Steam cleaning experiment: Failure!

"Tom Parker" wrote in message
...

A few months ago I posted about the idea of steam cleaning
the chain, cassette, rings, etc. I decided to go ahead
and give it a try, so I bought a Sear's steam cleaner on
ebay, and today I tried it out on the bike. In a word,
results were very disappointing.

I had to hold the steam jet extremely close to get
any effect and this resulted in a narrow 1/16" band
of cleaning. So, I had to go link by link, and work on
each of the four sides. Needless to say, this was very
time-consuming and required detailed work. Worse, there
was still a layer of slime even after steam cleaning.

I then tried spraying first with de-greaser. This had
an immediate effect, as the gunk started dripping off.
But follow-up steam cleaning did little good. Only wiping
with a cloth would really remove the residue.

So, my hopes for a quick easy way to clean the transmission
were dashed. Steam cleaning is not the answer, for me.
I'm going back to the old-fashioned way of de-greaser,
soap and water, and brushes. For the chain, I might try
the alternative suggestion of removing and soaking in
a solvent.

The only bright note was that afterwards I discovered a
20-year old can of Boraxo powdered hand cleaner, which
did a very effective job of cleaning my hands!

Boraxo! That's great stuff! It is not gentle to your hands; but there's
nothing more effective that I've found. The gritty powder helps scrub-off
the dirt and grease. I used to find Boraxo in public washrooms, now I
rarely encounter it. Too bad. I hate the flowery liquid stuff they use
nowadays. The smell is awful!

-Barry

Tom Parker wrote:

The only bright note was that afterwards I discovered a
20-year old can of Boraxo powdered hand cleaner, which
did a very effective job of cleaning my hands!

Sadder but wiser,
-- Tom


I use washing machine powder. It's hell on the hands but works a treat.

--
Cheers
Damian Harvey

This space reserved for standard disclaimer, witty quote,
plug for own business in caps and large, bad ASCII art.

Tom Parker wrote in message

A few months ago I posted about the idea of steam cleaning
the chain, cassette, rings, etc.
I hate to say "I told you so" but ........

Sadder but wiser,
Great on windows and all around the bathroom it even kills weeds in
the garden but it won't clean a bike :-(

Robert

In article ,
B. Sanders wrote:
"Tom Parker" wrote in message
.. .

The only bright note was that afterwards I discovered a
20-year old can of Boraxo powdered hand cleaner, which
did a very effective job of cleaning my hands!

Boraxo! That's great stuff! It is not gentle to your hands; but there's
nothing more effective that I've found.

The best way to clean your hands, is to make bread. The
kneading of the doe gets all the greese off. Even the
stuff under the fingernails. Plus! It is easy on the hands.
Bigger plus! Soon after, you will have delicious fresh
baked bread.



--
--
LITTLE KNOWN FACT: Did you know that 86% of North Americans cannot
taste the difference between fried dog and fried cat?

In article ,
(Pete Hickey) wrote:

The best way to clean your hands, is to make bread. The
kneading of the doe gets all the greese off. Even the
stuff under the fingernails. Plus! It is easy on the hands.
Bigger plus! Soon after, you will have delicious fresh
baked bread.

That's great! Remind me never to eat bread at your house.

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club