Bug sprayer bike cleaning method

I just tried this method on my commuter over the weekend. I think that
this is a pretty good method for cleaning bikes. It uses a lot less
water than the garden hose and lets you be more careful while cleaning
rinsing around the sensitive areas of the cycle.

First I used just a spray bottle or the /simple green/ stuff at full
strength and sprayed the whole bike down with that paying more attention
to the /bad/ areas. Then I filled the garden sprayer with water pumped
the pressure up and started by rinsing the /bad/ areas first and then
rinsed the entire bike. The whole project probably took about 20
minutes. But when it was done it /looked/ much better.

Anyone ever use this method on a regular basis?

Ken
--
Messengers and mountain bikers share a common chromosome. ~James Bethea

In article , ken@up-yours-
spammer.net says...
I just tried this method on my commuter over the weekend. I think that
this is a pretty good method for cleaning bikes. It uses a lot less
water than the garden hose and lets you be more careful while cleaning
rinsing around the sensitive areas of the cycle.

...

Anyone ever use this method on a regular basis?

I do so on a somewhat regular basis, but rather than bothering with spray
cleaners, I fill up the sprayer with hot water and a cap full of laundry
detergent as my cleaning cycle, then when that's empty, I rinse the sprayer,
fill with clean hot water, and then rinse down the bike.

I blast everything (drivetrain included) and just re-lube after letting the
bike sit in the sun for a few hours to dry out.

--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_
(_)/ (_)

On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:57:15 GMT, Kristian M Zoerhoff
wrote:

In article , ken@up-yours-
spammer.net says...
I just tried this method on my commuter over the weekend. I think that
this is a pretty good method for cleaning bikes. It uses a lot less
water than the garden hose and lets you be more careful while cleaning
rinsing around the sensitive areas of the cycle.

...

Anyone ever use this method on a regular basis?

I do so on a somewhat regular basis, but rather than bothering with spray
cleaners, I fill up the sprayer with hot water and a cap full of laundry
detergent as my cleaning cycle, then when that's empty, I rinse the sprayer,
fill with clean hot water, and then rinse down the bike.

I blast everything (drivetrain included) and just re-lube after letting the
bike sit in the sun for a few hours to dry out.

The Simple Green and laundry detergent will both strip any wax and
more importantly, the polymers, natural oils, and resins that are in
the paint. This dries it out and substantialy shortens the life of the
finish as well as giving it a dull appearance. Same thing happens on
your automobile paint, I wince when I see one of the neighbors use the
favorite (and most damaging) "carwash," high alkaline dish washing
soap like Dawn, Joy, etc. (I managed an auto detail shop in my younger
days).

Your best bet is to use a carwash soap that will not strip these
essential paint ingredients out. You can save your paint and reverse
the action of those strong cleaners as well as make the bike look much
better, by polishing it with a quality product like Meguiars Hand
Glaze and then protecting it by topping it off with a good quality
caranuba/synthetic product such as Meguiars High Tech Yellow Wax.
Also, the next time you wash it the dirt will come off a lot easier.

In article , R Brickston
rb20170REMOVE.yahoo.com@ says...

Your best bet is to use a carwash soap that will not strip these
essential paint ingredients out. You can save your paint and reverse
the action of those strong cleaners as well as make the bike look much
better, by polishing it with a quality product like Meguiars Hand
Glaze and then protecting it by topping it off with a good quality
caranuba/synthetic product such as Meguiars High Tech Yellow Wax.
Also, the next time you wash it the dirt will come off a lot easier.

Thanks for tip the car wash soap. I just happen to have a bottle of
Meguiar's car wash soap on hand, so I'll be giving that a shot soon. I don't
their polish, but I do have some auto polishing compound that I've been meaning
to apply to the bike.


--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_
(_)/ (_)

R The Simple Green and laundry detergent will both strip any wax and
more importantly, the polymers, natural oils, and resins that are in
the paint. This dries it out and substantialy shortens the life of the
finish as well as giving it a dull appearance. Same thing happens on
your automobile paint, I wince when I see one of the neighbors use the
favorite (and most damaging) "carwash," high alkaline dish washing
soap like Dawn, Joy, etc. (I managed an auto detail shop in my younger
days).

Wow - that is interesting. I wouldn't have thought that dish soap
could damage modern hard shell car paint, or even bike paint. Please
don't take offense, but can anyone back that up?



Your best bet is to use a carwash soap that will not strip these
essential paint ingredients out. You can save your paint and reverse
the action of those strong cleaners as well as make the bike look much
better, by polishing it with a quality product like Meguiars Hand
Glaze and then protecting it by topping it off with a good quality
caranuba/synthetic product such as Meguiars High Tech Yellow Wax.
Also, the next time you wash it the dirt will come off a lot easier.

I agree that wax is a good idea.

Jeff

On 29 Aug 2006 08:01:28 -0700, "Jeff"
wrote:


Wow - that is interesting. I wouldn't have thought that dish soap
could damage modern hard shell car paint, or even bike paint. Please
don't take offense, but can anyone back that up?

Well, I have empirical evidence from years of experience. You can
drive down your street or check a parking lot the next time it rains
and see how many cars the finish fails to bead up the water.

You can use this Google Search and here's one source from Meguiar's:

http://www.meguiars.com/tips/article...selected_ID=10

Unfortunately there are many myths when it comes to car care products
and activities. Below are twelve common practices that can cause all
of your hard work trying to maintain your car's appearance a waste of
time.

1. Dishwashing detergent is safe to use as car wash.

Absolutely not! Detergents are formulated to strip everything off of
the surface, leaving it squeaky clean. A squeaky paint finish tells
you that it has no protection. With repeated use, dishwashing
detergents remove everything from your paint finish including waxes,
silicones and polymers. Once this is accomplished, they then proceed
to remove the life giving oils in your paint finish, actually
accelerating the oxidation process. For best results, use a pH
balanced car wash product, like Meguiar's NXT Generation® Car Wash,
with conditioners specifically formulated to enhance the appearance
and protection of automotive paint finishes.
---------------------------------

Here's a contrarian view, I completely disagree. Notice he makes no
mention of the paint's composition of oils and resins:

http://www.dccarcare.com/tipowk/tipowk7.html

2. Dishwashing soap does not "strip" wax off cars. I use Liquid
Ivory exclusively on all my cars. Several national champions, 40 year
old original paint, and daily drivers. The act of washing with ANY
product will take a little bit of your wax off. That is what it's
designed to do! Wax is supposed to slowly wear off to keep dirt from
embedding in your paint. That is why Carnuba is such a great product.
Every time you wipe, wash, rinse etc your car, you strip wax. It's
going to happen no matter what you use.

Use a small squirt of Ivory Liquid in a bucket of water. You will
get lots of suds. These are essential to helping get the dirt off
your paint and away from your car without scratching. Any wash
product that doesn't make lots of suds that last, is doing more harm
than good. Most car wash specific products do not make good suds, and
when you feel the wet paint it is not slick, but grabs at your hand.
Ivory is slick and rinses clean.




Your best bet is to use a carwash soap that will not strip these
essential paint ingredients out. You can save your paint and reverse
the action of those strong cleaners as well as make the bike look much
better, by polishing it with a quality product like Meguiars Hand
Glaze and then protecting it by topping it off with a good quality
caranuba/synthetic product such as Meguiars High Tech Yellow Wax.
Also, the next time you wash it the dirt will come off a lot easier.

I agree that wax is a good idea.

Jeff

R Brickston wrote:
On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:57:15 GMT, Kristian M Zoerhoff
wrote:


In article , ken@up-yours-
spammer.net says...

I just tried this method on my commuter over the weekend. I think that
this is a pretty good method for cleaning bikes. It uses a lot less
water than the garden hose and lets you be more careful while cleaning
rinsing around the sensitive areas of the cycle.

...

Anyone ever use this method on a regular basis?

