I've always used kerosene to clean my chain before I lube it. But I'm not able to find kerosene anywhere on this silly little island. God knows what they use for camping lanterns.
Needless to say, commercial purpose built chain cleaners like Motul Chain Clean or Motorex 611 aren't available either.
Last time I did this, I faked it with Simple Green and a brush after a local mechanic swore it wouldn't ruin chain o-rings or cause a fire hazard. I'm not sure I believe him and felt lucky I didn't do much damage or explode following the chain maintenance. This time, I'm hoping for some advice.
I'm considering 3 in 1 oil, simple green or WD-40 as a cleaner. I'm not convinced WD40 would be as bad as I previously thought it would be, and am leaning towards using it. (WD-40 is mostly stoddard solvent and mineral oil, and the solvent is basically kerosine without sulfur and a lower flash point. Seems very much like using kerosine to me.) At any rate, anyone have any alternatives to kerosene or a purpose built chain cleaner, or comments about kerosene alternatives?
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"Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement, are roads of genius." — William Blake