left the forum March 2023
  • MissedTheBreak
    MissedTheBreak Posts: 173
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    It's an environmental disaster and only because you don't want to use sponge and bucket?

    Don't do it, please

    I currently use a sponge and bucket, with fairy liquid or a bike cleaner if it’s really dirty. I just want to know whether the brake cleaner would be more effective for the rims. As is said in the prior response, it should be pretty effective used sparingly.

    Out of interest why is it such an environmental disaster compared to other cleaners?
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Well you're blasting a load of extremely volatile organic solvents into the air, so it's not exactly planet friendly. Does smell lovely though...
  • MissedTheBreak
    MissedTheBreak Posts: 173
    How else would it be disposed of if I already have it? It must get released at some point?
  • i.bhamra
    i.bhamra Posts: 304
    keef66 wrote:
    Well you're blasting a load of extremely volatile organic solvents into the air, so it's not exactly planet friendly. Does smell lovely though...

    Comparatively tiny volumes of volatile organics evaporating into the air isn't really an issue, it'll be diluted into immeasurably low levels in no time at all. Putting the waste down the drain on the other hand is a bigger problem....
  • Alejandrosdog
    Alejandrosdog Posts: 1,975
    Take it to the tip for
    Proper disposal.

    I can’t believe this sort of conversation is still happening.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    Tin can with mixed metal and plastic, not easy to recycle... the plastic lid on top also not a plastic currently recycled... volatile aerosols will land on soil and get washed around by rain.
    If you really need to use solvents, then buy a bottle of methylated spirits, which is the same thing, soak a cloth in it and wipe your rims. At least those bottles are typically made of a plastic that can be recycled and you have no gases.

    That said, they will get just as clean using a bucket and sponge, so it's a waste of time and money
    left the forum March 2023
  • MissedTheBreak
    MissedTheBreak Posts: 173
    Surely the cleaner being produced and then thrown away would be a greater waste than using it sparingly for its designed purpose?
  • MissedTheBreak
    MissedTheBreak Posts: 173
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    That said, they will get just as clean using a bucket and sponge, so it's a waste of time and money

    If it’s just as effective then it’s not a waste of time and I was given it free, I wouldn’t actually spend money on it. But I get your point.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    I am also unsure how much of the solvent will be absorbed by the rubber tyre and how much damage it will do to the tyre in the long run...
    left the forum March 2023
  • step83
    step83 Posts: 4,170
    Soapy water usually, if the tracks looks overly grimey I use a brake track cleaner block. No need to use harsh chemicals, an anyway you ideally want to keep the rubber on the brake track to help braking, brake cleaner will strip that off.
    Titanium Px Spitfire
    Easty commuter
    Tripster AT
  • MissedTheBreak
    MissedTheBreak Posts: 173
    Step83 wrote:
    Soapy water usually, if the tracks looks overly grimey I use a brake track cleaner block. No need to use harsh chemicals, an anyway you ideally want to keep the rubber on the brake track to help braking, brake cleaner will strip that off.

    Great, that’s more the answer I was looking for.
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 17,135
    With the possible exception of the totally ineffective ones like muck-on, where do people imagine soap comes from there days? Mostly it's not by boiling carrots. Or even cows.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    First Aspect wrote:
    With the possible exception of the totally ineffective ones like muck-on, where do people imagine soap comes from there days? Mostly it's not by boiling carrots. Or even cows.


    Yes, but most likely you wash it on tarmac, it will end up in some drain and will join the treated waters in built up areas.

    It's not much the solven to be honest, it's the ridiculous amount of packaging that these products require per unit of volume.

    Take WD40, that people use for everything including inappropriately for lubrication... a can of the stuff lasts maybe 15 applications, then you have to get rid of mixed plastic and metal, which is not recycled.
    Compare with an equivalent bottle of 3 in 1, which lasts around 150 applications and it's only plastic, which in theory can be recycled (which means some councils will, some won't).

    The list of products which are an environmental disaster is long... baby wipes are very popular among cyclists who can't be bothered to use a bucket... they come in a plastic box and each of them ix a mix of fabric and plastic, impossible to recyle
    left the forum March 2023

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