If you want to enjoy a smooth ride on the bike, without any resistance and noise, you probably should get your bike chain cleaned. And in case you cannot either get your bike to the workshop or you do not have professional cleaning products to do so, here is a DIY for you to clean your bike chain with household products that will be easily available to you at home and will do the perfect job! And if you follow the nice technique, then it can be done better than any bike parlor. All you need is to follow a specific sequence in the cleaning procedure.
Find the right tools from the Household Products
As the challenge is to do the cleaning with all household products so, you’ll be needing to find and gather a few basic tools/products that will help you in the cleaning process. Basically, you will be needing these
- Cleaning Brushes (with small and soft bristles that can easily go into the small places between the chain joints)
- Water pipe
- Water bucket
- Detergent (of your choice)
- A soft piece of cloth
- Lubricant (of your choice)
Stand the locked bike on a bike stand above the ground level
So, the first thing that you need to do is to stand your bike at some level above the ground and lock it, so you may have a proper look at each and every side and easy access to the lower parts as well. Furthermore, it will not move so that you can clean it without any problem.
Wash with the Water
The next step is that you need to do is to wash it with water. Flow simple tap water all over the bike with the help of a water pipe, it will wash away the apparent dirt and stuff that can easily be gone with the water.
Degrease the chain
When the chain of the bike is regularly greased with oils and lubricants, the grease on it turns into the tough dirty grim which gradually starts to get hard and stuck into the chain joints. Get the bike chain free of any grease and dirt with the help of a soft cloth that you can rub all over the chain. Take the cloth in your hand, hold the chain loosely from a side with that hand and start moving the paddle, in this way the chain will keep moving into the hand and all the chains will be cleaned.
Scrub the chain with Detergent and Cleaning brushes
For this step, take a water bucket or tub, add some detergent of your choice into the water and mix until it produces lather. Now take two brushes, dip them into the detergent solution. Put the one brush upside down and the second brush upward, sandwich the chain into these two brushes and start scrubbing randomly and keenly so you may not leave any space. You can use old spare toothbrushes to clean off the small places into the chain joints. Keep the sandwiched chain inside the brushes and paddle the bike, the chain will rotate and the whole chain will be cleaned. After that wash it with plain water.
Grease the Chain
All the lubricants and grease will be removed while washing it, and now it is the last and most important step to lubricate it again with some chain oil or good lubricant.
You can also take a hint from a short video tutorial here