I do so on a somewhat regular basis, but rather than bothering with spray
cleaners, I fill up the sprayer with hot water and a cap full of laundry
detergent as my cleaning cycle, then when that's empty, I rinse the sprayer,
fill with clean hot water, and then rinse down the bike.

I blast everything (drivetrain included) and just re-lube after letting the
bike sit in the sun for a few hours to dry out.


The Simple Green and laundry detergent will both strip any wax and
more importantly, the polymers, natural oils, and resins that are in
the paint. This dries it out and substantialy shortens the life of the
finish as well as giving it a dull appearance. Same thing happens on
your automobile paint, I wince when I see one of the neighbors use the
favorite (and most damaging) "carwash," high alkaline dish washing
soap like Dawn, Joy, etc. (I managed an auto detail shop in my younger
days).

Most certainly the simple green is not /easy/ on the finish, I just use
use it because it's cheap and a good degreaser. I agree that for the
painted surfaces a /car/ wash product would be much better.

Your best bet is to use a carwash soap that will not strip these
essential paint ingredients out. You can save your paint and reverse
the action of those strong cleaners as well as make the bike look much
better, by polishing it with a quality product like Meguiars Hand
Glaze and then protecting it by topping it off with a good quality
caranuba/synthetic product such as Meguiars High Tech Yellow Wax.
Also, the next time you wash it the dirt will come off a lot easier.

I agree that a wax / polish would also be good. But I am a bit lazy when
it comes to that type of thing. Maybe I will try one of those wash and
wax products next time.

Ken
--
Messengers and mountain bikers share a common chromosome. ~James Bethea

http://icebike.org/Equipment/maintenance.htm recommends using car wax
to reduce the need to clean, especially in the winter:

Wax? You Bet!

Oh oh, "he's lost it" you're thinking. Two adjacent topics with
opposite viewpoints. Not Quite.

Here I would like to recommend waxing the bike, with regular car
wax. This makes the frame much easier to clean after a winter ride
covers the entire bike with gunk, grit, and salt. The wax makes it
difficult for stuff to cling and easier to wash or brush it off.

Speaking of cleaning, hosing down a bike in winter is not the best
idea. First you have to have a hose somewhere where it will not freeze.
Most households take hoses inside for the winter. You could ride the
car wash and use a hose there, but they will charge you and the
pressures some of these systems operate at may well drive water into
your "sealed" bearings.

Since I do wax the bike, I have taken to letting the crud dry over
night. That coat of wax protects the paint from the corrosive elements
in the accumulated mess on the frame. Then in the morning, before I set
out, I brush the dry sand and grit from the bike with a long bristled
brush. Any small whisk broom will do, you will probably find a dozen
different models at the supermarket.

This is actually easier on the paint than is trying to wipe off the
grit when it is wet, because when wet, some amount of it is bound to
imbed in the rag and act like sandpaper on your paint. You will also
find that the brush will get into places you can't reach with a rag.

Remember, Car Wax is the key to making this work well. Wax
everything except your rims.

I keep another brush around for cleaning chains between major chain
maintenance. It takes off grit clinging to the chain without removing
most of the chain lube. Holding the brush right on the derailer pulley
as you back pedal the cranks will clean the chain and the pulley. Then
just move to the back side and crank some more. (Holding the brush at
the pulley also keeps you from derailing the chain. I use a short stiff
bristled brush for this, and have not had any problems with the
bristles getting caught in the pulley.)


Ken C. M. wrote:
I just tried this method on my commuter over the weekend. I think that
this is a pretty good method for cleaning bikes. It uses a lot less
water than the garden hose and lets you be more careful while cleaning
rinsing around the sensitive areas of the cycle.

First I used just a spray bottle or the /simple green/ stuff at full
strength and sprayed the whole bike down with that paying more attention
to the /bad/ areas. Then I filled the garden sprayer with water pumped
the pressure up and started by rinsing the /bad/ areas first and then
rinsed the entire bike. The whole project probably took about 20
minutes. But when it was done it /looked/ much better.

Anyone ever use this method on a regular basis?

Ken
--
Messengers and mountain bikers share a common chromosome. ~James Bethea