Steam cleaning experiment: Failure!

[Tom Parker]

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!

Sadder but wiser, -- Tom

 

[B. Sanders]

"Tom Parker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> 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

 

[Damian Harvey]

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.

 

[Robert McDonald]

Tom Parker <[email protected]> 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

 

[Pete Hickey]

In article <[email protected]>,
B. Sanders <[email protected]> wrote:
>"Tom Parker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...

>> 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?

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (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, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club