can i use wax and grease remover to clean rims

[davehirst]

or is this wrong and will contaminate rims and brakes.
thanks

[Mulger bill]

Always be careful of chemical contamination of the blocks if you're cleaning on the bike.
Can't see much wrong if you drop the wheels out and make sure there's no residue left once done

[HappyHumber]

I'm not running any carbon rims; just garden variety alloy with fairly traditional (but name brand) pads. I use soapy water on my rims for quick wash; and then often just a rag lightly damp with kero on the braking surfaces to free up more grained in brake dust. Always careful to then go over them with a clean water damp rag to remove oily residue - which defeats the purpose of a braking surface!

[open roader]

I've tried heaps of cleaning solutions.

Acetone is what I use now, both alloy and carbon brake tracks - have been doing this for 4 years on all sorts of fancy and cheap wheels with no cons, just clean brake tracks.

As for brake pads, remove them and gently emery them back with a fine grade wet and dry paper say 1200 grit > blow the dust/debris off than wipe clean with acetone.

[Nate]

Acetone is what I use now, both alloy and carbon brake tracks - have been doing this for 4 years on all sorts of fancy and cheap wheels with no cons, just clean brake tracks.

+1 on acetone

[find_bruce]

As solvents go, wax & grease remover is pretty mild, won't affect alloy or steel rims & unlikely to affect your brake pads. I have no experience with carbon fibre, but given it is designed to be used on paint I would be surprised if it affect CF either.

Unlike acetone it won't remove your nail polish

[Patt0]

I use mineral turps for cleaning all the hard surfaces of my bike. Takes road tar off with a single swipe and leaves no residue.

[ironhanglider]

Using solvents more aggressive than water would be a bad idea around tubulars...

Cheers,

Cameron

[Nate]

I use mineral turps for cleaning all the hard surfaces of my bike. Takes road tar off with a single swipe and leaves no residue.

that'll leave an oily residue behind - CAUTION!!!
also attacks rubber

[davehirst]

yeah, dont think i would use turps on the rims

[beanbiken]

Isopropyl alcohol, Isocol is the brand name. Pretty benign and evaporates very quickly also use it before gluing tubulars and never had an issue up till now.

[RonK]

You don't need solvents.

I just use ordinary household cleaning products - Ajax Spray 'N' Wipe and a Chux cloth to remove road grime and a ScotchBrite scourer pad with water to clean brake tracks if required.

[Patt0]

Water is a solvent.

Alcohols are too polar for road grime and chain lubes.

I use turps, white spirit is probably a better name, because it's handy when I am cleaning the chain.

Works good as a tyre conditioner .

Nate, Don't know where you get the idea it leaves a residue. Maybe try google.

[HappyHumber]

on the matter of pads;

somewhere along the line, I quite serendipitously picked up a small rasp file which I now keep amongst my bike tools for giving each pad a quick 3 or 4 light rubs with to remove the smoothed glaze. No need to heavily gouge; just rough over the surface very lightly.

[ironhanglider]

I use turps, white spirit is probably a better name, because it's handy when I am cleaning the chain.

White Spirit is the literal translation of the Chinese vodka-like drink Bai Jiu I suspect it makes a better chain cleaner than drink.

Cheers,

Cameron

[Trevtassie]

White spirits is Shellite, the equivalent of petrol. Different to mineral turps, which is more like kerosine.
But yeah, wax and grease remover is ok for rims. It's a mixture of solvents made to evaporate and not leave a residue.

[find_bruce]

Mineral turps $2.97
White spirit $8.25
Shelite $7.98
Acetone $10.95

If you prefer to look at chemistry via MSDS
White Spirit 1,2,4-Trimethyl benzene[/url] <10%; 1,3,5-Trimethyl benzene <10%; Xylene <10%
Mineral turps Cumene <10%; Xylene 10-30 %; 1,3,5-Trimethyl benzene 10-30 %; 1,2,4-Trimethyl benzene 30-60% 1,2,3-Trimethyl benzene <10%; n-Propyl benzene <10%
Shelite n-Hexane 10–30%; Toluene <5%

[Patt0]

I use turps, white spirit is probably a better name, because it's handy when I am cleaning the chain.

White Spirit is the literal translation of the Chinese vodka-like drink

Cheers,

Cameron

That may be so. I earned my degree in chemistry under the UK system so I will use UK definitions and spellings, ie litre instead of liter. Not that a degree is a worthy metric. I have forgotten more about chemistry than most new grads know.


Anyway back on topic. A wax and grease remover doesnt pick up the wax etc and evaporate with it. It dissolves the contaminant, making mechanical removal easy.
-Like dissolves like. Mineral turps, grease and wax etc are all hydrocarbons. The difference is their length.
-These three are incrementally longer than the previous. ( They are actually mixtures and can overlap).


So, at a party, those three are swinging! You might be thinking that tin of wax and grease remover is mineral turps! well you would be about 50-99% correct. Mineral turps is a bit of a soup. A bit more refinement to exclude the lighter or shorter compounds is desirable, but is not always the case. Depends of feedstocks, operator, customer requirements and component prices etc. The lighter constituents dont negatively impact the discussed product, except they are worthless, a bit like filler. Their volatility is higher so they are less likely to hang around waiting for the rag to remove them.

Also included is~1 percent of acetone for a little polarity.I would not doubt that they have new additives these days. Probably to help dissolve silicones.

Disclosure: this post was written with the aid of google .

[davehirst]

so i wiped with wax remover, rinsed, wiped with wifes acetone rinsed, light scrub with 0000 steel wool rinsed. Lightly sanded blocks withh 1000 grit , wiped.
buggeryshit it should be clean now

[HappyHumber]

so i ..... buggeryshit it should be clean now

Cool. Now see if you can keep up that level of thoroughness each time you do it. Most of us find our middle point of technique & recipe in time.