Why factory chain grease is no good

[RoosterCogset]

Originally Posted by fa63

OMS is petroleum based, which is great for cleaning / degreasing a chain but not conducive to applying wax. The alcohol removes any oil from the chain so the wax can stick to the chain better.

Yeah. Probably not a critical step if you're using a non-wax based 'wet' lube such as rock n'roll or similar. The drip waxes though I think it's recommended to do a denatured alcohol bath.

[Bob Ross]

Ah, got it, thanks.

[Dave]

Alcohol is not needed prior to waxing. OMS or naphtha/camp stove fuel both mix with and will dissolve paraffin. My paraffin based liquid lube contains 20-30% oil and 4-6 parts camp stove fuel. The solvent evaporates and leaves the wax/oil mixture. That amount of oil completely mixes with and softens the wax. If you insist on hot waxing 20-30% heavy gear lube will make it work better than wax alone.

[Dave]

I just got two sram force axs chains and see that they've gone back to the thick sticky factory lube. More nasty stuff to remove.

[joshatsilca]

ZFC Data Set update, Adam has tested and added GRAX to the chart: