Bike Cleaner

Camcycle1974 wrote:

Its green and you wash dishes with it.

Bogies? :shock:

What do you think the expensive stuff is ffs? Forget all the nano tech bs. Its just detergent, you wash your bike with it. End of! Why would it not be "safe" for carbon? it's your money I suppose but to waste it on something that does the same job as fairy seems daft.

Washing up liquid is pretty harsh stuff, and some brands contain salt so personally I would not use it.

I use muc off, but if you prefer to use a bucket and sponge you would be better off with car shampoo if you can find one without wax.

As mentioned, washing up liquid isn't a good idea. Fair enough, if you want to use it. I certainly wouldn't use it on a bike or a car.

As driodge mentioned, I just use car shampoo and hot water in a bucket. I normally take the wheels off and clean separately with just water to eliminate the chance of the tyres and braking surface becoming slick from any wax content in the shampoo.
Isopropyl alcohol and a rag on the braking surfaces and pads (also deglazing if required)

Davdandy wrote:

Camcycle1974 wrote:

Its green and you wash dishes with it.

Bogies? :shock:

Wouldn't want to have a meal on your plates.

SmoggySteve wrote:

VTech wrote:

NEVER use washing up liquid, it destroys metals and has high salt content.

Non-sented baby wipes.

Utter Bollox - What are your pans and cutlery made of FFS? Also most bikes are either Carbon and or Aluminium which is not very corrosion prone unless submerged in water for a long time. Yes gears are steel , but I would think you are going to dry them and oil them afterwards. Add to this the soap liquid is going to be diluted in the water. I have used washing up liquid to clean chaines and frames for years with no problems. Don't scare monger. Car shampoo is also good if you are really bothered but all you are doing is removing grease and dirt. Not rocket science

+1
If you're worried about the salt in washing up liquid on a bike, you'd never take one out on the road, especially not in winter. Fair enough on a car, where it's continually exposed to light, but a bike will be fine.

FWIW, I use either that or car shampoo - whichever is closer to hand. My bikes look fine.

Oh, and baby wipes leave a residue.

VTech wrote:

NEVER use washing up liquid, it destroys metals and has high salt content.

Non-sented baby wipes.

Why never use washing up liquid?

It contains circa 45% salt as a bulking agent however you tend to use about 5-10mls of washing up liquid in a 10 litre bucket to wash your bike & then rinse off with water. Your bike would be exposed to much higher levels of salt in the form of sweat from the rider in the summer than the small percentage from the first stage of a wash. In winter your going to see much more salt kicked up onto the bike from road grit too.

FWIW I have used it for 20 years of cleaning bikes and its never done any damage to any of the bikes, your more likely to see metal damage from water being left of bikes IMHO

BTW baby wipes are a good call but muc-off do their own version which are much better & often used by me in an emergency when I need to clean the bike down quick after a race or ride. V good at getting an mess from me or drips from the bottle or gels off the bike.

You say its dangerous to use washing up liquid. I have over 15 years experience cleaning bikes made from steel, aluminium and carbon with it and I have had no problems. Search the internet for all the facts you like, I have solid proof for a decade and a half its fine. I wash my bike, I rinse it off and its clean. Its not sitting in contact with it for more than a few minutes before its washed off and dried.

Why argue with me?
I posted a fact, fact is its stupid to wash a bike with high salt content, forget sweat as we can't stop that but you can stop yourself from washing something in salt.
You can't wipe off all residue as it gets into nooks and crannies.

Asbestos doesn't kill everyone who works with it but you wouldn't take the risk knowing that it could kill you !!!

VTech wrote:

Why argue with me?
I posted a fact, fact is its stupid to wash a bike with high salt content, forget sweat as we can't stop that but you can stop yourself from washing something in salt.
You can't wipe off all residue as it gets into nooks and crannies.

Asbestos doesn't kill everyone who works with it but you wouldn't take the risk knowing that it could kill you !!!

Vtec I like you I really do but stop being so melodramatic will you I'm not arguing with you.

All I said was whats wrong with washing up liquid, it has a high concentration of salt around 45% but if you add to water in a ratio of 10mls to 10ltr that is much less than your bike would be exposed too from either you as the the rider or what the bike gets from the road.

Either way you clearly don' t want to listen to a reasoned debate & you think everyone/me is arguing with you as they have a different opinion than yours. So in the words of dragons den "I'm out"

Dan, my comment was aimed at the other reply referring to my comment as utter Bolox which was wrong because what I wrote is correct.

Also, about minimal contact time, that's wrong also as salt leaves a residue even after seconds of contact and is much harder to clean than the crap you want to clean in the first place.

It's a fact that cars cleaned with washing up liquid deteriorate faster than those not using washing up liquid. It's a definite DO NOT USE product in car cleaning.

I didn't intend this to become an argument with anyone as I simply wished to give good advice.

It's laughable to suggest I am saying a bike will break after using washing up liquid, it will however deteriorate much faster though. Paint finish will also become faded far quicker.

Also, it's a fact that washing up liquids contain abrasives so the more you wash, the more you scratch. Maybe only tiny scratches but scratches none the less. These in turn also fade the finish of the bike badly and quickly.

Plates, cutlery, cups etc are much harder materials but they also age after washing so think of your expensive bikes with salt residue and abrasive washing.

I'm not saying its going to kill the bike but come on, treat it with respect.

I didn't make the song and dance, I just said don't use it then was told it was Bolox which it wasn't.
Paint oxidises regardless of wether its on a car, bike or carbon fibre.

Under-scented baby wipes, 99p for 500 @ tesco. Enough to safely clean your bikes for a year, great for all you tight wads

VTech wrote:

I didn't make the song and dance, I just said don't use it then was told it was Bolox which it wasn't.
Paint oxidises regardless of wether its on a car, bike or carbon fibre.

Under-scented baby wipes, 99p for 500 @ tesco. Enough to safely clean your bikes for a year, great for all you tight wads

Is this all you use ? No shampoo/liquid at all ? Just baby wipe down the frame forks etc ?