bicyclepost

I have followed two or three online articles now about cleaning my chain without removing it and can never get it clean. It looks clean-er but when I re-lube it and wipe off the excess the rag comes out really dirty, as if I hadn't even cleaned it. These are the steps I took:


- Used a paint brush to brush on a diluted solution of Simple Green (50/50) on the entire drive chain and let it sit for a couple minutes

- Scrubbed the chain with an old toothbrush (and in the past I've used two pressed together) while spinning the cranks

- Used a shower head to rinse off the drive train (I live in an apartment). In the past I've also tried using a cloth with hot, soapy water

- Dried it all off with a rag which ends up black

- After letting it sit for 5-10 minutes I re-lubed and lit it sit again for a couple minutes

- Used a clean rag to wipe off the excess lube while spinning the cranks but the rag was then no longer clean as it also turned black with dirt and grease


Is it just a matter of redoing the process (pre-lube) a couple times? What am I doing wrong? And on that note, do you normally re-use rags because I can't really since they get so dirty and I don't have enough rags to clean my chain every 4-6 weeks.