Originally Posted by
wingless
Sorry I wasn't clear in my post.
My cleaning / lubrication lasts a long time, unless I get caught in the rain.
My usage of dish soap and water in a small jar as the first step in cleaning is very effective, consuming only a small amount of water.
The final steps of mineral spirits and denatured alcohol prior to waxing result in very little contamination to both solvents, remaining saved in their small labeled jars for the next usage.
My chain remains clean to the touch between cleanings / wax application.
Why add an unnecessary and counter productive step? The soap and water are completely unneeded. What does it accomplish that the mineral spirits doesn’t? From the standpoint of mixing solvents, following the water with mineral spirits doesn’t do anything because the mineral spirits and water don’t mix. If you use alcohol after the water, that will at least remove the water before the mineral spirits, but even that step is totally unnecessary.
I’m assuming that you are waxing the chain. The wax doesn’t need to be removed prior to rewaxing the chain and water isn’t going to do anything to remove the old wax. Mineral spirits will remove everything you need to remove before waxing if you feel you need to remove the wax but why bother? You don’t need to remove the wax. Dropping the chain in the hot wax will remove the old wax and just dissolve it into the hot wax. The hot wax becomes the solvent.
If the chain has some grit on it, it will settle out on the bottom of the pan and can be left there for as long as you like. It does no harm. If the old wax has some grease in it, that won’t hurt anything and even help to soften the canning wax that most people use. Canning wax is a hard wax and it flakes off easily. A softer wax will stick to the chain better and provide better results.
Bike maintenance doesn’t need to be complicated. If you can do something easier, with fewer steps, and the same result, why complicate it?