Simple Green?

[Lewis Moon]

Originally Posted by Schmed

That'd do the trick! Just add a touch of water and get a free hot acid bath!

Add in some Potassium Dichromate to get rid of organics!

[William]

Concerning the Aviation formula...

The fact that they make this (vs the regular) says it all. Thanks for the tip.

Originally Posted by FriarQuade

It can cause issues with extremely long exposure times, talking months of soaking parts in the stuff. In practice it's a complete non-issue. The US Air Force tested it for use on aircraft at one point and it didn't pass due to their concerns of being able to completely rinse the solvent out of all the tight spots inside the aircraft. When it sat there for months/years it would accelerate corrosion. Anybody that is saying Simple Green is bad for typical bike use is just fear mongering.

That's why you use it for on&off cleaning, not soaking.











William

[giordana93]

Originally Posted by William

Concerning the Aviation formula...







That's why you use it for on&off cleaning, not soaking.











William

Yes. Every time there has been an issue, it has been from soaking. AL fares very poorly but even steel can rust. No Bueno. Use it thinned to spray down drive chains, frames, wheels, etc., but not for a good old-fashioned dunk in solvent and shake. It is water based. Come to think of it, I prolly would not soak parts in a citrus degreaser either. Wrong tool for the job.

[bikingshearer]

Originally Posted by Lewis Moon

Simple Green was too dangerous so I switched to 18 molar H2SO4. Really satisfied with the results.

YMMV.

Can't resist responding with a ditty I learned in my ill-spent youth:

"Willie was a chemist,
Willie is no more,
For what he thought was H2O
Was H2SO4."

[acoffin]

Originally Posted by Johnny P

I would never use H2SO4.

Fear mongererer!

I learned of sg's corrosivness the first time I let some aluminum bits soak overnight. Now I just dillute it down and rinse the anything after soaking for short periods. Tried green works but did not like it as well.

[Schmed]

Originally Posted by bikingshearer

Can't resist responding with a ditty I learned in my ill-spent youth:

"Willie was a chemist,
Willie is no more,
For what he thought was H2O
Was H2SO4."

My 6th grade science teacher had that one on a poster in his classroom.

Here's another:

Two guys walk into a bar.
First guy orders an H2O
Second guy says "I'll have an H2O Too"
Second guy dies

[William]

I used to work with H2SO4 quite a bit in another life. Be very very careful rinsing out bottles with DI H2O!!!

I also had fun with…
HCI
HF
H3PO4
CH3COOH
HNO3
P2H4
AsH3
C2HCI3
C3H6O
C3H8O
HBr
BN
to name a few.

Simple Green? Eeeeh, that's kids stuff.





William

[Dromen]

Originally Posted by cd_davis

Simple Green has an aviation formulation perfectly suited for bikes, eliminating all the potential problems/side effects mentioned. http://simplegreen.com/industrial/pr...ision-cleaner/

I've used it for years on multiple bikes and it is typically sold through industrial or aviation type distributors. A gallon lasts forever and you just spray it on drive train full strength while washing the bike.
Chris

+1 - dilute per instructions.

Amazon for gallons.



Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[Clancy]

So, it seems as the following is a summary of the more learned opinions.

SG should be used in a diluted form and briefly, rinsing throughly.

With that said, if that is an accurate summation, I'm going to continue to use in my Parks chain cleaner and in a spray bottle.

However, is there a cleaning product that is similar, not potentially harmful, and as inexpensive?

I'm not opposed to bicycle specific cleaning products so much as I wonder if the added expense is necessary. Bicycles are not unique, instead made of the same materials as so many other items, cars and motorcycles for example.

Chain lube may be the exception, but even then I wonder.